Ritz Plaza Hotel

Details are still coming in, but a reliable source tells Y&H that José Andrés will soon announce plans to the local media to open a second The Bazaar by José Andrés on South Beach in Miami. The restaurant, which earned four stars when it debuted in Los Angeles, will be located in the historic Ritz Plaza Hotel, which the real estate development firm sbe will transform into the luxury SLS South Beach.

The property, located next to the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to open in the spring of 2012.

As culinary director for SLS, Andrés and his creative team from THINKfoodGROUP will again work with designer Philippe Starck to "create a new take on The Bazaar byJosé Andrés for this Miami location," a source tells me. The team is "also responsible for all the food and beverage of the hotel, including in room dining, catering and pool menus," the source adds.

The news comes not long after Andrés announced plans to open two restaurants in Las Vegas, including a luxury resort version of his ground-breaking Jaleo concept.

Y&H got his hands on a copy of the draft press release about the new SLS South Beach. You can read it after the jump.

(Los Angeles, CA) – August XX, 2010 – Leading luxury hospitality, real estate development and lifestyle company, sbe, has advanced its commitment to the Ritz Plaza Hotel in South Miami Beach, Florida. sbe additionally announced its development and programming plans for the historic asset, which will open as the second location of its renowned, award-winning SLS Hotels brand as the 142-room SLS South Beach in Spring 2012.

The development will transform South Beach’s iconic Ritz Plaza Hotel into a best-in-class hospitality and food and beverage destination, bringing together an unparalleled team of creative and operational talent. Joining Nazarian and sbe in the creative development of the SLS South Beach are exclusive collaborators including designer Philippe Starck, culinary director Chef José Andrés and Chef Katsuya Uechi.

“In developing the SLS Hotels brand, we re-examined and re-thought every possible aspect of luxury hospitality and teamed with the best minds in the industry to deliver a premier experience with an unwavering commitment to absolute innovation, intuitive guest service and the highest quality,” said Nazarian. “Situated across 17th Street from the Delano against the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ritz Plaza site is the best piece of undeveloped real estate in South Beach and provides a perfect extension for the SLS Hotels brand.”

The SLS South Beach will deliver guests a unique luxury hospitality platform that combines the unparalleled design ingenuity of Philippe Starck, the world-renowned culinary brilliance of Chef José Andrés, including the second location of the award-winning Bazaar by José Andrés brand, the incomparable artistry of Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi, the unrivaled relaxation and pampering of Ciel Spa and the unmistakable exclusivity and vibrancy of Hyde Lounge. “I could not be more excited to come to Miami with my partners at SLS,” says Andrés. “It is an amazing city, full of life, and full of friends.”

Originally built in 1939 under renowned South Beach architect L. Murray Dixon, the SLS South Beach features a rooftop architectural design depicting a lantern reaching to the sky and is the tallest art deco structure in South Beach. Starck’s design for the hotel will feature a stunning surrealistic feel highlighted by a white-on-white palate with limited accents from carpeting, stone or artwork. Perfectly suited for a luxurious yet vibrant beach experience, the project will mark Starck’s successful return to South Beach where his 1995-designed Delano remains the market standard.

“SLS in Los Angeles is a full boiling bucket of energy made of life, vision, creativity, intelligence, fertile surprises, love, tenderness and sexiness, but also great food and wine. It is called a modern miracle. But who said that miracles happen only on the west coast? The new SLS South Beach shall be another huge bucket of sparkling energy, but with sea, sun and sand. The perfect miracle?” added Philippe Starck.

Previously operated with 132 rooms, sbe’s development of the SLS South Beach will be highlighted by the construction of 10 new luxury pool-side bungalow suites. In addition to bungalows, pools, decks and cabanas, the new construction will also mark the fourth location of sbe’s Hyde Lounge brand. Dubbed Hyde Beach,  the venue will feature 8,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor lounge amenities emptying onto the sand just steps from the Atlantic Ocean. Joining sbe’s existing Hyde Lounge Sunset, Hyde Lounge Staples Center and Hyde Lounge Mammoth Mountain in delivering true nightlife innovation, Hyde Beach will provide an unprecedented new experience to the vibrant South Beach market modeled after the best beach-side destinations of the Mediterranean Riviera. The venue will also feature sbe Restaurant and Nightlife Group’s best in class service and VIP guest relations.

