Award-winning chef Craig Shelton, who put New Jersey on the culinary map with a nearly two-decade tenure as the farm-to-fork chef/owner of The Ryland Inn, has picked up and moved to Texas.

Which is great news for local foodies, since he’s now ensconced at The Inn at Dos Brisas, the 300-acre luxury ranch resort whose restaurant serves up organic food raised and grown on the ranch and holds down a Forbes Mobil five-star rating (the only restaurant in all of Texas that carries that distinction). Dos Brisas is only about 60 miles west of Houston in Washington County.

Doug Bosch, who has owned The Inn at Dos Brisas since 2000, said in a statement, “I advertised for an executive chef and found a partner. Craig Shelton brings to The Inn at Dos Brisas an exceptional palate, a keen intellect, a reverence for the land, a drive to improve, and a deep desire for public service.”

Shelton has been involved in a variety of foodie projects since closing his inn in 2007 after a water main break, including a high-end coffee company, teaming up with chocolatier Diane Pinder to create a line of uniquely complex chocolates, consulting for catering company Ome, developing a TV series and partnering with the Skylark Diner to upgrade and update its dinner menu.

But the lure of Dos Brisas drew him from the East Coast to the Lone Star State.

“I had a mission at Ryland: to start something pure, a prototype where the chef is farmer,” Shelton said in a statement. “At Dos Brisas, it’s everything I believe in, and everything I’ve devoted my life to, but improved and expanded by several magnitudes of scale. Standing on the shoulders of giants like Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, and many others, we are part of the growing community that supports sustainable practices, superior food, a return to the family table and self-sufficiency.”

The Inn at Dos Brisas (which means two breezes) is a Relais & Chateaux property. The organization promotes luxury restaurants and hotels around the world.