Ashley Leal is a lecturing instructor in Hospitality and Service Management at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). She joined CIA at Greystone in St. Helena, CA, in 2025, bringing more than 20 years of experience as a hospitality leader.
Her diverse experience spans operations management, business development, change management, business strategy, data analytics, stakeholder relations, customer excellence, human resource management, design, marketing and sales.
For more than a decade, Leal was the general manager of Fleetwood’s on Front Street in Lahaina, HI. The restaurant/bar was owned by Mick Fleetwood, drummer and co-founder of the legendary rock bank Fleetwood Mac, and destroyed by Maui’s devastating wildfires in 2023. There, she managed a staff of 200 and delivered year-over-year sales growth by introducing and implementing a rooftop dining concept, coordinating and executing high-profile concerts and events, developing innovative menus, creating concierge reward programs, pioneering a values-based work culture with an “above and beyond” service mentality, and empowering employees to deliver exceptional guest experiences. She also managed budgets and inventories, negotiated vendor and supplier terms, and streamlined operations to generate cost savings. Her experience also encompasses crisis management, having led the organization through closing and reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as hurricanes, tsunami threats, wildfires, and multiple utility closures.
Previously, Leal held a variety of service and management positions at highly regarded restaurants, including Thomas Keller’s world-renowned French Laundry and Bouchon Bakery, as well as Waterbar in San Francisco, Press Restaurant in St. Helena, and Brix in Napa Valley.
She is a Certified Sommelier and a past board member of the Hawaii Restaurant Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature at San Diego State University.
When she’s not teaching, Leal likes to cook, bake sourdough bread, read, write, knit, crochet, explore new cities, daydream on Zillow and take long walks with her dog, Sunday.