DOMESTIC
Addison, a fine dining venue at the Grand Del Mar resort in San Diego, is now open. Executive Chef William Bradley, who returned to San Diego after opening Scottsdale’s nationally acclaimed Vu restaurant, developed a menu using fresh California ingredients with a decidedly Mediterranean influence to complement the resort’s distinctive architecture and design. Select menu highlights include entrées with intense flavors and simple ingredients, including cod with charred tomatillos, white bean puree, and avocado-orange salad; poulard with cornbread, baked black figs, and white balsamic butter; and beef with smoked potato puree, morels, and shallot-scallion blanquette. In addition, Pastry Chef Jack Fisher presents highlights including panna cotta with shaved nectarines, iced basil, and macadamia crisp; napoleon with candied peaches; lavender cream and almond sorbet; and bittersweet chocolate tart with golden raisin puree and saffron ice cream ...

Renaissance Chicago O’Hare Suites Hotel named John DiMartini as its new executive chef. In addition to commanding the property’s 150-seat Fresh Market restaurant, DiMartini will also oversee the hotel’s banquet services and its entertainment venue, the R Bar. DiMartini is a veteran of the culinary industry with almost twenty years of experience. Also new at the Renaissance Chicago O’Hare, guests never have to dine alone. The hotel is offering personal DVD players along with DVDs of many favorite sitcoms, such as “Friends” and “Seinfeld,” to keep solotravelers company while enjoying a meal at the hotel’s restaurant. Available at Fresh Market, the hotel’s three-meal a day restaurant, diners may request, at no additional charge, a personal DVD player and select from a library of new and classic sitcoms ...

Milwaukee’s AAA fourdiamond Pfister Hotel is debuting Mason Street Grill this fall. This classic American grill will serve creative, regional American dishes reflecting Wisconsin heritage. The restaurant is being developed by Pfister GM Keith Halfmann; Mark Weber, Pfister director of food & beverage and former executive chef of Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro; and Larry Flam, corporate director of restaurant operations for Marcus Hotels and Resorts, formerly of Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. ...

Bolongo Bay Beach Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands opened a new restaurant, Lobster Grille. “We decided to create the Lobster Grille to meet the requests from our guests—a fun and casual restaurant offering a creative menu of lobster, seafood, and beef entrées,” says Paul Doumeng, GM of Bolongo. “Guests staying on Bolongo’s allinclusive plan will enjoy the dining options afforded by the Lobster Grille as well as the adequate portions. We like to say the first pound and a half of lobster is on us.” The Lobster Grille (which replaces the current Beach House restaurant) is situated in an open-air setting located at the poolside pavilion, just steps from the beach ...

In Martha’s Vineyard at the Harbor View Hotel, Executive Chef Joshua Hollinger cooked with a kitchen full of eager 5- to 14-year olds. The youngsters participated in a weeklong summer camp at the Food, Agriculture, and Resource Management (FARM) Institute at Katama Farm, a Martha’s Vineyard teaching facility that reconnects children and the community with agriculture. The campers fed and cared for the chickens that go into Hollinger’s most popular summer dish: Roasted Katama Farm Institute chicken, hand-rolled Mennonite dumplings, pan gravy and braised greens.” Hollinger’s Pennsylvania Dutch farming roots and Mennonite heritage inspired his chicken and dumpling dish, which pays tribute to the farm-fresh ingredients and straightforward farmto- table flavors of his childhood ...

Horseshoe Bay Resort has named John LaFond as resort executive chef. LaFond will oversee all Horseshoe Bay Resort food operations and restaurants, including the Yacht Club and La Baja. Chef LaFond is a native of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and brings extensive culinary experience and education to Horseshoe Bay. Prior to his move, LaFond lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he was executive chef at Bishop’s Lodge. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York ...

Davidson Hotel Company, one of the nation’s largest hotel management companies, has announced the appointment of Cathy Sandler as director of catering of the Westin Hotel Annapolis (Maryland), scheduled to open in June 2007. “We are truly fortunate to attract such expertise to lead our catering services in Annapolis,” says Pat Lupsha, executive VP operations and CEO of Davidson Hotel Company. “Cathy is a highly regarded industry veteran, and we are confident she will be extremely successful in making the Westin Annapolis a premier location for weddings and events” ...

Loews Annapolis Hotel has named Allison Trinkle as executive chef and promoted Andrew Saba to director of food & beverage. As the new executive chef at Loews Annapolis, Chef Trinkle is responsible for creating seasonal menus for Breeze, the hotel’s fine dining experience, as well as its additional food & beverage outlets. Trinkle comes to Loews Annapolis as a gifted culinary professional who graduated from the Opryland Hotel Culinary Institute and has over 11 years of professional experience. Saba, who served as executive chef at the Loews Annapolis since June of 2005, has 26 years of professional practice, including posts at several of Washington D.C.’s top hotels and independent restaurants ...

Orchid Court Sushi Bar is the newest addition to the collection of food & beverage outlets at Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, a Loews hotel. The growing demand for and popularity of sushi led the Loews team to design an area in the heart of the hotel where guests can experience the essence of the South Pacific-themed resort. With a bow to sushi’s Japanese heritage, Chef Kwang Chung has created a menu featuring more modern inventive sushi (such as the Lori Lori Roll) and sashimi presentations, along with Asianinspired desserts and South Seas martinis including the Tahitini and the Cherry Blossom Saketini ...

