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Auberge du Soleil Celebrates its Anniversary with Getaway Package

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley celebrates 30 year anniversary with special getaway package

Auberge du Soleil, the iconic Michelin-starred restaurant (and winner of the Luxist Readers' Choice Award for Most Romantic Restaurant) and premier luxury resort is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a resort (30 years for the restaurant). Auberge du Soleil, which is Napa Valley's first fine-dining venue, helped transform the area into the must-see destination it is today for food, wine, and the beauty of wine country. In honor of this milestone, Auberge du Soleil will celebrate with a year of culinary offerings and experiences in addition to a fresh new look unveiled this month.

The first culinary offering features a "30-Year Journey Through Wine" list featuring 30 consecutive vintages from around the world as well as from the Napa Valley that was compiled by Wine Director Kris Margerum. This special list will be available through 2011 in addition to the more than 1,300 selections that are featured on Auberge du Soleil's standard comprehensive wine list.

Le Bernardin Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Fine Dining

Filed under: Dining

Le Bernardin in New York is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Seafood Restaurant
Considered "a legend in fine dining", Le Bernardin is one of the most influential seafood restaurants in America, if not the entire world. The midtown Manhattan restaurant holds three stars from the formidable The Michelin Guide and has a coveted four-star status from the New York Times.

Le Bernardin lives up to all that is expected from one of the finest restaurants in the world. From the exceptional food to the understated elegance of its dining room and formal, yet friendly service, Le Bernardin is the whole package, and thus it has been selected as Luxist's Editors' Choice Award Winner for the Best in Fine Dining.

A seafood restaurant with French roots, Le Bernardin's Executive Chef and co-owner is Eric Ripert. Born in Antibes and trained in France, the award-winning chef's background is impressive and includes stints at such legendary restaurants as the Tour D'Argent in Paris. He has worked with and learned from some of the most famous chefs around, including Joel Robuchon and Jean-Louis Palladin. A student no longer, Ripert is now considered one of their peers. "Ripert is unquestionably the finest seafood chef in the world," wrote Alan Richman in his article The Seven Temples of the Food World in the October 2007 issue of GQ.

Il San Pietro di Positano Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Summer Travel

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Il San Pietro di Positano Wins Luxist's Editors' Choice Award for Best in Summer Travel
At the famous Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in 2006, the Queen of England traipsed through a garden of hibiscus and bougainvillea inspired by the terraces of Italy's Il San Pietro di Positano-and liked what she saw.

"The Queen appreciated the display at the flower show, but has never been at the San Pietro," says the hotel's Lorenzo Saprio. "Her sister, Princess Margaret, was a frequent visitor."

Fortunately for the rest of the world, that experience can also be enjoyed by people who aren't members of the British royal family. Perched on the cliffs above the bay of Postitano with sweeping views of the town John Steinbeck once described as "a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone," Il San Pietro di Positano is our pick for the Editors' Choice Award in Best Summer Travel.

The hotel features 61 rooms hewn into the rock, each with its own spectacular view and unparalleled privacy. A staff of 127 people buzzes about the resort, looking after guests as they stroll from orchid-filled lobby to dichondra-decked terrace, spacious swimming pool to state-of-the-art fitness center, all the way down to an umbrella-dotted sun deck set just a few feet above the rocky shore.

Swiss Deluxe Hotels, Synonymous with Quality and Luxury

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Mount Cervin Palace hotel in Zermatt is a member of Swiss Deluxe Hotels, the leading association of luxury hotels in Switzerland.
Planning an escape to Switzerland and in need of a luxury hotel? Look no further than Swiss Deluxe Hotels , which is synonymous with exclusive quality and superlative standards.

Swiss Deluxe Hotels, more formally known as the Association of Swiss Deluxe Hotels, comprises 39 of the most prestigious five-star hotels in all of Switzerland, of which 17 are city hotels and 22 are resort hotels. Each property must be independently run, or as a member of a hotel chain, be mainly autonomous.

Member hotels include The Dolder Grand and the Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich, the Gstaad Palace, the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues and the Le Richemond in Geneva (recently renovated and a member of the prestigious Rocco Forte Collection). In St. Moritz, members include the Suvretta House, the Carlton Hotel and Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz (a Luxist Awards nominee for best international ski hotel).

The French Laundry Wins the Luxist Award for Best Domestic Restaurant

Filed under: Dining

The French Laundry
Few fine restaurants boast a past as sordid as The French Laundry. Even so, the Yountville, Calif. eatery is consistently rated among the world's best, and is the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice winner in the best fine domestic dining category.

In the late 1880s, the building that currently contains the three Michelin star French Laundry was a humble saloon. When a town ordinance mandated that no alcohol be served within two miles of Yountville, the building was converted first into a brothel, then to a French steam laundry by the 1920s. In 1974, the town's mayor bought the laundry and converted it into a restaurant; twenty years later it was purchased by current owner and chef Thomas Keller.

Restaurant Guy Savoy Wins the Luxist Award for Best International Restaurant

Filed under: Dining

Guy Savoy in Paris
Fewer than 100 restaurants in the entire world have received Michelin's coveted three-star rating, and even fewer enjoy the renown of Restaurant Guy Savoy. The Paris eatery is also the winner of a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award in the best international fine dining category.

Guy Savoy opened his first Paris restaurant in 1980 at the age of 27. Within five years, Savoy had earned two Michelin stars and Savoy was well on his way to becoming one of the world's most celebrated chefs. In 1987, he moved into the current Restaurant Guy Savoy location on Rue Troyon-all the while helping to establish Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter approach to French cooking. Savoy earned a third Michelin star in 2002 and soon expanded internationally, opening a Las Vegas location in 2006 (a Luxist Awards nominee in the Best Domestic category).

