As far as I’m concerned, destination hotels and destination restaurants are one and the same.
Whether we’re talking about Epicure at Le Bistro in Paris, La Pergola at the Waldorf Astoria’s Rome Cavalieri, or The Hand and Flowers at Tom Kerridge’s synonymous inn, no truly phenomenal hotel experience is complete without phenomenal food.
Only, the latter is starting to take a different shape as the industry gets to grips with post-pandemic hospitality.
Take Cyprus’ brand-new luxury resort, Cap St Georges. Traditionally, the hotel (which boasts a private yacht for guest use) would have been the type to spend a small fortune hiring a multi-Michelin-starred chef and letting them create the restaurant of their dreams, drawing in hordes of wealthy Europeans to unwind and dine with a pillar of culinary excellence.
Only, when it opened in July 2022, they took a very different route.
Instead of hiring any chef for its main restaurant, the hotel held a four-month “epicurean festival”—Sky 7 Stars—with a number of Michelin-starred chefs from all over the world.
For a few days each, the chefs brought their respective one-to-three Michelin star menus to the Mediterranean, not only giving guests a reason to stay at the hotel, but a food experience they wouldn’t find anywhere else on the island.
And, with the chefs including Nicolas Isnard, Rui Silvestre, Pieter Riedijk, Thomas Bühner, Kiko Moya, Erik Van Loo, Henrique Sa Passoa, and Jordi Artal, food experiences many in the area may never have dreamed of.
Which is, perhaps, one of the main reasons five-star hotels are embracing chef residencies. These events appeal as much to locals as they do to tourists and, in uncertain times, offer an exciting new revenue steam.
You know, if its Japanese teppanyaki, secret beach, Italian trattoria, and in-room pools weren’t enough to entice guests alone.
Chef residencies: when you want to stay in one place and eat as though you’ve travelled the world
Cap St Georges aren’t the only ones trying out residencies, either.
Siyam World, Maldives opened a dedicated chef’s table restaurant, The Cube, this year with an inaugural residency by culinary legend, Claude Bosi (chef-patron of Bibendum) followed by Sebastian Frank (chef-patron of Horváth).
For a month in April Restaurant Story and Tom Sellers brought their progressive culinary delights to Flutes at the National Museum of Singapore, too—the first of its kind in the region.
And with countless five-star reviews for all of them, it might just be that Michelin-starred mainstays are no longer the recipe for success.
Just last week, Solihull’s Hampton Manor announced in would be closing its beloved Michelin-starred restaurant, Peel, at the end of the year, replacing it with a more casual dining option.
As of now, the jury’s out on which will yield the best results, but I have the highest hopes for chef residencies.
They have the power to take the boredom out of business travel, add even more to luxury travel, and allow talented chefs to share their creations with the world.
What’s not to love?