Whisk Around the World
Julie Mautner
Posted: October 22, 2007
Central America Jodi and Vance Benté have just opened a six cabana eco-friendly lodge in Belize called Casa del Caballo Blanco. Located on a 23 acre former ranch 9 1/2 miles from the Guatemalan border, the lodge is also home to the not-for-profit Casa Avian Support Alliance. The head cook is Gracie Obando, previously the kitchen manager and senior cook at Caesars, near the Belizean capital of Belmopan. Meals are heavily influenced by Mayan and Creole traditions, using produce from the lodge's own gardens and local markets.
The Caribbean Curtis Smithen has been named exec chef at the Four Seasons Great Exuma at Emerald Bay in the Bahamas. He comes from the Four Seasons Resort Nevis, where he was senior sous chef. And speaking of the Four Seasons Nevis, Bruno Correa is that hotel's new exec chef. He came over from the Four Seasons Hong Kong, where he was exec sous chef, to replace Cyrille Pannier. Pannier has gone on to be exec chef at the Four Seasons Hampshire (U.K.).
Paris The Hilton Arc de Triomphe Paris has hired Philippe Daigneaux as its new exec chef. Daigneaux was most recently sous chef at the Grand Hotel InterContinental (Paris) and worked previously at Le Jules Verne, Drouant, and Le Grand Véfour. Daigneaux replaces Bernard Fiemeyer, who went to the Drake Hotel (Chicago).
Germany The Mövenpick Hotel Hamburg recently opened in a converted 1910 water tower in Hamburg's Sternschanzen Park. The four-star hotel has 226 rooms spread over 17 floors. Exec chef Christian Burmester came from the Kempinski Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten (Munich), where he was sous chef. The f&b is Oliver Beck, who transferred from the Mövenpick in Lübeck, Germany.
Rome Amedeo Ottaviani, owner of the 32 room Hotel Lord Byron (Rome) and the 35 room Hotel Regency (Florence), has just opened the chic 120 room 155 Via Veneto. Chef Gianni di Rutigliano came from the Michelin one-star Baby (Rome), where he worked under Alfonso Iaccarino. The gm is Roberto Simone, most recently at the Grand Hotel et de Milan (Milan). The new hotel, in a landmark Art Deco building, was designed in a subtle French-Italian Deco style, with a glass-roofed inner courtyard and rooftop pool.
London Inspired by La Petite Maison in Nice, France, a regular haunt of celebrities and politicians for the last 19 years, Arjun Waney, the principal owner of Zuma and Roka restaurants (London) has opened the 80 seat La Petite Maison in Mayfair, on the former site of Teca. Head chef Raphael Duntoye has been a senior chef at Zuma for three years; the gm is Francesco Mattioli. The original La Petite Maison is owned by Nicole Rubi, who agreed to let Waney use the name, overall style, and certain signature dishes. She also served as an informal consultant.
China Uwe Opocensky is the new exec chef at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. He joins the hotel from the Shangri-La Hotel Group, where he held exec chef positions at a number of Asian properties. Opocensky replaces Sean O'Connell, who went off to the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, currently undergoing a $500 million renovation.
New Zealand The first Westin in New Zealand, the 172 room Westin Auckland, Lighter Quay, overlooking Viaduct Harbour, has opened. In what may be one of the most unique arrangements in professional kitchendom, head chef Analiese Gregory, 22, oversees a brigade of 20 that includes a coterie of chefs regrouped from their days of cooking together at hotel One Aldwych in London, where she was chef de tournant. Working alongside Analiese is her father, Mark Gregory, 45, who spent 18 years as a chef/restaurateur in the U.K., the last nine of them as exec chef at One Aldwych. The former restaurant manager from One Aldwych, Nelly Dupuy, is restaurant manager; the hotel gm is Greg Findlay.
