Whisk Around the World
Julie Mautner
Posted: May 22, 2008
The Caribbean Stephane Duvacher is the new f&b director at Rosewood's Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, having worked last at the five-star Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa in Dubai. Managing director Martein van Wagenberg says Duvacher and new chef Marcel Driessen have been given carte blanche "to work their magic." Driessen joined Little Dix Bay in November 2007 from Sandy Lane on Barbados.
Canada The 77 suite Nita Lake Lodge opened in January on the shores of Whistler's Nita Lake, a two hour drive from Vancouver, B.C., and just steps away from Creekside, home of the 2010 Winter Olympic alpine events. Parent company Boutique Hotels & Resorts of British Columbia also operates The Cove Lakeside Resort (Westbank) and The Oswego Hotel (Victoria). Paul Scanlon, director of operations, was most recently at the Pan Pacific Whistler and Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside. Exec chef Steve Ridley came from Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler Village. The f&b director is Bradlie Goian. Meanwhile, the company has four new lodges in the works.
Josh Wolfe is the new exec chef at Coast Restaurant in Vancouver, B.C., owned by Emad Yacoub and his Glowbal Restaurant Group. A Toronto native, Wolfe comes, most recently, from Trevor Kitchen and Bar (Toronto). He replaces Jeremy Atkins, who moved on to another project in the company. Coast is based on simple and sustainable products tied to coastal regions around the world; Wolfe's first menu includes lobster corn dogs, Jonah crab burgers with tempura beets and truffled soy, and truffle-dusted arctic char.
The Los Angeles–based Kor Hotel Group opened their first Canadian property, the 77 room waterfront Loden Vancouver, in the city's Coal Harbour neighborhood in April. The 14 story hotel tower features the 80 seat contemporary West Coast cuisine restaurant Voya, headed by chef Marc-André Choquette, formerly of Lumière (Vancouver). The hotel gm is Edel Forristal, formerly director of operations at Vancouver's Terminal City Club & Hotel. Voya's gm is Robert Herman, who came from the Club Intrawest Zihuatanejo (Mexico). Rooms begin at Can$399 (U.S.$404).
France The 150 room Regent Bordeaux, opened last month, is the luxury hotel company's first property in France. Formerly known as the Grand Hôtel of Bordeaux, it was redesigned by Jacques Garcia, who also did Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market in New York City and L'Hotel, Hôtel Costes, and the Ladurée tearoom in Paris. Housed in an historic palace, the new Regent sits in a prime location opposite the Opéra National de Bordeaux and features a 3,000-square-foot spa, indoor rooftop pool, stunning city views, and a luxury retail gallery home to Van Cleef & Arpels, Chopard, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and others. The hotel exec chef is Laurent Costes, from the Relais de Margaux near Bordeaux, while the exec chef of the fine dining restaurant, L'Océan, is Pascal Nibaudeau, who came over from the Sea Grill, a Michelin two-star in Brussels. The manager at L'Océan is Franck Montangon, from the Château des Vigiers, a golf/country club in the Dordogne. The hotel gm is Nathalie Seiler, previously at the Radisson SAS Champs-Élysées. The hotel's Cave à Vins doubles as both L'Océan's wine cellar and a luxury wine shop where guests can buy bottles featured on the restaurant's list.
United Kingdom Gordon Ramsay opened Plane Food at the newly built Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport in March. It's a 180 cover fine dining restaurant housed in the Richard Rogers—designed building of the world's busiest international airport. Ramsay alums Stuart Gillies and Nathan Johnson are running the kitchen together, Gillies as exec chef and Johnson as head chef.
In London, Sam and Eddie Hart, owners of Fino and Barrafina, have purchased the legendary Quo Vadis and, after restoring it, will reopen this month with an 85 seat restaurant on the ground floor and a members' club on the first and second floors. The exec chef, Jean-Philippe Patruno, worked for the last five years at Fino.
Polynesia Eric Brunel is the new exec chef at Le Taha'a Island Resort & Spa on the secluded island of Taha'a in French Polynesia, facing Bora Bora, about 30 minutes by boat from Raiatea. Brunel comes from Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda, where he was exec chef for one year, and he also held exec chef positions at the Grace Bay Club (Turks and Caicos) and the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa. He replaces Julien Hennote, who has returned to France to join Alain Llorca at Le Moulin de Mougins in Mougins, about four miles from Cannes.
Singapore The Fullerton Hotel has named Leong Chee Yeng as chef de cuisine of Jade, their 120 seat modern Chinese restaurant that reopened in January 2008. Yeng was most recently exec Chinese chef of Zheng He's at the Madinat Jumeirah resort (Dubai). Managed since 2001 by the Tung Lok Group, Jade is now operated by the hotel itself.
