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Categories4 new dream properties and 9 new Grands Chefs join Relais & Châteaux
Four new member properties
They are located in four different countries reflecting the international dimension of Relais & Châteaux: in France, La Maison Décoret (charming hotel and gourmet restaurant of Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux Jacques Décoret), in Italy, Combal Zero restaurant (Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux Davide Scabin), in Canada, Europea restaurant (Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux Jerôme Ferrer) and in Malaysia, Villa Samadhi (charming hotel in a city).
La Maison Décoret, Vichy, France
Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux: Jacques Décoret
Jacques Décoret is already recognised as one of the chefs responsible for adding a new chapter to the history of culinary arts. With his wife Martine, he has taken over a brick chalet from the times of Napoleon III on the edge of the Parc des Sources in Vichy complete with a delightful conservatory with a planted roof garden by architect Jean-Michel Brouillat. With its 5 gentle, spacious guest rooms, a kitchen with large picture windows, it blends contemporary and classical style, the perfect image of the Chef himself. This Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux was trained in the finest of restaurants (Jean-Michel Lorain in Joigny, Alain Passard at L’Arpège and Régis Marcon) and favours fine produce to which he applies his innovative skills, proposing combinations of surprising flavours. Gourmets acclaim his ‘menus-confiance’ and can also sign up for introductory cooking courses to learn this original culinary approach.
Combal Zero, Rivoli, Italy
Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux: Davide Scabin
The restaurant is situated within the superb context of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art located near Turin, within the walls of a 13th century fortress which is also houses one of the finest contemporary art galleries in Europe. Here Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux Davide Scabin, creator and theoretician of the Colombal Zero, presides over the premises which were named by the US press as one of the “10 life-changing restaurants”! Chef Scabin was one of the first to experiment in a futuristic cuisine, devising a ‘zuppipizza’ (liquid pizza accompanied by a few pieces of ‘virtual’ pasta) and reinventing the traditional home-made ‘ragù’. This was before he returned to an inventive cuisine based on purity of flavour (‘aubergine tataki’), and also on texture and culinary design (which he taught at the University of Turin). His attention to the tiniest detail and to the choreographic quality of the ambiance contribute to making a meal at the Combal Zero an experience comparable to that of contemporary art performance.
Restaurant Europea, Montreal, Canada
Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux: Jérôme Ferrer
A contemporary design in a Victorian house in the heart of downtown Montreal, Restaurant Europea harmoniously blends warm colours and local materials – maple, slate, Gaspésie stone. The soothing décor of Europea is the setting for the modern, intuitive, creative cuisine by Jerôme Ferrer Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux who originally hails from Narbonne, France. Lobster cappuccino with shavings of truffle, ravioli of Alaskan crab claw and lettuce with rice, foam of beurre blanc with Tahitian vanilla; minute Buffalo Tartare, mixed watercress salad, carpaccio of smoked Boileau venison with crunchy vegetables… The à la carte menu, based on the best produce Quebec has to offer, is an invitation to explore the wide open spaces of Canada. A high point of this stunning culinary experience: the maple crystalline, a delicacy prepared by Roland Del Monte (M.O.F. – Best Worker of France) which deliciously breaks apart like delicate crystal.
Villa Samadhi, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
In the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Villa Samadhi is an intimate urban retreat housed within a quiet, upscale residential locale just minutes away from the KL city centre. This ‘bumbung panjang’, or traditional Malaysian house, has 21 rooms clustered around its lagoon pool, some with their own private gardens and with individual, fully-equipped kitchens where the chef comes to you to create your meals. This villa-in-a-room concept is complete with Asian-style elegant décor and the intimate communion with lush gardens make this unique spot a green enclave in the heart of an urban jungle, an oasis of serenity and charm.
Nine new Grands Chefs Relais & Châteaux
In addition to the three remarkable Grands Chefs mentioned above (Jacques Décoret in Vichy, France; Davide Scabin in Rivoli, Italy; Jerôme Ferrer in Montreal, Canada), six virtuosos of taste have additionally been appointed to the ranks of Grands Chefs Relais & Châteaux.
In France, there is first a duo: Philippe Colinet and Yoshihiko Miura at L’Auberge des Templiers (Berry); as well as Christophe Bacquié at L’Hôtel du Castellet (Var). In Germany, Michael Fell at Villa am See (Bavaria); in Italy, Antonio Guida at Il Pellicano (Tuscany); in Switzerland, Stéphane Décotterd at Le Pont de Brent; and, in the United States, Joseph Lenn, at Blackberry Farm (Tennessee).
