Get to Know the Masters Behind the Craft
Dean Fearing
Creator of Fearing's Restaurant and author of The Texas Food Bible, Chef Dean Fearing is known as a "Father of Southwestern Cuisine" and has spent his life cooking for people who love good food.
The son of a Kentucky innkeeper, Dean grew up with grandmothers who knew all about food and who appreciated the finer details of Southern cooking and barbecue. He still uses and treasures their recipes, and they remain one of the most important inspirations of his culinary life. In fact, some of them receive their own unique spin in The Texas Food Bible.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and following 20-plus years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dean opened his own Fearing's Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas in 2007. Since then, he and his popular menu favorites have been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Food and Wine, Southern Living, Forbes, Fox News, Bon Appétit, Garden & Gun, Robb Report, The Food Network, Guitar Aficionado and more. He was recently recognized as a "Pioneer of American Cuisine" by The Culinary Institute of America, and was also presented with the Silver Spoon Award for sterling performance by Food Arts.
Dean is a restaurateur who likes to spend as much time as possible at his restaurant. Most days, he can be spotted in Fearing's wearing a signature crisp white chef's coat with colorful boot embroidery, blue jeans and brightly-hued, custom-tooled Lucchese cowboy boots. When not in the kitchen, he is often found strumming his vintage Fender Telecaster guitar, one of a collection of several dozen guitars and amps, playing songs from the album created by his all-chef alternative country group, The Barbwires. He is also known to spend his spare time searching the countryside for Texas culinary inspiration. The state's rich variety of peppers, dried chilies, jicama, cilantro, tomatillos, fruits and vegetables, cheeses, Gulf seafood and Hill Country wild game play a major role in Dean's ever-changing cuisine.
Sean Blanchette
Blanchette brings an illustrious 15-year career to The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, where he previously served as the hotel's Executive Sous Chef. During his tenure with The Ritz-Carlton brand, he has held leading culinary positions in several acclaimed hotels, including The Ritz-Carlton, Orlando, and The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Blanchette began his career at Le Cordon Bleu of Culinary Art before fine-tuning his professional cooking and kitchen management skills staging at luxury establishments across Europe, including Hotel Arts Barcelona and the Michelin Star restaurant, Miramar.
Chef Blanchette is proud to return to his "home hotel," The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, where 14 years ago he cultivated his passion and set the foundation for his career as a line cook.
Mike Matis
Corey Thompson
Pastry Chef Corey Thomson grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. By the age of 14, he knew that he loved the art of cooking, and began working as a cook in a small Italian restaurant. While he had initially yearned to become a bio-chemist, Thomson also learned the fundamentals of pastry while still a teenager and he quickly discovered the balance of science and chemistry required within the pasty field. This realization led him to a career path which combined both of his passions.
In 2006, Thompson made a move to Texas to train at Le Cordon Bleu in Austin, where he continued to master his craft and focus on the classic French techniques of patisserie. Upon completing his studies, he moved to Dallas, Texas where he spent three years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek, serving as Assistant Pastry Chef. Over this period, he worked with several notable chefs including David Collier, Bruno Davaillon and John Tesar.
Since early 2011, Thomson has been part of the team at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, creating memorable desserts and overseeing all aspects of the pastry operation. The self-described perfectionist also enjoys working with the dynamics of chocolate and sugar, producing unique and abstract showpieces for display at The Ritz-Carlton Club® Lounge.
Thomson has also continued to differentiate himself not only through recognition by major media, including Dallas Brides, but also at high-profile events for Vogue, Cole Haan, Fashion at the Park and more. Additionally, numerous guests of The Ritz-Carlton credit the positive chef for turning their stories into sweetly edible memories.
Brianna Jenkins
Brianna is a proud native of Gary, Indiana. She was raised with the spirit of hospitality, working and volunteering at her church, where her father was the pastor. She studied and graduated from Purdue University West Lafayette. After earning her B.S. in dietetics and nutrition science, she moved to the DFW area to be close to her family. Brianna worked in banking and inventory intake before finding her passion in hospitality. Brianna began her hospitality career at the Westin and Sheraton Stonebriar in Frisco, Texas as a complex F&B supervisor. She was quickly promoted to the F&B assistant manager and later promoted to F&B operations manager for the Sheraton Stonebriar, overseeing all food outlets and banquets.
After departing from the Sheraton, Brianna joined the Marriott operations support resources team, where she traveled domestically, filling in management gaps and assisting F&B and banquets in operations. After three years of traveling, Brianna became general manager of Fearing's restaurant in June 2022, where she is ecstatic to continue to lead her team to success.
In her downtime, Brianna enjoys traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family. She has an eight-year-old shitzu schnauzer mix that she loves dearly. Brianna is passionate about food and superb service.