Our Team

For more than two decades, Chef  Mark Ayers has continued to strengthen his culinary skill while developing a savvy for the restaurant business. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY in 1992 ranked number one in his class and voted most likely to succeed, Ayers served as Kitchen Manager for Dante’s Restaurant Inc. in Pennsylvania where he oversaw the entire staff, learned the logistics of  training and stock, and was responsible for the start up of a new unit. 

In June 1994, Ayers moved out west to take a position at the celebrated Park Hyatt Beaver Creek in Colorado, working his way up from Chef Tournant to Executive Sous Chef by the time he left in 2002. The sunny weather and prime produce of California beckoned, and Ayers relocated to Carmel to work as the Executive Chef for Highlands Inn where he was able to fine-tune his skills for menu development, experience with banquet functions, and helped facilitate the annual Masters of Food & Wine event, a premier west coast culinary production . 

In 2007, Ayers joined the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, CA as the Executive Chef where he was responsible for all culinary operations for two hotels making him a regional expert in Central Coast hospitality. Ayers joined the team at Coastal Luxury Management in 2010 founded by the directors of Pebble Beach Food & Wine to launch Cannery Row Brewing Company and Restaurant 1833 where he now serves as the brand’s culinary advisor.

Caryl Chinn has what many consider to be a ‘dream job.’ She has spent the last 15 years in New York City producing special events with celebrity chefs – for nearly a decade as the special events director for Bon Appétit magazine, and most recently at an agency with such illustrious clients as the Food Network, the New York Yankees and Godiva Chocolatier.  While there, she collaborated with Festival Founder Lee Schrager on the establishment of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival – sister event to the wildly successful South Beach Festival.  In just 4 years, the Festival became a perennial favorite of foodies, and has raised nearly $4 million dollars for charity. Last fall, Caryl returned home to the West Coast, and Caryl Chinn Culinary Consulting was launched.  In this new endeavor, she is able to combine her broad experience in special events, marketing, public relations and promotions with her close relationships with celebrity chefs and restaurateurs from around the country working with clients such as The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and Coastal Luxury Management on their newest event, Los Angeles Food & Wine.

Anand Menon is the Vice President of Event Operations for Coastal Luxury Management. In this role, Anand works with a team coordinating all aspects of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Harvest: Farm to Table and several other high profile special events throughout the country.

Anand is a seasoned hotelier and holds a Hospitality and Restaurant Management degree from the prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island and a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities in addition to professional certifications in the fields of Event Planning, Restaurant Applications and Institutional Management.

Anand is no stranger to event management, having spent 20 years in the industry starting out as an apprentice cook in a family owned 40 seat restaurant in his native India. Over the years he has worked both Front and Back of House positions to round out his knowledge and understanding of all aspects of Food & Beverage Operations. Having learnt how to run a dish machine in a family owned diner to controlling a multi-million dollar beverage program for an international hotel chain has taught him the importance of a strong work ethic fueled by a passion for knowledge and a desire to excel at any task he took on.

Anand has more than 12 years of Food & Beverage experience with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts prior to joining Coastal Luxury Management. During his tenure at Hyatt Hotels in 7 different properties crisscrossing the United States, he also played an integral role as Corporate Trainer for new hotel and restaurant opening in the US and Caribbean. For several years, he was also a part of the team with CLM Founder Robert Weakley which organized and executed the Masters of Food and Wine at the Highlands Inn in Carmel which served as a template for the event now known as the Pebble Beach Food and Wine.

Anand's varied background in food production, restaurant and event management provided the perfect foundation for a role with Coastal Luxury Management which channels all his experiences to a fine point. Over the first two years of the existence of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine event, Anand took a sabbatical from his position at Hyatt to assist in coordinating and executing the events. He joined the team in his current role in September of 2009. Anand currently resides in Carmel with his wife Aartii.