The SLS South Beach experience will be further enhanced by sbe’s exclusive collaboration with renowned culinary innovator José Andrés, who will serve as overall creative director of food and beverage for the hotel.

In the gifted hands of Chef Andrés, SLS guests will be treated to revolutionary culinary experiences across the hotel’s lobby, bars, and expansive pool deck, as well as in-room dining and events. In addition, the SLS South Beach will mark the second location of The Bazaar by José Andrés. A true fête extraordinaire, the Bazaar concept, created with Starck, first debuted to unprecedented critical and guest acclaim at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills in October 2008. At The Bazaar by José Andrés South Beach, Andres re-imagines the experience with influences from local flavors while still featuring a heady array of pioneering culinary and lounge concepts. The restaurant will also deliver more traditional breakfast and lunch amenities to guests.

Joining The Bazaar, the SLS South Beach will feature the fifth location of sbe’s Katsuya brand in partnership with Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi. Located in the hotel’s historic ballroom, Katsuya South Beach will deliver guests a masterpiece of design sensuality, beauty and soulfulness – a space where form complements function and the spirit that is Katsuya shines through. Under Chef Uechi the Katsuya concept, “mise en scène” by Starck, has completely revolutionized the Japanese culinary experience for Los Angeles diners by combining traditional Japanese techniques and ingredients with the sensibilities of the American and global palate. Similarly, Katsuya South Beach will elevate the landscape for Japanese dining experiences in Miami.

"José has given me so much opportunity," Isabella told me this afternoon during the lunch crunch. "It's going to be sad [leaving]. But as I said, this is the next chapter of my life."

The next chapter for Isabella will be his own restaurant in Penn Quarter; he hopes to sign a lease tomorrow for a space. Which will mean he'll be competing against his former boss at THINKfoodGROUP, right?

"I'm not competing," Isabella counters. "I'm doing more of my own thing."

Doing his own thing means channeling more of his Italian ancestry. Isabella's place will focus on the Venetian version of tapas, the cuisine made famous in the states by Andrés. Cicchetti are, like tapas, small plates designed for snacking in a bar setting.  Isabella wants to do a sort of local, seasonal version of cicchetti, including a wine list heavy on bottles from Virginia.

"I don't want to do a lot of importing," the chef says about his pantry ingredients.

Isabella doesn't want to publicize the name of his place until more of the details are finalized, but he did say that he hopes to open by the end of the year, or early next.

Andrés originally plucked Isabella from Atlanta, where the chef was working at Kyma, a Greek seafood tavern. Isabella has been head chef at Zaytinya since March 2007. He's also been part of Andrés' "Delta Force" team, which helped opened The Bazaar in Los Angeles in 2008.

"We're going to definitely miss him," says THINKfoodGROUP public relations director Laura Trevino. "He's been such a fixture."

Trevino didn't know if  Andrés had anyone in mind within THINKfoodGROUP for the Zaytinya position. But she said, "We do a lot of promotion from within," as recently evidenced when THINK installed Richie Brandenberg as head chef at Cafe Atlantico.

Photo courtesy of Top Chef

Andrew Zimmern

Among other questions, Zimmern asked Whigham how the D.C. food scene differs from L.A.'s. Whigham's answer is essentially a tribute to his boss:

What I miss about DC is the ever-changing restaurant scene. When I moved there, it was growing exponentially; now, there are exciting places to eat and unique, hidden gems around each corner. I also miss the DC diners, who are such an interesting group that is always open to change.

In LA, it is an exciting time for the people here. There has never been a restaurant like The Bazaar before. I sense a change coming for the restaurant scene here as well. Something that Jose, Sam Nazarian and Philippe Starck have contributed is the creation of an atmosphere and food which has completely raised the bar. I attribute a lot of the changes that have happened in DC to Jose. He was one of the prominent chefs who has made DC what it is today. I can't wait to see what happens here in LA. What excites me about LA is that, here in southern California, we are the hub for the entire country’s food supply. The produce and its quality are amazing! It is exciting to go to the farmers market in Santa Monica and see what the farms are producing. And to have access to it is unreal. Don't get me wrong, the east coast has some amazing produce as well, but being here is something special.

