Villa Rene Lalique in France carries a heritage associated with the French jewellery and master glassmaker of the same name. – AFP pic, February 28, 2016.Luxury boutique hotels and restaurants spanning the UK, the US, France and Australia are among the newest members of the Relais & Chateaux hotel group, which counts castles, manors and heritage landmarks among its members.
Much like the Michelin label, Relais & Chateaux touts itself as a standard-bearer for the hotel and restaurant industry.
Membership allows properties to post the association's logo – a hybrid fleur de lys and butterfly symbol – on their wall as a restaurant posts their Michelin stars.
For 2016, four restaurants and four hotels received the group's stamp of approval and gained membership into the exclusive club, which counts 540 establishments across 64 countries.
Properties are all independent and must subscribe to distinct tenets characterised as “the soul of the innkeeper,” “celebration of the senses” and “the art of living.”
The Villa René Lalique, near Strasbourg in northeastern France, for example, carries a heritage associated with the French jewellery and master glassmaker of the same name.
In homage to Lalique, the family villa built in 1920 was transformed into a luxury boutique hotel that features four bedrooms and two suites, each distinct from the other.
The Rose suite, for instance, is decorated in a rich, cream palette with elegant rose reliefs in tribute to one of Lalique's favourite sources of design inspirations for his Art Nouveau jewellery and Art Deco vases.
The Dragon suite, meanwhile, features a dragon motif in cream and midnight black hues, with crystal vases and fixtures that play with light and shadow.
Saison restaurant in San Francisco has three Michelin stars and a string of awards under the helm of Chef Joshua Skenes. – AFP pic, February 28, 2016.Popular San Francisco restaurant Saison, which means 'season' in French, is also the newest restaurant to gain membership this year.
Originally launched in 2009 as a pop-up concept, Saison has since earned three Michelin stars and a string of awards under the helm of Chef Joshua Skenes.
As its name suggests, the restaurant hinges on local, seasonal ingredients. Dishes are prepared from the restaurant's wood-fired oven and different preservation methods are used to bring ancient and modern culinary worlds together on a single menu.
Skenes taps the flavours of Asian gastronomy and local, seasonal ingredients to develop a distinctly Californian menu that may include plates like smoked, cured chunk of sturgeon belly on kelp topped with caviar, and gelee made from grilled sturgeon bones.
Here are the newest Relais & Chateaux members for 2016:
Restaurants:
Midsummer House, Cambridge, UK
Saison, San Francisco, US
Rockpool, Sydney Australia
Les Cols, Olot, Spain
Hotels:
The Idle Rocks, St. Mawes, UK,
Llangoed Hall, Brecon, Wales
Villa René Lalique, Wingen-sur-Moder, France
La Bamba de Areco, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina. – AFP, February 28, 2016.
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