The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, Florida, opened its new restaurant, Salt, in September. Presided over by Chef de Cuisine Jordi Vallès, the Salt dining experience features simple ingredients from the earth and the sea, properly seasoned, artfully prepared, and served in a contemporary coastal setting. According to Thomas Tolxdorf, executive chef for the resort, the word “Salt” refers not only to the restaurant’s barrier island location between the Atlantic Ocean and intracoastal salt marshes, but also to a particular culinary sensibility. “Salt is the fundamental seasoning. It changes everything it touches, enhancing flavor and enlivening the sense of taste,” Tolxdorf says. “Today’s guests are more interested in food and wine than ever before, so we want dining at Salt to work the same way seasoning does, to reveal new things about everyday substances” ...

The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers is offering a “Romance Package” until December 31. The package includes one night’s stay in a newly renovated guestroom; one bottle of Champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries in the guest room upon check-in; and breakfast for two through room service the following morning. Rates start at $219 + tax per package. And Pastry Chef Jon McKeigue (Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers) announced he will be auctioned off during the November 17, 2006, Arthritis Foundation “Bid for Boston’s Best Bachelor” event at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. The lucky lady who wins a date with him will receive a relaxing massage from exhale spa, two tickets to a Celtics or Bruins game, limo transportation for the night from MSM Limousine, dinner with Jon at Todd English’s Bonfire Steakhouse, and for dessert Boston’s hottest pastry chef will give a one-onone pastry demonstration in the restaurant’s private dining room ...

Ritz-Carlton Atlanta hotels have created food & beverage promotions and ideas related to major exhibits or attractions in the city. To commemorate the opening of the Georgia Aquarium, at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta, Chef Yves Samake created an aquarium amenity (a fish bowl filled with truffles and a chocolate treasure chest) placed in the guestrooms for guests booking the Georgia Aquarium package. For the opening of Louvre Atlanta—an exhibit at the city’s High Museum featuring Louvre masterpieces, some of which have never traveled outside of France—Ritz-Carlton Atlanta is offering a menu of Grey Goose (French vodka) martinis and French hors d'oeuvres in the Lobby Lounge from mid-October until Christmastime. Also to commemorate the exhibit, the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead is presenting a series of “Artist Sunday Brunches,” featuring a renowned contemporary artist, Valerie Lennon, exhibiting her works. French foods dominate the brunch, including a French-inspired dessert buffet. Frenchthemed Champagne cocktails are offered in the Lobby Lounge beginning with the opening of the exhibit and continuing through year end, and a French-themed wine event is being hosted in the Dining Room ...

The AAA Four Diamond Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa, Connecticut, has named Chef Rosemary Brodeur as its new executive chef. From contributing cookbook author, to food stylist at the Washington Post, to chef at the Ambassador’s Dining Club in Washington, D.C., Chef Brodeur brings a wealth of experience to the property and its award-winning steakhouse, Octagon ...

The Westin Seattle has announced the appointment of Edward Villacorta as pastry chef. Villacorta brings more than 20 years of culinary experience to his role as pastry chef, including previous positions for Walt Disney World Resorts and Four Seasons Hotels. At the Westin Seattle, Villacorta will oversee a team of pastry chefs responsible for creating as many as 1,500 desserts each day for the hotel's food & beverage division, which includes in-room dining, banquets, the Coldwater Bar & Grill, the Fifth Avenue Café, and catering at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall ...

Phil Caronia, GM of the 1,334-room Rosen Centre in Orlando, announced that John Molnar will be the new director of convention services and catering for the award-winning property. In this position, Molnar will be responsible for overseeing the convention service/catering department, banquet and banquet set-up departments, package room, and reservations. Before being promoted to director of convention services and catering at the Rosen Centre, Molnar was the national sales manager for the Midwest market for the Rosen Shingle Creek, assisting in preparations for the resort’s September opening. Caronia also announced the promotion of Christina Thomas as resident manager of the award-winning property. As resident manager, Thomas will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the guest experience to ensure both quality and guest satisfaction. She will manage the valet, concierge, housekeeping, bell stand, front desk, spa and recreation areas, as well as all food & beverage outlets. Before joining the Rosen team, Christina served as director of sales and marketing for Planet Hollywood International, overseeing catering and sales efforts for 45 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.

Quoteworthy
“How can I expect every employee to greet every guest and say hello and smile and give recognition if, when I'm walking through, I can’t give them the same? If I’m in a hurry and spending only half my time walking, I think to myself, ‘I blew it.’“

—Venetian Senior VP Paul Pusateri

INTERNATIONAL
Cable Beach Resorts & Crystal Palace Casino, Nassau, Bahamas, was honored to have three members of its culinary team recognized at this year’s Taste of Caribbean Competition, a demanding threeday contest that challenges the best culinary personalities of the region. Executive Chef Tracy Sweeting, Chef Jason McBride, and Bartender Frederick Cash of Cable Beach Resorts participated as members of the Bahamas Culinary Team, which competed against 15 other teams representing the Caribbean region. Executive Chef Tracy Sweeting took home top honors when named Caribbean Pastry Chef of the Year for her “Sweet Funky Nassau” dessert— orange mousse and Caribbean spiced cake served with a chocolate banana fritter, passion fruit jelly, pineapple compote, and a drunken mango coulis. Radisson Cable Beach Resort’s Chef Jason McBride and Wyndham Nassau Resort Bartender Frederick Cash were also recognized with bronze and silver medals respectively, for the culinary talents they demonstrated ...

Hotel Kura Hulanda Spa & Casino, Willemstad, Curacao, has opened the doors to a European style, split-level boutique casino. The casino operates seven days a week, from 10 A.M. to 2 A.M. with slot machines opening at 10 A.M. and game tables at 6 P.M.The opening of the casino rounds out the eight-block Kura Hulanda complex, also home to a world-class anthropological museum, two pools, three restaurants (including the Museum Restaurant and the awardwinning Astrolab), shops and boutiques, multiple courtyards and gardens, a courtyard bar, five star hotel accommodations, and more.