The English Grill Officially Opens at The Rubens at the Palace in London

With stately views overlooking  the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, The English Grill at The Rubens at the Palace has officially opened following a complete, five-year, multi-million pound restoration of the hotel.   In keeping with the finest English traditions in design and cuisine, the elegant brasserie-style restaurant serves an excellent menu utilizing the highest quality fresh ingredients locally sourced from top English suppliers that serve the Queen’s kitchen.  The extensive wine list features fine selections of old world classics from France and Italy complemented by new wines including a nice list from  Bouchard Finlayson, The Rubens’ sister vineyard in South Africa.

The menu ranges from vegetarian and seafood dishes to the 20-ounce Aubrey Allen Tomahawk Steak, perfect for sharing or especially hearty appetites.  Traditional daily specialties include beef Wellington carved tableside on a silver trolley, belly of slow-roasted pork with crackling and apple sauce, and salmon en croute with fish fresh daily from Billingsgate Fish Market. Other choices include signature gourmet pies with modern twists on retro English classics such as pork and apple, Shepherd’s, and chicken pot pies from the recipe collection of Mrs. Beatrice Tollman, founder and president of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection which owns The Rubens.

The 28-member team of chefs is led by Executive Chef Ben Kelliher, who joins The English Grill from Butlers Restaurant at The Chesterfield Mayfair, another sister property.  Pastry Chef Sarah Houghting, who oversees desserts, presents gourmet takes on English favorites such as Eton mess, crème brûlée and Bea Tollman’s baked vanilla cheesecake.   The talent in the kitchen is matched by the highest standards of service in the dining room under the direction of Head Maître d’ Paul Foxon, whose background includes many years as Head Waiter at The Ritz Hotel in London.

The English Grill’s décor blends polished silver, luxurious fabrics, beautiful chandeliers, and intimate leather booth and table settings to create an ambience of grandeur and elegance. The hotel’s regally-refurbished Cavalry Bar also provides a comfortable stylish environment in which to enjoy pre-dinner cocktails or extend the evening with a digestif while enjoying live music nightly.

Click here for more information on The English Grill and many other amenities of newly-refurbished The Rubens at the Palace.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten Opens Restaurant At The Connaught in London

Internationally renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has opened his new restaurant, Jean-Georges at The Connaught, in one of London’s most distinguished hotels in the heart of Mayfair.

Complementing The Connaught’s elegant blend of past and present, the restaurant features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Mount Street enhanced by French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel whose series of stained glass, sunlit windows  represent the different stages of the day from sunrise to sunset. French graphic designer and illustrator Jean Jullien’s whimsical touches on the eclectic menus add to the ambience.

Inspired by Jean-Georges’ classic French training and signature use of Asian flavors, the menus feature his distinctive interpretation of British classics ranging from fish and chips to traditional afternoon tea influenced by his earlier experiences in London. Sourcing the best of British ingredients, dishes reflect the simple farm to table, fresh approach long pioneered by Jean-Georges as presented in his New York restaurants at The Mark, ABC Kitchen, and The Mercer Kitchen in the heart of Soho.

Jean-Georges at The Connaught will serve breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner throughout the day, seven days a week. Reservations can be made at +44 (0) 207 107 8861. Hélène Darroze will continue to operate her two-Michelin star restaurant on the other side of the hotel.

Click here for more information on hotel  and Jean-Georges at The Connaught.

 

Pastry Chef Pierre Hermé To Open First Pâtisserie in Africa at La Mamounia

Pierre Hermé, named The World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2016 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, will open a new pâtisserie at La Mamounia in Marrakech November 1.  The luxury hotel is the first in Africa to partner with the renowned pastry chef and chocolatier whose bakery will offer pastries created exclusively for the hotel as well as Moroccan classics.

The new association combines the finest Moroccan traditions with the sophisticated refinement characteristic of the Pierre Hermé boutiques. The new pastries and desserts will be served in all the hotel’s restaurants including Le Marocain, L’Italien, Le Français, and Le Pavilion de la Piscine.

 A favorite of international royalty, politicians, celebrities and the jet set since opening in 1923, La Mamounia  embodies the best of traditional Moroccan hospitality, service and luxurious amenities found at the world’s great hotels. Following an extensive restoration led by internationally-acclaimed interior designer Jacques Garcia, it reo-opened in September 2009 with 136 guest rooms, 71 suites including seven signature accommodations, and three riads each with three bedrooms, Moroccan salons and a private terrace with ozone swimming pool.

Heir to four generations of Alsatian bakery and pastry-making tradition, Hermé began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice to legendary Gaston Lenôtre.  Well-known in France, Japan and the United States, Hermé was called “The Picasso of Pastry” by Vogue for his revolutionary pastries.  Refusing to rest on his laurels, he continually revisits his own recipes and explores new taste frontiers.  He has also been called “pastry provocateur” by Food & Wine, “an avant-garde pastry chef and a magician with tastes” by Paris-Match, “The Kitchen Emperor” in the New York Times, and “The King of Modern Pâtisserie” in The Guardian, not to mention numerous additional honors and decorations. The brand is also associated with other groups and has an online boutique.

 

Café Royal Opens First Dessert Restaurant in London

Hotel Cafe Royal c

Hotel Café Royal

Café at Café Royal, London’s first dessert restaurant just opened in London, is the only café in Regent Street between elegant Mayfair and innovative Soho.  Created by executive pastry chef Sarah Barber, café offers the selectable breakfasts, light lunches, patisseries, afternoon teas, hot drinks and wines.

Once the haunt of distinguished patrons from royalty and celebrity to the creative and the notorious, Café Royal has been an iconic landmark for 150 years. In its recent reincarnation as a luxury hotel, it remains a favorite for locals and international travelers being within walking distance of London’s finest shopping streets, tourist attractions and theater district.

