Tag: Celebrity Chefs
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We Ate Risotto And Talked Hotels With Curtis Stone
Stone enjoying some Risotto Milanese, catered by Cafe B inside the Hotel Indigo Chelsea
In another life, we might have rolled our eyes at the thought of interviewing some pretty boy celebrity chef who makes a living cooking (and eating) gourmet food on national TV. But in the case of Curtis Stone, who showed up at the Hotel Indigo Chelsea on Friday to promote a local food campaign ("Locals Know Best"), we sat up to listen.
During our chat, the well-traveled chef name-drops a few of his fave NYC spots, professes his love for English Afternoon Tea, and explains why The Standard requires a certain "mood."
How did this partnership with Indigo come about?
I'm a huge advocate of local food, local produce, local chefs, local restaurants, so we decided to do a "Locals Know Best" campaign, which is just an extension of sourcing local ingredients. But it's also trying to bring in a bunch of local knowledge to each of the [Indigo] properties. I think the most important thing when you travel is to get a local flavor when you're there. Otherwise, there's no point in traveling, for both business and pleasure.
Hotel Restaurants / Celebrity Chefs / Wolfgang Puck / London Hotels / Hotel News / Dorchester Collection Hotels / → All Tags
Wolfgang Puck to Open CUT Inside London's 45 Park Lane
CUT in Vegas
We've been so busy tallying up the London Hotel Openings, that we've nearly lost sight of what's actually going inside the hotels. But thankfully, 45 Park Lane has righted us again with their announcement that Wolfgang Puck will open his successful steak restaurant, CUT inside the hotel later this spring.
The first CUT opened at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire and was instantly frequented by A-list celebs (TomKat, etc.) That was followed by CUT at The Palazzo in Las Vegas. But even more special for the hotel, aside from having a guaranteed celeb nosh spot, is that this will be Wolfgang's first restaurant in Europe.
It's kinda hard to believe that's never been done before, given how prolific Wolfgang Puck is in America--from LA to Vegas and even on-the-go airport food. Nevertheless, when CUT opens here's a bit on what to expect:
Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / London Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Heston Blumenthal / Celebrity Chefs / → All Tags
Mandarin Oriental London to Get All 'Medieval Times' On Us in January
These days, it seems not only the hotels are delaying their opening dates, even the hotel restaurants are at it. But how could we get mad when the delay involves something as quirky as medieval fare?
It turns out Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has pushed back its opening by two months. The restaurant simply named Dinner by Heston Blumenthal was set to open on December 1st but has now announced it not open until January 29, 2011. Oh but wait until it does.
Hotel Restaurants / Thompson Hotels / Celebrity Chefs / Susur Lee / Scott Conant / Hotel News / → All Tags
Shang at Thompson LES Remains Open While Scarpetta Debuts in Toronto
The Shang restaurant at Thompson LES, helmed by Toronto-based Top Chef Master Chef Susur Lee, has been on the Eater NY Deathwatch for nearly a year and in their latest edition, Shang still ranks high.
Back in March Lee blamed the restaurant's failure on "traditional" New Yorkers who really weren't into avant garde Chinese food. But despite the restaurant's shortcomings, the Thompson folks tell us Shang is still very much open and will continue to be. The hotel is even working with Lee on a larger menu for the fall season. Meanwhile, the reviews on Yelp! are solidly average.
Back up in Toronto, things have been reversed at Thompson Toronto. A New York city chef (Scott Conant) opened the first outpost of his Italian restaurant, Scarpetta, on Friday. The restaurant is now open for dinner from 5:30pm to 11pm nightly. And judging from the menu, "traditional" Toronto residents can rest assured that Scarpetta sticks to the Italian basics. Last time we checked, Eater didn't have a Deathwatch edition for Toronto restaurants but we're sure they are watching Scarpetta closely.
Have you eaten at either Shang or Scarpetta? What did you think of the food? Let us know in comments below.
London Hotels / Hotel Hype / The Mayfair Hotel / Hotel Restaurants / Celebrity Chefs / → All Tags
UK TV Chef to Launch Restaurant at The May Fair Hotel
For the rest of the week, we'll be focusing on the latest news out of Londontowne. Got a hotel we should check out or know of any tawdry London hotel scoop? Or better yet, got the skinny on where all the WAGs hang out? Tip us off.
Chef Silvena Rowe, star of "Saturday Kitchen" and executive chef at Baltic is to take over the restaurant at the Mayfair Hotel. As we've well-documented here on HotelChatter, The May Fair hotel is the accommodation choice tons of celebs. Lady Gaga lives there when she is in London and Kate Moss’s penthouse birthday party apparently lasted two full days.
And don't forget when Paris Hilton spent the night! So this new restaurant will no doubt be perfect location for some more star- spotting, not to mention reality TV sets. (But is there a way to ban Katie Price?)
Celebrity Chefs / Hotel Restaurants / Cambridge Hotels / Mandalay Bay / → All Tags
'Top Chef Masters' Turns Up the Heat on Hotel Chefs
Susan Feniger
We told you about Affinia Chicago's chef Marcus Samuelsson of C-House when we attended its Bravo's Top Chef Masters viewing party. But the show has three other cheftestants who hail from hotel kitchens.