Zimmern also asked Whigham to name his favorite places to eat in D.C. The chef's answers included two Andrés properties (where Whigham worked no less) and one closed restaurant:

My five favorite places to eat in DC are: Zaytinya, Don Juans for the pupusas, CommonWealth Pub, Vegetate, Proof and Cafe Atlantico for the guacamole and mojitos (the best I've ever had!).

I believe that numbers six restaurants, Joshua. Then again, Vegetate is closed, but the word is that the owners are scouting new locations.

God knows I respect the Voltaggio brothers' talent, not to mention the willingness of at least one of the siblings to extract himself from a safe, high-profile kitchen position to try something riskier,  like opening his own restaurant.

Which is part of the reason why I could never figure out why Bryan and Michael Voltaggio were on season six of Top Chef to begin with. Neither needed the career boost, and neither really seemed the type to go work for a celebrity chef.

I mean, both of them have already done their tours of duty with celebrity chefs: Bryan worked for years with Charlie Palmer in New York, Las Vegas, and D.C. Michael earned four stars from the Los Angeles Times as chef at The Bazaar by Jose Andres. Bryan has since opened his own place, VOLT, in Frederick, while Michael has gone to the Dining Room at the Langham in Pasadena, Calif., which has earned a Michelin star.

I was thinking about these facts as the brothers stood before the judges' table during this year's finale of Top Chef. The Voltaggios were the last two chefs standing, a pair of prodigiously talented brothers who played up their sibling rivalry all season — hell, before the season even. For the final episode, Top Chef producers went one step further: They flew in the mothers of the final three contestants, mostly, I figured, so that we could watch the drama of Mom Voltaggio trying to console one son while congratulating the other.

At some point in this melodrama about which Voltaggio brother would top the other, I had a vague sense of un-ease, which finally coalesced into this thought today: This conclusion feels like the work of a screenwriter as much as the product of a TV reality series. I couldn't escape the feeling that the whole season had been scripted to reach this very concluding moment between two siblings who have been snipping at each other since childhood.

I'm sure I'm wrong about that. But I'm also sure about one thing: Top Chef has pretty much lost all its charm.

So who did Andrés and THINKfoodGROUP tap to fill those oversize shoes (holes and shoes...sorry about the mixed metaphors)?

They turned to a former Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya sous chef who served as chef de cuisine under Barton Seaver at both Bar Pilar and Hook. Now, if you can't tell, that's a whole lot of José Andrés influence right there in that last sentence. Not only are Cafe Atlantico and Zaytinya THINKfoodGROUP properties, but Seaver worked at Jaleo right before accepting the job as executive chef at Cafe Saint-Ex and its sister operation, Bar Pilar.

So who is this mystery chef with the suddenly plum job?

Joshua Whigham.

Whigham was "part of our Delta Force to support the new employees out there," says Rob Wilder, CEO for THINKfoodGROUP.  The Delta Force, Wilder adds, was Andrés' term for the culinary team that was overseeing the cooks at the Bazaar for the first couple of months of operation in the SLS Hotel at Beverley Hills.

"He's been there since the beginning," Wilder says of Whigham, who was working in New York City when he got the call to start at the Bazaar last month.

It was a logical choice, yes, but it was also a good one. Whigham has been one of those unheralded stars in the kitchen for years now; Seaver routinely raved about his former chef de cuisine, saying it was Whigham who actually ran the Hook kitchen, not him.

The only problem I see for Whigham? He's not starting out at zero stars, like most chefs at new restaurants. He's starting with four of them. Any star that the Bazaar loses will likely be attributed to him — or perhaps to another Andrés lieutenant, Jorge Chicas, who is the executive chef at the Bazaar.

Lots of D.C. connections out there on the West Coast.

The "liquid olives" at the Minibar

Them's the fighting words of Ben Leventhal.

