Portsmouth NH, one of Money magazine's �Top ten places to live,� has a dining scene that matches the influx of tech executives, professionals, and families seeking the New Hampshire Seacoast's quality of life. Chef Daniel Harrison Dumont, whose "Harrison's Bistro" at the Marina appealed to these urban sensibilities with a taste of the best of New England flavors, has returned to the NH Seacoast as Executive Chef for Wentworth By the Sea, Marriott Hotel and Spa. The 161-room hotel reopened in May 2003, restoring the grand resort hotel to the prominence it enjoyed at the turn of the last century. As Executive Chef, Dumont is responsible for banquet service for the 11,500 sf conference center, the Spa Cuisine menu for the hotel�s Spa, and both a formal dining room and a casual bistro-style waterfront restaurant , �Latitudes,� (in his former �Harrison�s� location.).

Chef Dumont graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1990, after apprenticing at The Balsams in Dixville Notch and the Ritz Carlton Boston. Extensive hotel training followed, with service at the Chatham Bars Inn, The Breakers in Palm Beach FL, and the Salish Lodge in Snoqualmie WA. After being named Best Chef in Oregon in 1992, Chef Dumont moved to San Francisco, where he worked with Wolfgang Puck at his famed Postrio, then with Chef George Morone at Aqua Restaurant. In 1994, after a year as Sous Chef for Caesar�s Casino & Hotel in Lake Tahoe, Chef moved to Hampton NH where he opened the Purple Urchin Seaside Caf�. Success there led to the opening of Harrison�s Bistro on the waterfront in New Castle at the Wentworth By the Sea Marina. This operation, named best in the seacoast by Offshore Magazine, is now the hotel�s seasonal casual waterfront restaurant, Latitudes. The fine-dining Wentworth Dining Room is a jewel in the main hotel, under the restored, hand-painted ceiling mural dome overlooking Little Harbor. Chef Dumont was a member of the 1996 US National Culinary team and has won eleven international culinary competition Gold medals. On the re-opening of Wentworth, a reviewer for the NH Gazette raved in a front page article, �At long last -- dinner! The building is back and with it, the finest food this reporter has sampled in this city of fine restaurants... This is not a museum or a relic. It's a new place with an old soul and a great menu.�� Chef Dumont�s specialty is �new New England cuisine� -- a re-interpretation of the best in local American regional cuisine. �I�m excited to have a venue to cook with the seasons,� he said. �It�s easy to get inspired by the seasons and regional foods New England is famous for, but it can be a challenge to support a regional menu year round. In California, you can get local strawberries twelve months of the year. It�s a little different here!� The Dining Room showcases New England seafood, incorporating both new approaches (Lobster �Filet Mignon� or Pan-roasted Halibut) and updated Seacoast traditions such as a totally transformed Lobster Pie and Wentworth Surf & Turf (filet of beef and white prawn). Chef Dumont showcases the best selections in seasonal prix fixe dinners offered on Sunday through Thursday nights. The menus are being complemented with an extensive wine list: 29 more wines by the glass (changing seasonally) and a cellar of over 100 different wines. Located in the scenic community of New Castle, NH and overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the Wentworth by the Sea Marriott Hotel & Spa incorporates 161 guestrooms and suites (including two bi-level suites and one tri-level suite in the hotel�s original Victorian turret towers), most with ocean or harbor views. Twenty-first-century, state-of-the-art construction, design, and amenities are being incorporated to greet the most discerning traveler. Eighteen of the rooms have fireplaces and fifteen have balconies. An additional 18 bi-level suites are located in the waterfront Little Harbor Marina Suites on the former site of �The Ship.� All of the accommodations include such luxuries as radiant heating under the marble of the bathroom floors, Pro Terra sea salt amenities and high-speed DSL Internet access.

For hotel reservations, call 866-240-6313, or visit www.wentworth.com. ###

Media Contact: Stephanie Seacord +1 603-772-1835 stephanieseacord@msn.com