Loaf Cakes

Loaf Cakes

Available from 10:30 pm, In the evening, the Café at Café Royal’s dessert restaurant features a creative selection of tasting menus served with optional wine pairings. Each includes a range of savory bites to prepare the palate for the sweet journey ahead.   plates all highlighting Chef Barber’s contemporary, playful style. The dessert tasting menus include such themed offerings as:

Sarah in Wonderland (five-course tasting menu), including:

  • Milky Way with goat cheese, wild honey and beetroot snow
  • Chicken Foie with quince and brioche
  • Queen of Hearts (raspberries, Champagne and roses)
  • Mad Hatter (BFG, kirsch and cherries)
  • Eat Me, Drink Me (Snickers, chocolate malt shake)

Childhood Memories (three-course tasting menu), including Sarah’s take on nostalgic favorites such as:

  • Rhubarb & Custard
  •  Jaffa Cakes

Pick ‘n Mix (four-course customized menu), including guests’ choice of:

  • White Rabbit with Acapella cheese, artichokes and black truffle
  • Salmon Tart with silky avocado
  • Jaffa Cake
  • Eat Me, Drink Me
  • Queen of Hearts
Five course tasting menu

Five course tasting menu

Wine flights will be available to accompany each menu, with diverse and inspired choices including, sparkling Prosecco di Valdobbiadene with the Milky Way; Henriques y Henriques madeira with the Jaffa cake; and classic dessert wines such as Château Roumieu, Sauternes with the Eat Me, Drink Me.

Sarah Barber, Executive Patry Chef c

Sarah Barber, Executive Pastry Chef

Chef Barber’s new daytime food and drink menus and wines offered from 8 am to 6 pm daily. The Pâtisserie presents petits gateaux including pistachio and apricot mille feuille, strawberry lemon candy cane, raspberry rose sphere, and large entrements (multi-layered mousse-based cakes of various flavors and textural contrasts) such as strawberry crispy mousse with almond sponge and lemon curd, and Black Forest gâteau with chocolate mushrooms.

The Café at Café Royal is open daily from 8 am to 11 pm. The new dessert tasting menus are priced from £26 per person.  For more information, visit www.hotelcaferoyal.com or phone call +44 (0)20 7406 3310.

Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua Appoints New Executive Chef and new Banquet Chef

Daniel Schmidt, Executive Chef

The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua has appointed Daniel Schmidt as Executive Chef and Shehu Fitzgerald as Banquet Chef to oversee the resort’s six dining venues. Schmidt transfers from The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain Hotel in Marana, Arizona where as executive chef he oversaw all aspects of food preparation for the resort’s six restaurants, club lounge, banquets and in-room dining. He was previously executive sous chef for The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China for two years before being promoted to executive chef.  Chef Schmidt’s accolades include several prestigious culinary awards including first place winner of the Cook Olympics, Chaîne des Rôtisseurs in Berlin and WorldChampionshipinHolland.

Shehu Fitzgerald, Banquet Chef

Shehu Fitzgerald, Banquet Chef

Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Shehu Fitzgerald was senior sous chef of the New York Marriott Marquis in New York where he managed the main kitchen and banquets. Previously, Fitzgerald served as executive chef of The Phunky Elephant Gastropub in Staten Island, New York and restaurant chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park in New York. In May 2011, Fitzgerald achieved celebrity chef status after winning the Food Network show “Chopped” in season seven. Fitzgerald has also competed on Food Network’s “Chopped Champs” and ABC’s “The Taste.” Schmidt and Fitzgerald, along with newly-appointed pastry chef Yoshi Kizu, will oversee The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua’s

The Banyan Tree

The Banyan Tree

newly-remodeled signature restaurant, The Banyan Tree, which plays host to numerous local events including monthly tastings benefiting various local Maui charities and a monthly wine dinner. The Banyan Tree offers a notable wine-by-the-glass, courtesy of Coravin, where the servers pour expensive wines without having to pull the cork, preserving the freshness.  Banyan Tree offers a notable wine-by-the-glass list, courtesy of Coravin, where the servers pour  expensive wines without having to pull the cork, preserving the freshness of the wine.

 Beach House RestaurantOther dining venues include Kai Sushi, The Terrace restaurant, Alaloa Lounge, The Beach House, and The Pool Café. The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua is a stunning resort offering 463 guestrooms, including 107 residential suites with rich travertine bathrooms, flat-screen LCD televisions and Hawaiian-inspired artwork.  The Ritz-Carlton Spa®, Kapalua has treatment rooms with private garden showers, volcanic stone grottos, steam, sauna and whirlpool therapies, outdoor couple’s cabanas, plus a fitness center  and children’s pool– all enveloped in the 23,000 acre Kapalua Resort, renowned for two championship golf courses, award-winning restaurants and a historic pineapple plantation site.

Copy of Chef Matteo Arvonio joins Four Seasons Shanghai dup

Chef Matteo Arvonio

Chef Matteo Arvonio

Chef Matteo Arvonio has joined the team of the Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai’s Café Studio restaurant. He was most recently Chef de Cuisine at Il Teatro at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha. His first Four Seasons affiliation was in Mumbai, after which he moved to the Maldives.  Some 25 restaurants during the past two decades complete his experience, with most of his culinary career spent in his home country, Italy.

Born in northern Italy in the town of Piedmont bordering both France and Switzerland against a dramatic backdrop of the Alps,  Chef Arvonio’s ambitions were inspired by his uncle who worked in several of Milano’s five-star hotels. By the age of 13, he had discovered his love for food and knew what he wanted to be.

In Café Studio, you can enjoy Chef Arvonio’s many tempting creations which include a broad selection of Italian specialties.  Check out these and other offerings at Four Seasons Shanghai Café Studio