Post Ranch Inn Appoints New Executive Chef, John Cox

Chef Cox's move serves as a return to Sierra Mar, where he started his culinary career back in 2001 and rose to the position of chef de cuisine. He brings with him a diverse culinary background cultivated during his time spent cooking in regions ranging from New Mexico to Hawaii.

Under Chef Cox's new leadership, Sierra Mar will offer an unconventional fine dining experience that invites guests to indulge in an exploration of food and wine. His menus will present inquisitive food creations featuring ingredients highlighted by a sense of place and culture. This will include the development of an eight-course Taste of Big Sur tasting menu that will interpret the Big Sur experience through food, along with an optional wine pairing. The nightly changing four-course prix fixe menu will remain in place with a few subtle changes. Each menu will complement Sierra Mar's Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine list. Under the guidance of Wine Director Dominique DaCruz, Sierra Mar's wine cellar has grown to feature 14,000 bottles from more than 2,600 labels from around the world.

"The culinary component has always been a critical element of the guest experience at Post Ranch,” stated Mike Freed, managing partner and visionary behind the Post Ranch. “Bringing in a chef with John Cox's vision and creativity – a chef who has worked at the Post Ranch and lived in Big Sur – creates a wonderful opportunity not just to continue our longstanding extraordinary culinary traditions, but to elevate them to another level.”

The restaurant sits high atop the cliffs of Big Sur, floating majestically over the edge of the Pacific Ocean and offering a breathtaking panorama. Guests approaching Sierra Mar at Post Ranch are greeted by an engaging view of the restaurant's living roof, merging seamlessly into the cliffside. Its artistically sculptured interior architecture provides an infinite vista, embracing the coastline and its surrounding natural landscape. Floor-to-ceiling windows bring the outdoors in, where a contemporary palette of wood, slate and steel reflect the changes in weather and time of day, from sunshine and limitless blue skies to cool, enveloping fog to the candlelit intimacy of evening and starlight.

“Delivering incredible food with a stunning view is just the beginning,” said John Cox. “Infusing ingredients ranging from local delicacies such as Monterey red abalone or chanterelle mushrooms sourced here in Big Sur to those with an international flair such as Iberico pork tenderloin all the way from Spain, I want guests to embark on an unforgettable culinary journey. With my somewhat ‘unconventional' flair in fine dining, I look forward to continuing and building upon the tradition of culinary excellence for which Sierra Mar has become well known.”

Chef Cox joins Sierra Mar from his position as executive chef at La Bicyclette and Casanova restaurants in nearby Carmel, where he initiated dynamic, daily changing menus focused around locally sourced ingredients. The successful concepts and menus soon earned recognition as some of the finest in Carmel by publications ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle to Food & Wine magazine. Prior to his time in Carmel, Chef Cox spent time immersing himself in Hawaii's island cuisine and the bold, spicy flavors of the southwest in New Mexico. He trained at the New England Culinary Institute.

For the last six years, Chef Cox has published his writing and photography in the Edible Nations Magazines, a James Beard Award-winning publishing group. He writes about the microeconomic benefits of promoting small, local agricultural producers as well as the preservation of local food culture and traditions. Chef Cox is also a board member for the New England Culinary Institute.

About: Post Ranch Inn