Restaurant Guy Savoy: Home of one of the World's Most Celebrated Chefs

Filed under: Dining

Guy Savoy in Paris
Fewer than 100 restaurants in the entire world have received Michelin's coveted three-star rating, and even fewer enjoy the renown of Restaurant Guy Savoy. As such, the Paris eatery is an easy choice as a nominee for a Luxist award in the best international fine dining category.

Guy Savoy opened his first Paris restaurant in 1980 at the age of 27. Within five years, Savoy had earned two Michelin stars and Savoy was well on his way to becoming one of the world's most celebrated chefs. In 1987, he moved into the current Restaurant Guy Savoy location on Rue Troyon-all the while helping to establish Nouvelle Cuisine, a lighter approach to French cooking. Savoy earned a third Michelin star in 2002 and soon expanded internationally, opening a Las Vegas location in 2006 (a Luxist Awards nominee in the Best Domestic category).

Pierre Koffmann to Open New Restaurant at London's Berkeley Hotel

Filed under: Dining

Award-winning chef Pierre Koffmann to open new namesake restaurant at The Berkeley hotel in London in June 2010
In June, legendary French chef Pierre Koffmann, whose name has been synonymous with some of the finest French food in the world for the past 35 years, will open Koffmann's in The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge, London.

Encouraged by his rave reviews and enthusiastic welcome back into the London culinary scene with his Selfridges pop-up restaurant in October 2009, Koffmann, a Michelin star-winning chef, is excited to embark on this next stage in his distinguished career.

"I have been searching for the perfect new restaurant site for several years," says Koffmann. "I am thrilled to be returning to a place I know and love."

This new venture will see Koffmann move away from his much applauded haute cuisine menu, and into a more relaxed, informal style while still embracing his classic, provincial, French culinary roots. His greatest passion is to be behind the stove, cooking the dishes he loves, many inspired by his maternal grandmother Camille, and this new restaurant will give him the freedom to express this vision.

Four Seasons, George V wins Readers' Choice Award for Best City Hotel

Filed under: Dining, Luxury Travel & Hotels


Only a few short steps away from the Champs-Elysées, is the world-renowned Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris. This world-renowned hotel in the heart of Paris is the Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Winner for Best City Hotel.

The opulent hotel's gracious lobby is beautifully decorated with an impressive collection of objets d'art; the 17th-century tapestries adorning its walls are breathtaking. The hotel has a spirit that lives on in thoroughly reborn, highly advanced spaces. The Four Seasons George V Paris redefines luxury and impeccable service in the City of Light.

Rising eight stories above the city, the hotel was built in 1928. It offers 245 guest rooms with nearly one-quarter being suites. All feature unique architectural details and many feature private terraces overlooking Paris. The guest rooms are among the most spacious of all Paris hotels.The hotel is ideally situated in what is referred to as the "Golden Triangle of Paris". The River Seine is nearby as is the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, while some of the world's best shopping is a delightful 10 minute walk away.

Michelin Guide Releases 2010 New York Edition

Filed under: Dining

Today, Michelin released The Michelin Guide 2010 New York City Restaurants, with five establishments receiving three stars, its highest rating. The top rated restaurants include Daniel, Jean Georges (above), Le Bernardin, Masa and Per Se.

There were six restaurants earning two stars and 44 restaurants that earned one star. Three stars represents "exception cuisine, worth a special journey" while two stars is for "excellent cuisine, worth a detour". One star, which is still an excellent rating, is defined as "a very good restaurant in its category".

To rate restaurants and hotels around the world, Michelin employs a rigorous selection process that is applied independently and consistently. Indeed, in each of the 23 countries where it inspects restaurants and hotels, the selections are made by anonymous, professional inspectors who are Michelin employees. The inspectors pay all their bills in full.

While the Michelin Guide is known around the world for its famous stars, these restaurant account for just 10% of the selection in the New York City guide. The guide also includes a wide diversity of establishments, and includes small restaurants that offer a high-quality dining experience at an affordable price.

One useful section features "Inspectors' Favorites for Good Value", including a total of 85 affordable restaurants that offer two dishes, and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less. There is also a list of 109 restaurants selected by its experts that offer a meal under $25.

"The Michelin Guide has long been respected and the stars are what people love to talk about in the culinary world," says Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guides. "But the Guide is so much more. It's filled with a year's worth of notes from the team of inspectors who set out to ensure the Michelin Guide provides an excellent mix of what readers truly want--a wonderful dining recommendation from trusted experts."

The Michelin Guide New York City 2010 is the fifth edition since Michelin began reviewing restaurants in New York. Its cover price is $17.95.

The Michelin Guide Runs Contest For Feedback

Filed under: Dining


One great thing about the internet is that you can share your great neighborhood finds with others through sites like Spire, Yelp and others. The venerable Michelin guide is now seeking the wisdom of the crowds. Their new contest called "Michelin Discovery" lets anyone who goes to MichelinGuide.com to submit an entry on a discovery they've made using the new 2009 Michelin Guide. The entries should Be 150 words or less and each week Mchelin will choose one winner to receive a $150 gift certificate to use toward future dining experiences at restaurants in the Michelin guide. The content runs until December 31, 2008 and after that one grand prize winner will be chosen from the weekly winners and will win a trip for two to New York City, valued at $3500, which includes two nights at a NY hotel listed in the guide, two days of meals at restaurants listed in the Michelin guide plus $250 in transportation costs and $200 in spending money.

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