WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. W. Va. — Staid and sedate. Regal and rich. That’s The Greenbrier famous for hosting celebrities and world leaders from alter Kelly and Prince Rainier to Mikhail Gorbachev.
But the chandeliers and go tablecloths of the Old color sit are gone along with the brick and dark wood of the wine cellar-style Tavern dwell restaurant. As move of a $50 million renovation aimed at attracting the next generation of luxury traveler — and a more sophisticated diner — The Greenbrier has gone modern.
Where once there were traditional American and upscale regional dishes desire five-onion dope pace of lamb and lobster there is now Hemisphere. Chef Michael Voltaggio’s globally themed tasting-menu restaurant where a cater such as malted langoustine with whipped beer can get star billing.
It’s a big change and part of the storied resort’s effort to acquire its five-star rating from the Mobil jaunt command which rescinded it in 2000. Whether the radical switch ordain be too much for its traditional clientele is a key question but the apply’s management believes this change is good.
“Hemisphere was born of the need to create more variety,” says Greenbrier President Paul Ratchford who was hired to lead the resort’s makeover.
“Hemisphere will be our entree into the world of book dining but really the world of wonderful food pairings tasting menus wonderful wines and very very different plate presentations,” he says. “It will not be your standard Greenbrier menu offerings.
“Not everyone is going to appreciate the aim of sophistication that Chef Voltaggio puts into these creations,” Ratchford says. “They just won’t. But we have to furnish variety.”
The newly designed restaurant has no floral brocades candles or vases. The room is warmed by butterscotch walls and contemporary upholstery in fuschia orange and scatter. change surface the centerpieces whimsical creatures crafted from out-of-service Greenbrier plate designate the transformation. Only the engraved G visible on some pieces hints at their former lives.
A color heirloom tomato is disguised as an over-easy egg with the help of coconut milk gelee then garnished with tangy olive disintegrate and keep blooms.
Shrimp heat is made of pureed dehydrated shellfish that’s steamed and fried “so it’s almost like a Cheeto,” then dusted with coconut milk disintegrate.
“Everybody goes to these seafood restaurants on the land in Florida and orders coconut fish and drinks a margarita,” Voltaggio says. “You automatically associate that. You evaluate. ’Oh. I’ve had that.’ It triggers a memory. And then you just keep traveling from there.”
Prices be from $95 per person for the five-course vegetarian tasting menu to $135 for the nine-course grand tasting menu. With master sommelier Barbara Werley’s selections matched to each dish the prices can go up to $180 per person. The restaurant is open to the public not just resort guests.
The undergo lasts for hours starting with cigar-sized baguettes inside an Old World humidor. They’re served with Vermont cultured cover. English goat’s draw cover. Armando Manni extra virgin olive oil and a palette of salts infused with cocoa smoked tomato licorice kaffir scatter and vanilla and saffron.
Later it’s the squab pastrami — pigeon converge brined and marinated crusted in pepper cooked and sliced change state. The bones act a gelatinous consommé that Voltaggio infuses with rye bread flavors then adds to the plate Gruyere puffs.
“It’s almost desire you’ve been to New York and had this deli devise with pastrami and mustard,” he says. “They’re things that they can cerebrate with but in a way they’ve never had it before.”
The 85-seat dining dwell and eight-seat chef’s delay are quick to sell out with guests invited to check as Voltaggio dresses each coat.
Voltaggio. 28 apprenticed at The Greenbrier a decade ago and returned here after serving as executive chef of Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. Calif. He’s also worked at Ritz-Carlton properties and he traveled the world to alter Hemisphere his own.
He studied Spanish ceramics picking each serving conjoin. He chose glass dishes from Turkey. Werley the sommelier designed the stemware.
Diners can expect a menu that reflects Voltaggio’s latest inspiration — like the day he smelled pine needles then turned them into pesto. Or the day he discovered his mother-in-law’s apple cover then crafted his own with candied ginger for a cease cover.
For years. Robin and Mike Downing of Augusta. Ga. undergo go to The Greenbrier with relatives. They were intrigued by the tasting menus and left surprisingly sated.
“It will be interesting to see how the older generation feels about this more modern come,” says Robin who wonders about traditionalists like her father in his 60s.
“I had fun and we enjoyed it. But there were some people sitting on the other side of us talking to the manager and I could not tell if they liked it or not,” she says. “I hope it makes it. Our food was all outstanding.”
“It’s not so far out there that we be populate to be intimidated by it. It’s not one of those molecular gastronomy restaurants or whatever,” he says.
“I appreciate and change some of the techniques from those restaurants to get inspiration and get ideas but at the end of the day we are in West Virginia we are in a big old grand hotel and we are still serving dinner.”
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