REDONDO BEACH, California, December, 2010 – The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club – a waterfront property in Redondo Beach owned and operated by Noble House Hotels & Resorts – has added four talented industry professionals to its growing catering team, naming Shelley Berry, director of catering; Kate Foster, senior catering manager; Stacy Morris, catering manager; and Dorian Southall, banquet chef.
 
According to Malia Osterbauer, general manager of The Portofino Hotel, the foursome will lend their considerable expertise to Portofino’s increasingly busy catering department, which offers more than 8,000 square feet of recently refurbished meeting space – servicing corporate events, weddings and parties of up to 300 guests; as well as a newly opened 1,300-square-foot garden with picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and Palos Verdes that accommodates up to 200 guests for a reception.
 
“All are exceptional additions to our team,” said Osterbauer. “Each has worked at some of the region’s busiest and most successful hotels and convention centers, and have strengths in the many facets of event catering and management.”
 
Berry was most recently the director of catering, conference services and banquets at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, and also worked as The Portofino Hotel’s director of catering from 1997 to 2004. She holds an associate’s degree in hotel and restaurant management/travel and tourism from the University of Central Florida.
 
A certified wedding consultant, Foster was previously catering manager at Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, and was also president/owner of Kate Foster Productions, Ltd., her own event production company. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies/English from the University of North Carolina.
 
Previously the event manager at Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, where she was in charge of over one million square feet of show floor and meeting space, Morris was also an event coordinator at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. She has a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Illinois State University.
 
Most recently the executive sous chef of Quarter Kitchen at San Diego’s The Ivy Hotel, a boutique property he helped open, Southall has also worked in the kitchens of such high-profile San Diego hotels as the U.S. Grant Hotel and the Manchester Grand Hyatt. A former U.S. Marine, he received culinary training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
 
About The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club
A haven for business and leisure travelers alike, The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club is located only seven miles from Los Angeles International Airport, in the beach town of Redondo Beach at King Harbor. A fixture in Redondo Beach for nearly 50 years, the property – Los Angeles’ only waterfront hotel – recently underwent an extensive $11 million renovation of its guestrooms, public and meeting spaces, BALEENlosangeles restaurant and 181-slip marina. For more information on rates, reservations and activities call 800-468-4292, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.hotelportofino.com