Julie Mautner reports.
The Caribbean Andrew Niedenthal is now the exec chef at Martineau Bay Resort & Spa on the island of Vieques off Puerto Rico. Niedenthal held the same post at Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. At Peter Island, the new exec chef is Michael Clinton, who came over from Constance Lémuria, a Relais & Châteaux property on Praslin Island in the Seychelles.
Debbie van Suijlekom and Henri Verhoef have opened an authentic Indonesian spot called Warung Louise in Kralendijk on Bonaire. Exec chef Jessica Oei was previously at the Holland Casino in Utrecht, Holland. The new restaurant offers takeout, delivery, and outdoor seating on a terrace or smack in the middle of the town square. The couple also own WattaBurger on the same island.
Canada Oswego opened in early June in the residential neighborhood of James Bay in British Columbia. The 80 room hotel, two blocks from the Inner Harbour, counts 16 studio, 49 one bedroom, and 15 two bedroom suites, all with fully equipped kitchens. Exec chef Martini De Board also serves as f&b director. He comes, most recently, from The Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa.
London Brothers Mel and Jose Raido have opened The Church Street Hotel, a 31 room four-star in Camberwell, on the site of the former Marbella, offering doubles, suites, and rooms with shared baths for budget travelers. The hotel has donned a funky Spanish-American decor: bright colors, hand-painted tiles, striped Mexican blankets, and kitschy religious icons.
France Herman Bal opened the 32 room Hotel Lumen in the heart of Paris' 1st arrondissement in August. Architect Alain Daronian and designer Claudio Colucci did the interiors, thematically based on light. Philippe Gasmand doubles as exec chef and director of f&b; he comes from the Pavillon Royal (Paris), where he was exec chef. The hotel's restaurant, Le Passage Saint Roch, serves contemporary French cuisine. The hotel operates under the direction of Sandra Lampée-Baumgartner.
Also in Paris, the 70 room Hôtel Balzac reopened at the top of the Champs-Élysées in early July after a two year multimillion euro renovation. Located in an elegant 19th century Parisian mansion, the hotel has been home, for the past 12 years, to restaurant Pierre Gagnaire; it also has a bar/lounge serving international cuisine and a tea room. Chef Michel Nave, a 25 year Gagnaire vet, runs the kitchen, while the new f&b director is Stéphane Ciroux, who worked previously at the Hôtel Scribe (Paris) for the past seven years.
In Provence, chef Eric Sapet opened the 40 seat La Petite Maison de Cucuron this spring, serving modern and classic Provençal cuisine. Sapet worked at La Maison Gouin in Coustellet, at Moulin de Lourmarin (under Edouard Loubet) in Bonnieux, Provence, and at Le Mas des Herbes Blanches in Joucas, a Relais & Châteaux property, where he earned a Michelin star.Turkey Marcel Nosari is the new exec chef at The Ritz-Carlton Istanbul, replacing Fabrice Canelle. He comes most recently from the Nai Lert Park Swissotel (Bangkok), where he was exec chef. Nosari has been replaced by Gianmaria Azzoni, late of the InterContinental and the Holiday Inn (both in Bangkok).
Asia The Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa has appointed Tammasak Chootong as its new "chef & b" in charge of food and beverage. Born in Thailand but raised primarily in Germany, Chootong worked in top German restaurants and hotels—as well as on the QE2 and the Seabourn Legend—before returning to Thailand in 2003 to join the JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa as exec sous chef. In this new position he oversees Tawann, the hotel's signature restaurant, and the more casual Banana Leaf.
Ready to open this month, the 314 room Peninsula Tokyo has put a stellar f&b team in place. Exec chef is Gerhard Doll, formerly with the Peninsula Manila. Patrice Martineau, chef de cuisine at the hotel's Rooftop Restaurant, comes from London's Savoy, where he's been exec chef since 2005, following six years in New York City with Daniel Boulud. Chef de cuisine for Hei Fung Terrace is Chi Keung Tang, formerly with Wynn Macau and the Peninsula Hong Kong. Exec pastry chef Shigeru Nojima comes from the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Exec sous chef Yasuharu Izumita was formerly at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. And exec assistant manager for f&b Joseph Sampermans transferred from the Peninsula Bangkok.
Starwood opened the 448 room Westin Guangzhou in May, the first five-star international hotel in China's Guangzhou's Tian He District. Guangzhou is at the hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of the most economically dynamic areas in the country. Hotel manager/f&b director Daniel Muhor came from Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort (Phang Nga, Thailand). Exec chef Michael Poutawa had been working as an f&b special projects consultant for Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Send your international restaurant and hotel f&b news to Julie Mautner at WhiskNews@aol.com
