The Chefs

We're proud to introduce Executive Chef Charles Zeran and his wife, Pastry Chef Colleen Zeran, as the newest members of the Four Moons staff.

Executive Chef

Charles Zeran took an unusual route to becoming a chef. He neither went to culinary school, nor worked under any other chefs prior to running his first kitchen. A previous career as divorce attorney and a lifelong love of food and wine preceded Charles’ entry into the restaurant business at the age of 32. His lack of formal training or culinary experience prior to becoming a chef allowed him to develop his own innovative style of cuisine, free of the constraints often indoctrinated into chefs that have followed a more traditional path.

Charles grew up in western Tennessee just outside Memphis. He attended the University of Tennessee and then the University of Florida, receiving a business degree, and then a law degree. He practiced law in Florida and North Carolina for seven years, but in the early 1990s, he began to realize that his true passion was for food and wine.

In 1992, he moved to Leavenworth, Washington in the Cascade Mountains, and took a job as a breakfast line cook. Within four months, he had been offered the chef’s position at another restaurant. After stints as executive chef at several restaurants in the greater Seattle area and the Washington wine country, Charles accepted the positions of executive chef and cellar manager at Stone Manor in Middletown, Maryland, managing both the kitchen and a Wine Spectator wine list of over 500 selections.

At Stone Manor, Chef Zeran received the DiRoNA Award of Excellence from the Distinguished Restaurants of North America, the only completely independent and anonymous continent-wide restaurant rating organization in North America. Stone Manor received a total of five DiRoNA Awards during his tenure. In addition, Stone Manor was listed in Washingtonian Magazine’s Annual Very Best Restaurants List each his years there, as well as getting excellent reviews from the Washington Post.

Charles and his wife Colleen moved to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina in 2002 to accept the positions of executive chef and pastry chef of Stars Waterfront Cafe, where they were also co-general managers. Their innovative cuisine and wine program at Stars brought the restaurant multiple DiRoNA and Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence as well as a Wine Enthusiast Magazine Award of Excellence.

In October of 2006, Chef Zeran joined Glendorn Lodge, a AAA Four Diamond and Relais & Chateaux property, first as Executive Chef and later also as restaurant general manager and wine director, where he continued his eclectic style of contemporary cuisine, joined by his wife Colleen as Pastry Chef. The Zerans brought Glendorn its first DiRoNA Award and first Wine Enthusiast Award during their tenure.

  • 9 DiRoNA Awards at three different restaurants -- each restaurant receiving its first during his tenure.
  • 10 Wine Spectator Awards at four different restaurants, one being Four Moons.
  • 4 Washingtonian Magazine Annual "Very Best Restaurants" Listings
  • 2 Wine Enthusiast Magazine Awards at 2 different restaurants, each was the first ever received by that restaurant.

Pastry Chef

Colleen Zeran is a Maryland native, growing up in the greater Baltimore area. Colleen also took a path less traveled into the restaurant business. She spent 12 years as the treasurer and a media buyer for a political consultant in the Baltimore and Washington areas before she realized that her passion was for food. In 1990, she enrolled in Baltimore International Culinary College, obtaining a degree in baking and pastry arts. She practiced her trade at notable Maryland restaurants, including the Milton Inn in Sparks, Maryland, Paolo’s Ristorante in Towson, Maryland, and Sotto Sopra in downtown Baltimore. During her tenure at Sotto Sopra, the restaurant was repeatedly named to the Best of Baltimore lists by Baltimore Magazine. Her desserts were touted as some of the best in the Baltimore area. While hired at Sotto Sopra as the pastry chef, Colleen later assumed the de facto role of sous chef and dining room manager.

Colleen came to Stone Manor, in Middletown, Maryland as the pastry chef in early 2000. Her desserts were lauded by the Washington Post, Frederick Magazine, and Washingtonian Magazine. After working with Charles at Stone Manor, the two chefs decided that this was partnership that went beyond the kitchen, and in 2001, they were married.

The partnership moved south to Ocean Isle Beach in 2002, where Colleen’s desserts at Stars were repeatedly featured in Coastal Carolina Dining Magazine, including gracing the magazine’s cover.

Chef Zeran joined her husband Charles at Glendorn Lodge, as pastry chef, dining room manager, and restaurant administrator. Her efforts there contributed greatly to the restaurant maintaining its Relais & Chateaux and AAA Four Diamond status, and receiving its first ever DiRoNA Award.

  • 5 Best of Baltimore Listings in Baltimore Magazine while at Sotto Sopra restaurant.