versailles

Gordon Ramsay Selling Out of Versailles

Filed under: Dining

Last week we learned that celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay had sold his restaurants in West Hollywood and Prague, now the Telegraph says that Ramsay is set to sell his restaurant in France. Like the West Hollywood restaurant, Gordon Ramsay au Trianon opened just last year with the usual Ramsay mixture of fanfare and braggadocio. Ramsay promised the French he would bring the best of British cuisine to their country.

The ten-table restaurant, which earned two Michelin stars, will be owned by the Trianon Palace Hotel in Versailles. As with the West Hollywood restaurant, Ramsay's name stays on the door and he will still be participating in menu development and other creative decisions. There have been many rumors about the potential fragility of the financial state of affairs at Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Ramsay's company. Perhaps these sales will help Ramsay's empire gain firmer footing.

Gallery: Restaurant Woes

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Tags: gordon ramsay, GordonRamsay, restaurant, versailles

Jeff Koons Invades Versailles

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Art world provocateur Jeff Koons has ruffled feathers in France by installing his immense, kitschy statues in the storied Palace of Versailles. The groundbreaking exhibition, which opened Wednesday and runs through December, features 17 Koons works including a giant balloon dog, enormous aluminum lobster, and a ceramic ode to Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles. As my colleague Deidre Woollard reported previously, Koons' 3,500 lb. Hanging Heart sculpture fetched $23.4 million at auction in November.

The opening of the exhibition drew a crowd of protestors who consider the Koons show an affront to France. "This exhibit is sacrilegious and insulting to the symbols of the Republic and its art," Arnaud-Aaron Upinsky, president of the Union Nationale des Ecrivains de France, fumed to the AP. However Koons insists he has "complete respect for Versailles [and] complete respect for each individual coming to Versailles."

Tags: Contemporary art, ContemporaryArt, France, Jeff Koons, JeffKoons, Versailles

Famed Trianon Palace Hotel's $30 Million Makeover

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Dining, Journeys

The legendary Trianon Palace hotel and spa in Versailles, France where the likes of Marcel Proust, René Lacoste and the Duke of Windsor once frolicked has just completed a breathtaking $30 million renovation. Situated just outside Paris less than a mile from Louis XIV's famed Château de Versailles, the 5-star luxury hotel's upgrades include a new wing, Gordon Ramsay's first restaurant in France, a refurbished Guerlain spa, revamped public spaces and glorious gardens. Noted interior designer Fiona Thompson, who oversaw renovations to the 199-room property, has managed to modernize the 1909 building without detracting from its historic magnificence.

Gallery: Hotel Trianon Palace

Tags: Duke of Windsor, DukeOfWindsor, France, Gordon Ramsay, GordonRamsay, Guerlain, Hotels, Lacoste, Louis XIV, LouisXiv, Marcel Proust, MarcelProust, Paris, Trianon Palace, TrianonPalace, Versailles

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