Whisk Around the World
Julie Mautner
Posted: April 25, 2008
Mexico and the Caribbean The 96 room Aura Cozumel, a Wyndham Grand Bay Resort, opened in January, adjacent to the 402 room Wyndham Cozumel Resort and Spa in Mexico. It's an all-inclusive, all-suite "ultra luxury boutique" property, and the two hotels share an 8,000-square-foot spa. Exec chef Jaime Poot held the same post at Secrets Riviera Maya and, before that, at The Ritz-Carlton Cancún. F&B director Horacio Torres came from the Melia Sol Rio de Luna y Mares in Holguin, Cuba.
In late January, the 186 room Casa Dorada Los Cabos Resort & Spa opened in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Guadalajara-born exec chef Fabian Rios, 26, was previously at Casablanca in Cabo, while f&b director Raúl Badillo came from the Desire Resort & Spa in San Jose del Cabo. The gm is Victor Gomez, who was regional director of the Six Sigma quality-control program for Starwood in Mexico. To create the menu for the resort's 200 seat indoor/outdoor restaurant, 12 Tribes, Rios sourced 400 ingredients from 30 countries. Each course is listed with background on its ethnic or geographic roots.
Daniel Krakowski is the new director of restaurants for The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas. This is a newly created position, replacing the job of the assistant director of f&b, which was held by Dewiet Miller, who's now director of operations for the neighboring Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Thomas. Krakowski was previously with Norwegian Cruise Lines as director of restaurants.
Patrick Lassaque is the new exec pastry chef at The Ritz-Carlton San Juan in Puerto Rico. He comes from the Mandarin Oriental in Miami and replaces Santosh Tiptur, who now helms the stoves at Co Co. Sala in Washington, D.C.
Canada At West in Vancouver, B.C., named Restaurant of the Year by Vancouver Magazine for three years running, Warren Geraghty has replaced David Hawksworth as exec chef. Geraghty comes from the Michelin one-star L'Escargot in London, where he was exec chef under chef/owner Marco Pierre White (White sold his interest in L'Escargot last year to partner Jimmy Lahoud) and also worked at The Orrery, Chez Nico, and Pied à Terre (London). At L'Escargot, Geraghty's replacement is Toby Stuart, who comes, most recently, from three-star Troisgros in Roanne, France, having worked under Geraghty at Restaurant Neat in Cannes. Stuart's new title is head chef of the Picasso Room at L'Escargot. Meanwhile, Hawksworth (who, as it turns out, was head chef at L'Escargot in 1997–'98), plans to open his own restaurant—at the Hotel Georgia in downtown Vancouver in late 2009—and is also at work on a cookbook.
France Sandro Gamba has returned to his native France to be corporate chef for Sofitel worldwide, based in Paris. He comes from the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village (California) and, before that, was exec chef at NoMi in the Park Hyatt (Chicago).
Maryan Gandon is the new exec chef at the Fairmont (Monte Carlo). He had been consulting for Fauchon (Paris) and oversaw the opening of the first Fauchon in Beijing. Previously, Gandon worked at Lenôtre (Paris), the Royal Barrière (Deauville), and the InterContinental Carlton (Cannes). In Monte Carlo, he replaces Jack Torney.
United Kingdom Raymond Blanc, chef/owner of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, has opened three more Brasserie Blancs: one in central Leeds (September '07), one in Milton Keynes (December '07), and one in Winchester (March '08), bringing the total to eight. The next opening will be in Bristol in August or September.
Gate Gourmet, the U.K.'s leading airline service company, has hired Steven Walpole as senior exec chef to British Airways. Prior to this appointment, Walpole was a chef/lecturer at West minster College (London) and also worked at Brown's Hotel, The Lanesborough, Michel Roux's The Waterside Inn (Bray), and the House of Commons.
The Middle East Six Senses opened its first resort outside of Asia on January 15. Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay is located on Oman's Musandam Peninsula, a 90 minute drive from Dubai. The dramatic setting, with mountains on one side and a white sand beach on the other, has 82 suites and villas, including some with butler service. The chef, Corey Hume, came from the Outrigger at Clearwater Resort in Christchurch, New Zealand. The f&b director is Ashish Modak, from Taj Exotica Resort & Spa in the Maldives.
Africa Laurent Large has left Burgundy's three-star L'Espérance, where he worked for three years with Marc Meneau, to join Singita Grumeti Reserves, an eco-safari destination in East Africa, as exec chef for their trio of luxury lodges in Tanzania: Sasakwa Lodge, Sabora Tented Camp, and Faru Faru Lodge. This is Large's first job in Africa. He'll be based at Sasakwa and plans to build a greenhouse and a community cooking school.
