Chefs

Welcome to our new Executive Chef, Ryan Payne. 

Ryan graduated from Johnson & Wales University in 1998 with honors and an Associate's degree in culinary arts.  After doing an internship at Kingsmill Resort & Spa in Williamsburg, Virginia (a 4-diamond resort and conference center), he was hired on permanently.  He was employed there from 1997 to 2006 and held several positions.  He was promoted to his first management position as Banquet Chef in 1999 where he was in charge of a $15 million banquet operation with 40 employees under his direction.  In 2002, he accepted a position as restaurant chef for  one of the resort's restaurants, Regattas, which is an Italian themed restaurant with an open kitchen and wood  burning pizza oven.  In 2004, he accepted the position as Restaurant Chef at Bray Bistro, which was the fine dining restaurant at the Resort.  Under his direction, it achieved a 4-star rating in 2005 & 2006.

In 2006, Ryan accepted a position as Executive Chef at the Magnolia Inn in Pinehurst, NC.  Under his direction it was voted the People's Choice in 2008 in The Taste of Moore County and won the award for best appetizer in 2007.

Now, having accepted the position as Executive Chef at Pine Crest Inn, his goal is to build upon what the Pine Crest is known for and what people fell in love with.  In his words, "If I can refine old southern classics and put a new twist on them, that is what I want to achieve.  My goal in all my restaurants is to be true to the food, not over-complicate good food, and to let the ingredients speak for itself."