2012: a Guide with 19 new Grands Chefs

Fine cuisine continues as one of the defining criteria for Relais & Châteaux properties: 160 Grands Chefs represent the elite cadre of the Associations international chefs

Savoir-faire, excellence, sharing…undoubtedly the finest expression of the Relais & Châteaux art de vivre that is expressed through the cuisine of the Grands Chefs.

Hideaki Matsuo (Japan): on the outskirts of Osaka at the restaurant Kashiwaya, traditional Japanese dishes served in a ceremonial tea room in this traditional Ryotei restaurant

Lan-Shu Chen (Taiwan): at Le Moût Restaurant in the heart of Taichung she invents Taiwanese dishes which combine French expertise and the flavours of Asia

Mark Ladner & Mario Batali (USA) Italian classics reinvented at Del Posto, in a palazzo of mahogany and marble in the heart of Manhattan Michael White & Jared Gadbaw (USA) at Marea on Manhattan’s Central Park South, specializing in Italian-inspired seafood dishes

Martin Kruithof (Netherlands): at De Lindenhof a paean to the surrounding countryside of canals and thatched roofs, amagical and bewitching place, reflected as much in the décor as in the dishes

Pascal Devalkeneer (Belgium): just outside Brussels at the Chalet de la Forêt, a cuisine inspired by the local terroir

Guy Lassausaie (France): at Restaurant Guy Lassausaie, at the gateway to the Beaujolais region, this fourth-generation chef upholds tradition with inventiveness

Andrew Fairlie (Scotland): with the cream of local produce served in luxurious surroundings in his theatrical Restaurant Andrew Fairlie. Jacques Decoret (France): In Vichy, with unfettered modern dishes served in a Napoleon III brick chalet at Maison Decoret.

Ramon Freixa (Spain): of Ramon Freixa Madrid takes Mediterrean to new levels

Antonino Cannavacciuolo (Italy): of Villa Crespi with innventive Meditterean cuisine

Simon Taxacher (Austria): of Hotel Restaurant Spa Rosengarten, with French-Mediterrean cuisine

Jérôme Ferrer (Canada): drawing its inspiration from the local terroir around Montreal,

Davide Scabin (Italy): notably artistic approach at Combal.Zero in Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art

These 14 new Grands Chefs from new properties are joined by 5 Relais & Châteaux chefs who were promoted to Grand Chef in 2012 for the quality of their cuisine and service. The finest of ingredients, deftly combined by Christophe Bacquié at the Hôtel du Castellet in France. Contemporary, Mediterranean-inspired dishes by Antonio Guida for Il Pellicano in Italy. Traditional recipes revisited by Peter Tempelhoff in the Greenhouse at The Cellars - Hohenort Hotel in South Africa. A ‘made in California’ regional cuisine with vibrant colours and flavours, by Gunnar Thompson at the Château de Sureau, and again in the USA, at Blackberry Farm, locavore dishes, with farm and cottage garden ingredients, by Joseph Lenn.

All these Grand Chefs, and indeed their cuisine, ensure that Relais & Châteaux remains at the forefront of the tastes of our times.

2012: a Guide with 19 new Grands Chefs