We are so lucky to have Chef Janine Falvo as our Executive Chef at Briza Restaurant in our Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel! Janine made a big, albeit admittedly brief, splash on Top Chef Season 9 – which is currently airing. We chatted with Janine to get to know her a bit better, and we’re happy to share our conversation with you!
What’s your favorite thing to cook at home?
My favorite thing to cook at home is an old family recipe, Ricotta Cavatelli. Cavatelli are small dumplings similar to gnocchi. In my family, everyone thinks theirs are the best. I am still partial to my mom’s, although I have altered the recipe with different herbs and spices over the years. When I am at home, I make them with a traditional red sauce. This is my ultimate comfort food.
What’s the wackiest request you’ve ever received from a customer?
Steak Tartar, ordered well done.
What was your favorite challenge on Top Chef: Texas?
Although my stint was short, my favorite challenge was the bubble challenge. I cooked a scallop with a “clambake”. The dish brought back memories of 4th of July BBQ’s and it got rave reviews from Emeril Lagasse, Hugh Acheson, and even a smirk from Tom Colicchio.
If you weren’t a chef, what would be your ideal job?
I would make custom furniture.
If you could cook a meal for anyone in the world (dead or alive) who would it be? What would you cook for them?
I would cook for my dad. He loved anything old world southern Italian, His favorites were stuffed seashells, and manicotti.
What’s your favorite thing on the menu at Briza?
Lobster Gnocchi with buttered popcorn sauce.
Um, that sounds amazing. Can you share the recipe?
Preparing for the holidays can be draining, but the Renaissance Washington DC Dupont Circle Hotel has just the shot of energy you need to thrive during the busiest season of the year! It’s the fifth consecutive year of the 12 Days of illy at the Renaissance Dupont Circle’s Caffé. Purchase twelve illy gourmet coffee beverages between December 1 and December 23, and by collecting one stamp for each drink, you can enter to win an illy FrancisFrancis X7 iperEspresso machine. The winner in this exclusive giveaway will be announced on December 28. There’s no better way to start the new year than with a high-octane coffee maker, valued at around $400.
Dinner and a movie? More like lunch and intrigue at The Mayflower Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel. To celebrate the release of the Clint Eastwood-directed film, J. Edgar, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, Café Promenade will be offering a one-day-only special menu of Hoover’s favorite lunch on Friday, November 11, from 11am to 2pm. The cost is $18 per person, excluding tax and gratuity.
We here at Renaissance Hotels are excited to congratulate Janine Falvo, Executive Chef of Briza in the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel, for being one of the 29 finalists on the next season of Top Chef! Bravo recently announced the list of hopefuls, and we’re not surprised Chef Falvo was selected, considering she already is a “top chef” to us. If her standing is high enough after a couple of preliminary challenges during the upcoming season’s first episode, she will compete with 15 other chefs from across the country to win Season Nine, also known as Top Chef: Texas.
As contestants cook across the Lone Star state, hitting up challenges in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, they will compete to wow the taste buds of celebrities, including Charlize Theron, Pee-Wee Herman and Patti LaBelle. Judges include head judge and chef Tom Colicchio, host Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons, and Emeril Lagasse. The Top Chef title winner will take home $125,000, receive a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
Congratulations to 1500° for being the only restaurant in Florida named to Esquire magazine’s prestigious list of Best New Restaurants of 2011! This hotly anticipated list was carefully curated by renowned food and wine author John Mariani, who gushed about the Eden Roc Renaissance’s farm-to-table restaurant on Miami Beach.
“It’s big, it’s splashy, it’s got a poolside patio and a faux-zebra-fabric banquette — you sit there wondering when the Guess photo shoot is going to start,” wrote Mariani, who compared the grilled-peach salad with blue cheese, candied pecans, and honey vinaigrette to the famously sweet Esther Williams, the classic Hollywood synchronized swimmer who performed in the pools of South Beach.
The Trellis Room has earned a reputation for a flavorful menu assembled from the highest-quality seasonal produce, and the finest local Gulf seafood and USDA Prime beef. But it’s the addition of an impressive stock of wines from around the globe, including Bruts from Burgundy, Shiraz from Australia, and Chardonnay from California, that earned the prestigious distinction from Wine Spectator.