Leventhal is the Eater.com co-founder who has become a darling of the New York foodie blogosphere by opening the flood gates of information to (and I quote from the Eater site) "rumors, conjecture and opinions, as well as accurately reported factual information. The site may contain errors or inaccuracies. We do not guarantee, and no reliance should be placed upon, the correctness or reliability of Eater's content..."

So maybe I should take Leventhal's latest piece for New York magazine's Grub Street blog with a large grain of Himalayan pink salt. Today, Leventhal published a piece about the five toughest reservations in America, a list that didn't ring many alarm bells for me until Leventhal included a number of honorable mentions. Among them is José Andrés' Minibar, of which Leventhal writes:

José Andrés’s tiny restaurant-within-a-restaurant has just six seats and two seatings a night. Seats open up 30 days in advance, at 10 a.m. If it were located in a more food-focused city, it would easily be the hardest reservation in the country.

First of all, Leventhal has apparently been too busy rolling out Eater.coms in other cities to notice that half of the country's celebrity chefs have opened up shop in D.C. The list includes Eric Ripert,  Laurent Tourondel, Michael Mina, Wolfgang Puck, Art Smith, Alain Ducasse, and now Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Holy shit, has anyone told these dudes that the District is not so food-focused?

Second, the D.C. area has its own celebrated toques, even without the influx of culinary heavy hitters looking to capitalize on the District's (fairly) stable economy and our ever-expanding dining scene. The list includes not only Andrés but also Michel Richard, Cathal Armstrong, Eric Ziebold, Frank Ruta, Ann Cashion, Vikram Sunderam, and, of course, the boy wonder, Johnny Monis.

But third and more to the point, I dare Leventhal to try to snag a seat at the Minibar without using his credentials, his insider sources, or whatever other means he has that may require a disclaimer somewhere on the Eater.com site. I'd love to see Leventhal sit on the phone, day after day, at 10 a.m., hoping and praying and genuflecting before some craven imagine so that he can get one of those 12 seats a day. The process leaves people frustrated and angry.

Oh, and Leventhal, do you think this task has become any easier since Andrés earned four stars from the Los Angeles Times for his Minibar-like Bazaar?

Bryan Voltaggio is so gonna bury bro Michael

The first thing I wanted to know from Bryan Voltaggio is why. Why did the former executive chef at Charlie Palmer Steak and the current chef/owner of his own restaurant, VOLT, in Frederick feel the need to appear on Season 6 of Top Chef? He, of all people, doesn't seem to need the career bump that comes from allowing Bravo to manipulate the crap out of a chef's public image. I mean, he's not Carla Hall.

It seems Voltaggio has his motivations, and it concerns a certain younger brother, Michael Voltaggio, the chef de cuisine at the Bazaar by José Andrés.

"There's always been a bit of sibling rivalry between us," Bryan Voltaggio tells Y&H. "We wanted to prove who's the best."

This fraternal competition has been a part of the brothers' lives since growing up together in Frederick — whether in school, sports, or, now, cooking. Bryan Voltaggio calls it a "friendly thing" between two close family members, but he also admits that the rivalry has its benefits.

"It makes us push harder with our careers because it sets the bar high," says the 33-year-old Voltaggio, two-plus years older than Michael. "We have someone to one up."

That's when the thought strikes me: Oh, I get it. The producers of Top Chef picked these guys just to play up their lifelong sibling rivalry. So I asked Bryan Voltaggio if he thought that's why the producers selected them.

That's when a publicist for Top Chef comes on the line to say, in no uncertain terms, that Voltaggio can't speak for the producers. Nor could he say whether he bested his brother in the competition, which debuts on Aug. 26 on Bravo.

Voltaggio, of course, could comment on something based far more on day-to-day reality than any manipulated controversy on a reality TV program: His brother's four-star review from the Los Angeles Times. A four-star review, I should note, that Michael Voltaggio earned right out of the box. VOLT, by contrast, stands at two and a half stars from the Washington Post.

Does Voltaggio have any feelings about his brother's perfect score?

"It was a very proud moment...He did a fantastic job," Voltaggio says genuinely. "It's obviously something I'd like to achieve....He's obviously raised the bar."