Brian Bistrong is the new corporate executive chef of Connell Food Group, with responsibility for food at Connell Corporate Park, an office complex in Berkeley Heights, N.J., including the recently opened Grain & Cane, corporate office cafés and future restaurant concepts.

Most recently Bistrong had a brief stint as vice president of culinary development for Starr Catering Group. Before that he was corporate executive chef at specialty grocer Dean & DeLuca and previously, he was executive chef of Wolfgang Puck’s test kitchen. He also was executive chef at The Harrison in New York City and Bottega Yountville, Calif., among other places.

Thomas Castellon is the new executive chef of Rotisserie Georgette in New York City. The South Florida native moved to New York at age 28 and spent nearly four years at Lincoln Ristorante under Jonathan Benno, working his way up to sous chef. He went on to work at Maialino, Rouge Tomate and, most recently, Café Boulud, where he was sous chef.

Dan Cole has been named executive chef at the Dallas Marriott Las Colinas. The Philadelphia native has spent the past five years at other hotels owned by Columbia Sussex, the private hotel company that owns the Dallas Marriott Las Colinas, in New Jersey and Philadelphia as well as Dallas.

John Conway is the new executive chef at Red’s Table in Reston, Va. A native of Wicklow, Ireland, he attended the Dublin College of Catering. Since 2002 he had worked at The Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls, Va., gradually changing the Irish bar into a fine-dining restaurant.

Joshua Cunningham is the new executive chef at Whiteface Lodge in Lake Placid, N.Y., overseeing restaurants Kanu and Peak 47 as well as catering. Most recently he was general manager and executive chef of The Deer’s Head Inn in Elizabethtown, N.Y.

Cole Dickinson, previously chef de cuisine at Voltaggio Brothers Steakhouse at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., has joined Zakarian Hospitality as executive chef of MacArthur Place Hotel & Spa in Sonoma, Calif. Cole will head up kitchen operations at Layla, a modern Mediterranean restaurant slated to open there, as well as the property’s other foodservice outlets, catering and in-room dining.

Tony Fialho, who joined Shari’s Restaurant Group earlier this year, is now director of culinary innovation at Boston Market, based in Golden, Colo., which has more than 450 locations nationwide. 

Prior to joining Shari’s he was director of culinary innovation at Taco Bueno Restaurants, and before that he worked on the culinary teams of Chili’s Grill & Bar parent Brinker International and Black Bear Diner.

Joshua Gripper has been promoted to executive chef of the W South Beach Hotel & Residences in Miami Beach, Fla., including Andrew Carmellini’s restaurant, The Dutch. Most recently The Dutch’s co-chef with Adonay Tafur, Gripper has been at that restaurant since it opened in 2011. He first met Carmellini at Cafe Boulud in New York City, where Carmellini was chef de cuisine. He then worked in France, returned to the United States and was pastry chef of DB Bistro Moderne before joining Carmellini again at A Voce. Next he moved to Miami Beach to work at Gotham Steak before joining Carmellini once again at The Dutch.

Francisco Lopez, Jr., has been promoted to executive chef from executive sous chef of Charlie Palmer Steak Napa located in the Archer Hotel in Napa, Calif., where Lopez is also responsible for in-room dining, catering and events, as well as the Sky & Vine Rooftop Bar.

Before joining the Charlie Palmer Group in 2017, Lopez was sous chef at Calistoga Ranch resort in Napa. Prior to that he was lead chef de partie for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in nearby Yountville, Calif.

Andrea Montobbio will be executive chef of Ecco Buckhead, the latest venture of Fifth Group Restaurants in Atlanta, which also operates South City Kitchen, La Tavola Trattoria, The Original El Taco, Alma Cocina and Lure.

Montobbio arrived from Italy in late 2005, starting at Pricci in Atlanta. After eight years in the South he worked at the Eventi hotel and Asselina at the Gansevoort Hotel, both in New York City, before returning to Atlanta. Most recently he was executive chef of STK in that city.

David Rouse has been named chef de cuisine at Herbsaint in New Orleans, working under chef-owner Donald Link. The Louisiana native studied at the Louisiana Culinary Institute and since 2016 has been sous chef and butcher at Cochon in New Orleans, which also is owned by Donald Link. Prior to that he worked at fine-dining restaurants in New Orleans and Chicago as well as for the Alaska cruise ship M.V. Sikumi.

Daniel Roy has been named executive chef of Generator, a new hostel and hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. He has spent most of his career in Miami at restaurants including 3030 Ocean, 15 Steps, Stubborn Seed, Matador Room and Commonwealth Miami. Most recently he was sous chef under José Mendín at Habitat.

Ryan Spruhan is the new executive chef of The Fontaine, a 132-room hotel in Kansas City, Mo. He studied at the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz., and also is certified by the British Court of Master Sommeliers as a level-two sommelier. Most recently he was culinary lead for Widewaters Hotels, which is based in Syracuse, N.Y.

Daniel Tellez has been promoted to executive chef of Copita Tequileria y Comida, in Sausalito, Calif. For the past two years he has managed the kitchen of the restaurant and will continue to work with co-owner Joann Weir on menu development. In his new position, Tellez also will oversee Little Go-To-Go which operates in partnership with the San Francisco 49ers during every game.

Born in Mexico City, Tellez held high-level positions at restaurants in Mexico City and Rome before joining Copita in 2016.

Pierre Trevino, who was concept chef for the two-unit Thai concept Pakpao in Dallas, is now the food and beverage innovation chef at Coevál Studio, an architecture and interior design firm, where he will work to train cooks and develop recipes and menus for concept that the studio develops.

Dave Weir is the new pastry chef at Red’s Table in Reston, Va. Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he traveled the world for 15 years, working in restaurants before studying pastry arts at L’Académie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, Md.  He then worked at Bread Furst under Mark Furstenberg for 19 months before joining Red’s Table

Priscilla Yeh has been promoted from chef de cuisine to executive chef at State Grill and Bar, a Patina Restaurant Group concept at the Empire State Building in New York City. The native New Yorker is a career changer, having spent 10 years as an architect managing building design and construction.

Sean Yeats is chef de cuisine at the Denver unit of Low Country Kitchen. Yeats most recently was sous chef of the restaurant’s other location, in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Before joining that company, he cooked at two local Steamboat Springs restaurants, Catamount Ranch & Club and Harwigs.