Whisk Around the World
Posted: March 17, 2007
Mexico and the Caribbean The 365 room Ritz-Carlton Cancún (Mexico) has opened a $500,000 Culinary Center offering cooking classes in an indoor/outdoor all-Viking kitchen overlooking the Caribbean. Rory Dunaway is the chef de cuisine.
The 317 room Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa opened in mid-December with two oceanfront restaurants, a casino, the island's largest freshwater infinity pool, and 99 condos under development at $895,000 to $2 million. The resort's exec chef, Carsten Stelzer, had the same title at Blue Waters hotel (Antigua) before taking time off. F&B director Daniel Rousselle came from The Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa (Grand Cayman), where he's been replaced by Niels Schulze-Gatterman.
Stephen Adelle-Jondeau has joined the Blue Waters hotel (Antigua) as exec chef, replacing Wolfgang Leske, who had replaced Carsten Stelzer (see above). He was previously exec chef at Sandals Montego Bay and at Little Dix Bay (British Virgin Islands).
Exec chef Andrew Niedenthal has welcomed three new faces at Peter Island Resort in the British Virgins. F&B director Magnus Olovson came from the Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers (Algeria). Austen Reid, the exec sous chef, came from the Burj Al Arab (Dubai). Keenan Fifield, the villa chef, was last at Puck Food and Wines (The Hague, Netherlands).
France U.K.–based Michelin three-star chef Gordon Ramsay is planning a Paris opening for spring 2008. The location, which would be his 15th, is expected to be the Trianon Palace and Spa hotel outside Versailles, recently bought by private equity firm Blackstone for an estimated £101 million (U.S.$196,329,610). Ramsay told Caterer he wants French kitchen staff to prep the food and Brits to cook it.
Oliver Streiff is the new chef at Maya Bay in Monaco. He comes from the Bastide de St. Tropez and also worked at the Michelin two-star Château de la Chèvre d'Or in Eze and the Grand Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat. Streiff replaces Pascal Silman.
London Chef Tim Wilson, formerly of Medcalf in Exmouth Market and the private dining room at The Ivy, is in charge at the new Empress of India, in a 19th century building in London's Victoria Park Village. The menu is modern British. Owners Tom and Ed Martin also operate The Gun, The White Swan, and The Well. A fifth spot, The Prince Arthur, should open this month.
Property developer Keith Davies opened Hat and Feathers on Clerkenwell Road in the Farringdon neighborhood in December, with head chef Adam Culverwell turning out modern European fare. Culverwell was previously at Le Meridien Waldorf.
Chef Raymond Blanc, who's held two Michelin stars for 22 years at his Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Oxfordshire, has jumped on the reality TV bandwagon with a BBC2 series called The Restaurant. Nine couples are competing to run their own place, which Blanc will back financially with a six-figure sum.
Asia and Polynesia In Vietnam, GHM Hotels, co-created by Adrian Zecha of Amanresorts, opened the luxe 100 villa beach resort The Nam Hai, 18 1/2 miles south of Danang, in December. Exec chef Stanley Cheong, f&b director Garry Chan, and gm John G. Laing all came from other GHM properties, which include The Setai (South Beach, Miami), the Datai (Langkawi, Malaysia), and The Legian (Bali, Indonesia). The company's next opening, in 2008, will be The Yamu in Phuket (Thailand).
The Discovery Leisure Company opened the 88 room Discovery Shores on Boracay Island in the Philippines last month. Columbian born corporate chef David Pardo de Ayala, a CIA grad who worked at Bouley, Le Bernardin, and Lespinasse in Manhattan, has been in the Philippines since 1997.
At the Four Seasons Koh Samui (Thailand), which opened last month, Andrea Sacchi, formerly of the Four Seasons Langkawi, is exec chef. F&B director Vaipanya Kongkwanyuen came over from the Four Seasons Chiang Mai. And the gm, Rainer Stampfer, was at the Four Seasons Los Angeles. Koh Samui is a 45 minute flight from Bangkok.
The Shanti Ananda Maurice opened in Mauritius in mid-December. Exec chef Sumit Kumar was at the Ananda in the Himalayas. The gm is Alan Stocker, and the f&b director is Anthony Gill.
The Middle East Mövenpick opened their second property in Kuwait, the 308 room Mövenpick Resort & Residence Al Bida'a, in February in the city's Salmiya area. Exec chef Werner Kallerborn came over from the Mövenpick Resort El Quseir (Egypt). F&B director Rachid Assoundi's most recent post was at Mövenpick Resort Al Nawras Island (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia).