The Trellis Room was originally built in 1852, and its historic grandeur has seamlessly blended with beautiful modern luxury. The Trellis Room’s modern interpretation of classic Southern flavors is the perfect complement to the property’s distinct Southern charm.
“Winning the Wine Spectator Award means a great deal to our team,” says Marty Pollock, Trellis Room Chef. “A lot of effort went into choosing wines from boutique wineries from across the world as well as the more recognizable names. Our goal was to put together a list that would ‘WOW’ both the beginner and the expert wine enthusiast and would also pair perfectly with our food. To be recognized for it on a national level gives us great pleasure.”
So next time you’re craving bold, yet modernly refined, Southern cuisine with the perfect glass of wine – head to the Trellis Room—and end your evening in style with stay at The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa.
There’s no place in the world that’s comparable to New York City’s Times Square: the billboards, bright lights, and eclectic, bustling crowds. Thanks to its panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, Renaissance New York Times Square’sR Lounge captures the pulse of the city—and thanks to diners’ votes, it was voted one of the Best Scenic View Restaurants on Open Table’s 2011 Diners’ Choice list.
Sit back and enjoy the view with Blue Ribbon Restaurants small plates and specialty cocktails. And now when you stay three nights at the hotel by September 5, get $75 to spend at R Lounge. So grab your foodie friends—Labor Day weekend in NYC, anyone?
To celebrate the season, Renaissance is rolling out a variety of specialty cocktails, both mixed classics and inventive flavor combinations. If you’re jonesing for a frozen margarita or chilled mojito, no problem. But the mixologists at Renaissance Hotels can also pour up one of our original drinks, like the Raspberry Refresh-Mint (made with rum and muddled limes and raspberries), the Rye Not (a rye whiskey, amaretto, and apricot puree concoction), or the Ready Made Shade (a refreshing mix of coconut rum, coconut water and pineapple juice). Hotel bars will have different offerings, but we’ve got our full cocktail menu below so you can try all 22 drinks at home.
Even better? Get all our summer cocktail recipes, plus over 100 more from Renaissance hotels around the world on your iPhone with our free R Cocktails app.
[Photo: Toasted Oak]
For those who worship food, the James Beard House is like Mecca. Its namesake is a man whose legacy as a pioneer in gourmet American cooking reverberates in culinary circles — which is why an invitation to cook at the House, as was extended to Steven Grostick, executive chef at Toasted Oak Grill & Market in Novi, Michigan’s The Baronette Renaissance Hotel, is such an honor.
Though the House generally closed off for only the eating elite, casual gourmands can sample a taste of Grostick’s Michigan-themed dinner menu on June 2. For one night only, his James Beard preview dinner will be available at the Novi restaurant. The menu emphasizes locally grown ingredients, evident in house-made charcuterie items, local roasted Great Frickin’ Chicken, Wordhouse Farms pork tenderloin rolled in house-made kielbasa and smoked bacon, and strawberry-rhubarb pie (click here for the full menu).
Tickets for the meal and wine pairings are $75 per person. Seating is limited; reservations are required. For reservations, call (248) 277-6000 or click here for online reservations. Toasted Oak is at 27790 Novi Road, Novi, in the Baronette Renaissance Hotel.
Bottoms up! Renaissance Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington D.C. is mixing up unique cocktails inspired by notable district-dwellers, and for a good cause, too: all proceeds from the “RX” cocktail program will benefit the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit for children’s hospitals, and the hotel will match the donation for the most popular RX cocktail.
On the menu: “The Skinny Rich,” a Veev acai-infused lemonade created with venture capitalist/reality show star Rich Amons in mind; the “1-2 Punch,” named for Pamela Sorensen, founder of the blog Pamela’s Punch; and a ginger-spiced drink for radio personality Tommy McFly, just to name a few. Drinks will be served at M Bar & Lounge from now through the end of the year.
Not near Renaissance Dupont Circle? Get over 100 cocktail recipes from Renaissance hotels around the world with our free R Cocktails iPhone app. (We’ll drink to that!)
R Life is about your life. It's about bold style. Authentic experience. Real travel (even if it's right near your home). And inspired discussion, peppered with wit and joie de vivre. It's about looking to see what's around the corner, and savoring what's new and different once you're there. Learn More
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