MARRAKECH, Feb 13 — The French chef and much noted New York restauranteur Jean-Georges Vongerichten is returning across the Atlantic more than 30 years after he first arrived in the United States, where he has built a remarkable career crowned with several major successes. The five-star La Mamounia Hotel in Marrakech has called on the services of the culinary genius to devise two new restaurant concepts.
Currently embarked on a major renovation programme that will see it close its doors from May 25th to September 1st of this year, La Mamounia has taken an important step in its drive to take centre stage on the international culinary scene. The luxurious Marrakech hotel has embarked on a collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
The Alsace-born chef, who cut his teeth at the Auberge de l’Ill before making the journey to the United States, has accepted a brief to devise two new restaurant concepts. Vongerichten will establish an Italian trattoria and an Asian eatery that are in tune with his culinary aesthetic. The chef and businessman, who is at the helm of 39 restaurants around the world, has extensively travelled in Asia, notably working in Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong; an experience that contributed to his culinary signature, which is based on light broths and the powerful flavours of fruits and herbs.
Further news of this gastronomic adventure will no doubt be the subject of much curiosity when the new restaurants open in the fall of 2020.
For the renovation, the hotel has called on the services of the Parisian Patrick Jouin, a long-standing collaborator of Alain Ducasse and the creator of the Alain Ducasse restaurant dining room in the Plaza Athénée in Paris. The architect’s teams will also work alongside designers under Sanjit Manku.
Noted for its 1,500-square-metre vegetable garden and centuries-old olive trees, the Berber decorative and Arab-Andalusian-styled hotel is home to four restaurants, offering a choice between French, Moroccan, and Italian-inspired menus and the poolside pavilion, which provides a variety of dishes. And let’s not forget the sweet delights concocted by pastry chef Pierre Hermé, who also has a boutique in La Mamounia. — AFP-Relaxnews
