Hotels Get Creative with New Dining Venues

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—At hotel restaurants, it’s all about the experience and culinary creations. Here are three venues that are upping their F&B game.

Henry NoMad Offers Pan-African Cuisine

Chef JJ Johnson and Craveable Hospitality Group have teamed up to open a new restaurant concept, Henry NoMad, at the Life Hotel in New York City. The James Beard-nominated chef is bringing Pan-African flavors to the neighborhood in his first solo full-service restaurant, within a historic space where Life Magazine’s original headquarters were housed.

To complement the cuisine, Chef JJ and Craveable Hospitality Group have tapped mixologist Pam Wiznitzer to create an innovative and hyper-seasonal beverage program with martinis on draft, spritzes and original drinks that complement the cuisine.

Jorge González to Helm Dos Catrinas 

Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita on Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit has appointed Jorge González as executive chef. González will oversee the resort’s food and beverage operations and will be instrumental in the December opening of the new Dos Catrinas restaurant.

González will play a key role in restaurant concept and menu design, alongside Four Seasons affiliated Chef Richard Sandoval. Dos Catrinas restaurant will marry Mexico’s past and future with a new culturally rich dining experience set in a modern, reimagined space. Designed by Colombian architect Saul Sasson, Dos Catrinas will bring together Mexico’s traditional culture, urban lifestyle and history in a two-story space with ocean views.

González will be the resort’s first legacy executive chef, having started at Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in 2003 as Chef de Partie and rising to restaurant chef in 2010. After serving as executive sous chef at Four Seasons Mexico City in 2012 and launching Rosewood Puebla as executive chef in 2016, González returns to Punta Mita.

Italian Cuisine Comes to Hilton Waikoloa Village

A new Italian restaurant is coming to Hawaii’s Kohala Coast. Hilton Waikoloa Village is set to open Nui Italian on Sept. 13.

The family friendly restaurant will have an open-air dining area, with the pizza oven serving as a focal point with its decoratively tiled, open wood-flame oven where kiawe wood-fired pizzas will be handcrafted in full view of guests. In addition, there is an indoor lounge and garden area.