Auberge des Templiers, France
Grand Chefs: Philippe Colinet and Yoshihiko Miura
The title of Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux has been awarded to a duo: Philippe Colinet and Yoshihiko Miura. At the L’Auberge des Templiers, which was the first hotel on the historical Relais & Châteaux “Route du Bonheur” stretching from Paris to the south of France beginning in 1954, they draw their inspiration from the culinary identity of the region (Berry and Sologne). They favour noble produce (roasted blue lobster on a coral-thickened risotto, lacquered Sologne pigeon with pralines…) and seasonal produce, such as mushrooms and game in the autumn (ravioli of wild mushrooms and velouté with a truffle jus, mallard duck with sweet spices, young wild boar with berries, endives and chestnuts in pork belly, venison in a poivrade sauce…).
Hôtel du Castellet, France
Grand Chef: Christophe Bacquié
It was scarcely a matter of months before Christophe Bacquié, former chef from La Villa in Calvi, brought his renowned style to the kitchens of the Monte Cristo, the prestigious restaurant of L’Hôtel du Castellet. His cuisine is based on seasonal produce of the south of France enlivened by a hint of flavours from further afield, inspired by his travels. On the menu of this Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux, crispy fish with ginger and coriander, sashimi-style John Dory and crab with Aquitaine caviar, and a filet of suckling pig confit slowly cooked for 36 hours, which are all testimony of a perfect mastery of spices and cooking times. This sun-kissed cuisine is in tune with the décor, the façade of yellow ochre and the pines.
Villa am See, Germany
Grand Chef: Michael Fell
In Bavaria, not far from the Italian border, on Lake Tegernsee, Villa am See combines a Mediterranean-tinged ambiance with the finest panoramas in the Alps. The cuisine of the Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux, Michael Fell, to be discovered in the hotels’ three restaurants, is at one with this, with its simple, authentic local produce and its elegant refinement. Beetroot is ennobled beside a Périgord truffle, saddle of venison en croute, with the crust prepared from walnuts and spices, is served with black salsify. The Chef also offers cooking classes.
Il Pellicano, Italy
Grand Chef: Antonio Guida
To experience Antonio Guida’s cuisine is a high point of a stay in this magnificent sea-side hotel in Porto Ercole, Tuscany. This Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux reinvents Mediterranean traditions with fish and seafood, local produce and herbs and vegetables from the cottage garden on his estate. Courgette flowers accompany a ‘cuttlefish’ risotto and red mullet in mascarpone sauce, langoustine tempura is served with monkfish, anchovy tartare, with a sweet and sour sauce with crystallised vegetables as an accompaniment. The ‘Calamandino’ tasting menu is an invitation to embark on a journey through the flavours of the Mediterranean.
Pont de Brent, Switzerland
Grand Chef: Stéphane Décotterd
Stéphane Décotterd was born in Fribourg, brought up in La Tour-de-Peilz, and at the Pont de Brent he built his reputation as a talented chef and met his wife Stéphanie, the sommelier. After a two-year escapade to Canada, he returned to Switzerland, to take charge of the kitchen from the hands of his mentor Gérard Rabaey, for whom he had worked as second since 1998. From the hillsides of Montreux to the vineyards of Lavaux, he delights gourmets with creations based on the best of local produce such as ‘Vinaigrette of crayfish from Lake Geneva’ and ‘Composition of boletus mushrooms with fresh almonds’.
Blackberry Farm, United States
Grand Chef: Joseph Lenn
Joseph Lenn, child of the American deep South, produces a cuisine in tune with the surroundings of this elegant and traditional hotel and farm in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. In his restaurant, The Barn, he offers a sophisticated version of the culinary traditions of the south, with vegetables, honeys, cheeses and other produce from the estate taking pride of place. The beautifully served menus are inspired by seasonal, farm-fresh products and produce, grown just a few feet away. The former 19th century barn is a visually grand setting in which to relish the earthy delicacies of the estate’s bakery, butchery, salumaria, creamery, and the highly-regarded 8,000-square-foot wine cellar: a host of advantages for this Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux who has built his success on natural and refined simplicity.
All around the World, unique in the World
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