DOMESTIC

In December, Lake Blackshear Resort, Cordele, Georgia, broke ground on the Marina Grill restaurant, which will be located next to the Marina at Lake Blackshear Resort. The restaurant is scheduled to open this Spring ...

Chef John Tesar is the new executive chef at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, A Rosewood Hotel. Tesar brings more than 20 years of culinary experience in acclaimed restaurants from New York to California and most recently served as executive chef of restaurant rm at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. As the hotel’s executive chef, he will be responsible for the multi-million dollar culinary program at Texas’ only five-star, five-diamond hotel. His new menu in the Mansion’s famed restaurant will showcase stylish contemporary American cuisine prepared with European techniques ...

Through the end of March, the Chambers Hotel, Minneapolis, will feature an ice bar in its courtyard. Called the “Ice Chamber” by hotel staffers, the 256- square-feet ice bar resembles a giant luminous ice cube, which guests enter through white translucent sliding doors. Once inside they can belly up to a bar made of solid ice to order a variety of specialty Grey Goose cocktails. The entire space glows due to lights frozen into the giant ice cubes, a glittering, crystal chandelier above the bar, and candles placed throughout the space ...

Embassy Suites Hotels has announced the opening of the brand’s first hotel in Mexico and the first upscale, all-suite hotel in Mexico City: the Embassy Suites Hotel Mexico City-Reforma. The 18-story, 162-suite boutique hotel is located in the heart of Mexico City’s business and financial district. Full-service food & beverage options include EVITA, an Argentinean restaurant serving choice U.S. and Argentinean beef, 24-hour room service, as well as a Starbucks® coffee shop. Additionally, the hotel’s Lobby Lounge serves a variety of tequilas from all over Mexico ...

Chef Bradley Manchester has been appointed the executive chef of Houston’s new Hotel ZaZa and its Monarch restaurant and lounge. Monarch will incorporate three distinct spaces, including a Baroque-inspired main dining room with soaring ceilings, plush appointments, and Champagne bar; a stunning, tree-shaded terrace designed for fun before and after dark; and a more casual bar area with full menu service and a split personality that will offer latenight dining, private nooks with bottle service, a rotating schedule of top DJs, and a rollicking Saturday brunch. Chef Bradley, who received his associates degree in Culinary Arts from the Art Institute of Houston in January of 1994, is coming back to his Texas roots via the Renaissance Hotel in Las Vegas, where he served as executive chef ...

On the coastal edge of San Luis Obispo County, Pismo Beach, California, is the new Dolphin Bay Hotel & Residences, which hosts 61 accommodations configured as spacious one- and two-bedroom residences, as well as penthouse units, all ranging in size from 985 to 2,000 square feet. Under the direction of Executive Chef Evan Treadwell, the hotel’s Lido Restaurant & Bar offers extraordinary coastal wine country cuisine, and menus can be customized for each event. Lido’s extensive wine list features bottles from Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, Edna Valley, and other local vintners, as well as national and international selections ...

Cable Beach Resort & Crystal Palace Casino, Nassau, Bahamas, opened Moso, a restaurant featuring authentic, classic, and contemporary Chinese cuisine, together with Thai and Japanese culinary specialties. The menu at Moso offers mouthwatering dishes including these signature creations: Aromatic Crispy Duck, marinated, steamed, then wok fried to a crisp; Mongolian Style Chicken and Beef Hot Pot, thin-sliced meats and vegetables accompanied by a flavorful dipping sauce; Seared Ahi Tuna Tataki, sushi grade tuna, seared and sliced, with yuzu lemon sauce; and Mixed Seafood Sunomono, octopus and local conch with cucumber in rice vinegar ...

RockResorts International, LLC, a luxury hotel company based in Broomfield, Colorado, and wholly owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc., is set to open the Marquis Hotel & Spa in Miami, Florida, in February 2009. The property will feature 56 spacious guestrooms and suites with sweeping water views of Miami's Biscayne Bay, a full-service spa and fitness center; a fine-dining restaurant, and meeting space ...

In December, the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, reopened its doors to reclaim its title as the “Crown Jewel of the Crescent City.” The hotel has undergone $100 million worth of enhancements from the first to the fifteenth floor and was closed for over a year. Architects, designers, and the entire Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans team worked tirelessly to transform the hotel into a celebration of New Orleans; its reopening is a sign of commitment to the city and to the people of New Orleans. F&B enhancements include a new signature restaurant (converted Victor's Restaurant to Mélange); mixology classes (classic New Orleans cocktails); culinary classes (classic New Orleans cuisine); Crawfish Concierge (February–May); Snowball Sommelier (June–September); Oyster Butler (October–January); new executive chef, chef de cuisine, director of food & beverage, and director of meetings and special events (Peter Moore, Eric Aldis, Rafael Torres, and Devin Burns); and new Afternoon Tea menu (Voodoo Tea, Big Easy Tea, French Quarter Tea, etc.) ...

INTERNATIONAL

Over 20,000 discriminating readers of Condé Nast Traveler have voted Half Moon Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica, one of the top 25 resorts in the Caribbean in its annual Readers’ Choice Awards. The resort received high marks in the criteria of activities/facilities, food/dining, location, rooms, service, and overall design. To make the cut, resorts had to receive overall ratings of over 80 percent from the thousands of surveys that were tabulated. Half Moon features 398 beautifully appointed rooms and suites, extensive indoor and outdoor meeting facilities, specialty restaurants, championship golf, an equestrian centre, and a dolphin lagoon ...

In the recent Malaysia International Gourmet Festival, the Westin Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, took home the award of “Best Marketed Restaurant” for Prego, a Ristorante Italiano, and EEST, the hotel’s Pan Asian restaurant. The award was presented at the close of the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival and honors outstanding restaurants and exceptional personalities that had participated in the festival. EEST and Prego were recognized for hosting a Celebrity Chef series, featuring the likes of Chef Alfredo Russo, Michelin Star chef from Italy; Chef Marc Orfaly from Boston; dumplings and noodle chefs from Sheraton Xian China; and Chef Zakary Pelaccio from Manhattan. To communicate this exciting series of celebrity chefs, the Westin deployed a series of marketing and promotional efforts highlighting choices of menus that reflect unique culinary styles of each chef including David King (director of kitchens of the Westin KL), alongside interesting wine dinners, gourmet menus, Westin Safari Dinner packages, and personalized cooking classes conducted by the chefs. During the chefs’ visit to the Westin, the media and regular diners were also invited to wine dinners pairing the chefs’ menus with exquisite wines ...

The Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa, Victoria, Canada, is serving the world on platters in their fine dining room, Panache, as part of their International Dining Series. Executive Chef Iain Rennie, along with Sommelier Stuart Brown, has cooked up three-course menus with wine pairings for a cost USD $64 per person (excluding taxes or gratuity). Guests travel around the world to a different country each week to sample food and wine from Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Canada. “Travellers” receive a passport, and when they dine three times during the International Dining Series, they are entered to win a weekend getaway to the resort. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 250- 391-7160.

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