Chef

Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa, an Emirates property and Australia’s first luxury conservation-based resort, is celebrating autumn in Australia with the “Autumn Retreat” package for gourmet aficionados.

A member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World, the luxe resort is located within its own 4,000 acre conservation reserve nestled between two national parks. This secluded refuge features 40 individual suites surrounded by private decks, each with its own indoor/outdoor swimming pool. The resort’s architecture is designed to be reminiscent of traditional rural Australian homesteads.

The Autumn Retreat package includes an on-site cooking demonstration by a Wolgan Valley chef featuring fresh autumnal produce from the resort’s kitchen garden and local suppliers, showcasing uniquely Australian cuisine enhanced by a seasonal, regional and organic food philosophy.

Continue reading Autumn Culinary Retreat Package at Australia’s Luxe Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa

Autumn Culinary Retreat Package at Australia’s Luxe Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Las Vegas To Get A Nobu Hotel originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rumor broke on Friday that David Chang has plans to open a restaurant in the Shangri-La hotel as part of the hotel’s 2012 scheduled opening. There wasn’t been a formal announcement but Chang himself made oblique reference to it on Twitter saying “hello southern ontario” and mentioning the tail end of 2012 sending foodies into a tailspin.

The Globe and Mail got confirmation from Momofuku headquarters that Momofuku is actually going to open two restaurants, a Canadian outpost of Noodle Bar and a new one called Momofuku Daisho. The restaurants will be in a building next to the Shangri-La Hotel and set to open next year. Residences at the Shangri-La Toronto are currently under construction and on sale for $800,000.

Is David Chang Headed To Toronto? originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There guests will be treated to cocktails followed by an impressive meal from celebrated chef Neil Ferguson accompanied an amazing selection of vintage wines, retiring afterwards to rustic suites. Following breakfast on Sunday also by Ferguson there will be a spot of skeet shooting before another scenic drive back to town. “Tweeds are an option, but style is a must,” Quinn tells us. There are only 14 spots on the list, and several have already been filled; the price is $2,000 for singles and $3,000 per couple including the cars and everything except gas and speeding tickets. Call the designer’s New York store at 212 226-7030 to reserve.

Classic Cars, Fine Wine & Cool Design: The Duncan Quinn Appellation Rally originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Vancouver Sun reports that the restaurants were open a little more than two years and that Boulud was the “first international superstar chef” to open a restaurant in Canada. Some local critics speculated that the Boulud’s fine dining was a bit too formal to connect with Vancouver’s laid-back foodie scene. The restaurants, which took inspiration from Boulud’s New York City triumphs were perhaps an inexact fit for the market. The staff from both restaurants will likely be easily reabsorbed into Vancouver’s still-flourishing restaurant community.

He also had a restaurant at the Wynn resort in Las Vegas but that restaurant is now the Lakeside Grill. Boulud meanwhile, continues to thrive in New York City. Last year he won the James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award for his multi-starred restaurant named simply, Daniel.

Chef Daniel Boulud Closing His Vancouver Restaurants originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nothing beats sitting down with the fresh mozzarella and pasta fare available at Obika, the midtown Manhattan mozzarella bar. Rather than disrupt your perfect city Saturday by scarfing down the heavily tourist fare available within striking distance of the shop’s location on E. 56th Street and Madison Avenue, you can amble into the public atrium at the IBM Building and enjoy bufala at its finest.

The only thing missing has been a great glass of wine to accompany it. Well, the good news is that it won’t be a problem anymore.

Anthony Fauci, managing partner of Obika’s New York location, told me over the weekend that the restaurant has just received its liquor license, and that the libations are flowing. The offering is so new that the wine menu hasn’t even been published on the Obika website yet, though Fauci tells me to expect options from Campagnia, Veneto,Tuscany and Puglia, not to mention “a few surprises.” For now, the only way to find out is to head over and order a glass with your dish. I’m hoping to get there within the next few days.

Continue reading New York City Mozzarella Bar Introduces Missing Link

New York City Mozzarella Bar Introduces Missing Link originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It’s never too early to start thinking about outfitting your beach house, so might I suggest that The Regent Grand Hotel in Bordeaux, France, offers an idea worth copying.

If you love to eat those delightful sea crustaceans, and who doesn’t, you will want to do like the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Pressoir d’Argent, and acquire a lobster press.

There aren’t very many of these devices in the world — it’s 90 pounds, made of silver, and looks like a cross between something Willy Wonka might dream up and a torture device — but it’s also shiny and adorned with lovely lobster sculptures as it’s meant to be used tableside.

The idea is similar to a duck press — after removing tail and claws, the rest of the lobster is inserted into the press, where a two-person team works the device to press out the lobster juices. (See the gallery for an action shot.) The result: lobster jus, much stronger in flavor than you’d get from the most developed lobster stock. At The Regent, the chef adds the jus to bearnaise sauce, and serves that on top of roasted lobster meat.

The lobster press is are custom made by Christofle, and take 150 hours of labor by ten master craftsmen to create — they cost 30,000 Euro, just or around $40,700.

Or you can just book a table at the restaurant, and after such grand meal, you’ll certainly require a room. It’s hard to beat the view at the Royale Suite, which has a terrace jacuzzi — but I like the Prestige Suites, which come with their own private wine bar within rolling distance of (the very comfy) bed.

Which, come to think of it, is another fine idea for your beach house.

The $40,000 Lobster Press at the Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.