Find out which hotel celeb chefs are stirring things up on the show after the jump.
Celebrity Chefs / Hotel Restaurants / Rooftop Bars / Affinia Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
The Affinia Chicago Throws a 'Top Chef Masters' Party for Its Own Cheftestant
The Affinia Chicago threw a viewing party for the second episode of season two’s Top Chef Masters, which stars the hotel’s C-House chef, Marcus Samuelsson. The chef was in the house for a meet-and-greet and to watch the cooking drama unfold.
A decent-sized crowd showed up to root for the cheftestant at C-View, the Affinia’s smallish rooftop bar and lounge on the 29th floor. Before the episode aired on the two flat-screens inside the bar, the affable Samuelsson made the rounds to the patrons to politely introduce himself and thank everyone for coming. He told us that the Top Chef Masters experience was great, but crazy at times.
Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / London Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Daniel Boulud / Celebrity Chefs / → All Tags
Bar Boulud Will Open at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park In May
Expect to eat oysters at Bar Boulud. Though not attached to the chef.
It’s coming! Bar Boulud was set to open in Spring 2010 and, amazingly, it appears to be pretty much on schedule – Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park have just announced the big day will be in May. Not sure which day yet, but we’re hoping it’s sooner rather than later (FYI, people, late May would definitely not be classed as spring).
According to the hotel, it will have
French techniques applied to the finest ingredients will deliver a full bistro menu that will focus on wines from the Burgundy and Rhône Valley with an impressive selection available both by the glass and by the bottle.
Hotel Restaurants / Todd English / Celebrity Chefs / Hotel News / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Todd English to Open an Upscale Food Hall Inside The Plaza
We must have missed this one during our Thanksgiving tofurkey coma but it looks like celeb chef Todd English is partnering up with The Plaza Hotel in New York to create an ambitious upscale food court hall that will open in Spring 2010. Say what?
Yes, The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English will debut in the famed hotel's concourse level designed by equally famous architect Jeffrey Beers.
The open space will feature eight stations and kitchens included a wine bar staffed by a sommelier, a cheese and charcuterie station, a sushi bar, a burger bar and rotisserie, an Asian noodle and dumpling bar, a brick oven pizza, fish and seafood grill, and an espresso and tea bar.
Phew. But that's not all:
Hotel Rooftops / Hotel Rooftop Bars / Celebrity Chefs / Marrakech Hotels / Riads in Marrakech / → All Tags
The Best Roof Terrace in Marrakech is at the Maison MK, Says Jamie Oliver
Beyond Jamie's heinous t-shirt is a pretty killer view
Say we had a restaurant and we wanted a celeb chef to endorse it, we probably wouldn’t go for Jamie Oliver, the healthy meal-crusading Brit who currently appears to be setting his sights on the States (apologies for that). No offence Jamie, but your cheeky chappy persona hasn’t exactly mellowed as the years have gone by, your TV ads annoy us to pieces, and you’re getting a bit too portly to be banging on about healthy eating.
Seems that not everybody is as ranty about Jamie as us, though, because Maison MK in Marrakech has just announced that Jamie has deemed its roof terrace “the best roof top out of a selection of 26 riads he had seen.” Erm, right.
Hotel Restaurants / Celebrity Chefs / Renaissance Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
The Blackstone Chicago's Top Toque Gets Named the 'Next Iron Chef'
Mercat a la Planxa's chef de cuisine J. Michael Fiorello and executive chef/Iron Chef Jose Garces.
Jose Garces recently won the Food Network's Next Iron Chef competition, putting him in the distinguished culinary ranks of Mario Batali, Cat Cora and Bobby Flay. But there seems to be a bit of a controversy surrounding his win: Philly is claiming the chef as one of its own, since Garces primarily resides there and owns several restaurants in the city, but The Blackstone a Renaissance Chicago Hotel is calling dibs, since he was born in the Windy City and serves as the executive chef of the hotel's Mercat a la Planxa.
Having the executive chef title doesn't mean that Garces is always in the kitchen. But it does mean that you can taste his trademark Latin cooking style at Mercat, which specializes in Catalan tapas.
Hotel Restaurants / Hotel News / London Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Daniel Boulud / Celebrity Chefs / → All Tags
The Next Gordon Ramsay? Daniel Boulud Is Coming to London
Hey Daniel Boulud, have you never heard of Gordon Ramsay? Or of over-reaching yourself? Not content with dominating most of North America, he’s going to be crossing over the pond and gracing London with his presence in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.
Bar Boulud London will basically be a rip-off take on his New York Bar Boulud, and promises to “bring into play French techniques applied to the finest ingredients.” So pâtés, terrines, cheese and charcuterie with lots of wine. Yum.
The decor sounds interesting – there’s a wine theme, so vaulted ceilings and lots of wood and cork – and Boulud promises to combine ”New York’s energy and spirit, French soul and tradition, and a touch of London style.” Just a touch? Whatever.
BBL will open Spring 2010 and will seat 165. See you at the bar.
[Photo: NY Mag]
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