Bio

Clifford Pleau, Senior Culinary Director, Seasons 52 
As Senior Culinary Director for Seasons 52, Clifford Pleau is in charge of creating the seasonally inspired menus for the highly successful fresh grill and wine bar restaurant concept, leading and mentoring the culinary staff at the collection's 14 locations. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, Pleau landed a job at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, starting at the bottom of the culinary brigade and working his way up to saucier. He did an apprenticeship with the SBM Hotel Group in Monte Carlo and then became the sous chef at the Claremont Resort in Berkeley, Calif. During his tenure there, the California culinary scene was the forefront of the farm-to-table movement, focusing on fresh, locally grown produce, herbs, simplicity and quality. He moved on to other positions with luxury hotels, including stints as executive sous chef at the Boca Raton Hotel & Club in Florida and executive chef at the Mayfair Regent Hotel in Chicago. He was tapped by Disney in 1991 as part of the opening team for Euro Disney and helped open the Disneyland Hotel in Paris and the first version of the California Grill. Pleau then went to work at Bradley Ogden’s Lark Creek Inn in Marin County, Calif., before returning to Disney in 1994 to help create the award-winning California Grill at Disney World in Orlando.