Skift Take
It’s been ten years given that Nobu hotels introduced, and the hospitality landscape is primed for another chef-owned brand to provide immersive cooking– and cultural– experiences.
Carley Thornell
What took place in Vegas didn’t stay in Vegas for chef Charlie Palmer and former 4 Seasons executive Christopher Hunsberger.
It was there the two first worked together and the seed was planted to one day launch a high-end “culinary-first” hotel brand. But the idea took nearly twenty years to turn into Appellation, the concept they shared in a trade-exclusive launch interview with Skift. The very first 3 areas set to open soon — pristine swaths in Sun Valley, Idaho and Healdsburg (2023 ), and Pacific Grove, California (2024)– could not be further than the glitz of the City of Sin.
“Of all locations that aren’t Appellation-like, it’s Vegas,” said Palmer, laughing. Suggesting “to give name to a place,” the term “appellation” is most frequently utilized as a geographic difference to determine where grapes and other kinds of food are grown or raised. Visitors of Palmer and Hunsberger will have the ability to immerse themselves in the rolling hills of red wine country not only by means of sight or taste, but by connecting with communities of vintners and farmers, for instance.
Appellation creators Chris Hunsberger(left)and Charlie Palmer “Appellations were developed as a guarantee of authenticity– an earned classification that might exist no place else however here. The first appellations centered on food, simply as we do today. That name felt suitable as we produce what we saw lacking for today’s high-end tourist– hotels specifically constructed around a location’s unique culinary experiences,” said Palmer, who serves as the brand name’s chief executive officer.
This is not the first foray into hoteling for either he or primary running officer Hunsberger. Palmer speaks with on 15 extremely lucrative hotel food and beverage (F&B) outlets balancing 1.25 million so-called covers annually, or the variety of customers served, through Charlie Palmer Collective; he’s also bought a handful of hotels. Hunsberger spent more than 30 years with 4 Seasons, serving in many positions including president of the Americas, and global head of product. Appellation is, nevertheless, what Palmer calls “the ultimate idea.”
“We’re turning the traditional ‘hotel first, restaurant 2nd’ concept on its head and setting a new requirement for immersion in local culture and neighborhood through food,” added Hunsberger. “With Appellation, the intersection of culinary and hospitality is smooth.”
What that suggests for visitors is a multi-sensory experience both inside and outside. In Healdsburg, for example, the reception location is more “red wine shop fulfills butcher store,” explains Palmer. “The counter is a huge butcher block, surrounded by walls of bottle. So right from the onset, you’re getting that direct exposure that you have actually ‘gotten here.’ The dining establishment is right off of reception. And you’re seeing an open kitchen area right away.”
Visitor passages will include kitchens filled with products unique to each Appellation place, along with cookbook libraries featuring Palmer’s tomes; make-your-own craft mixed drink sets within will elevate the principle of an in-room small bar. Interactive preparation stations and “maker spaces” throughout the residential or commercial properties offering chefs and local artisans a possibility to showcase their skills and tastes will “make the undetectable visible,” the hospitality veterans said. The experience continues all the way into guestrooms, with art showing the bounty of local fruit and vegetables and the hands that nurture it, for instance.
That interior immersion comes courtesy of EDG Design, the company that also supervised the recent Montage in Sonoma. Outdoors at Appellation Healdsburg, the grounds require little assistance to provide an instant sense of place. Rolling hills are dotted with arbors, and shows with local vintners will offer guests the opportunity to drink and swirl throughout live-fire cooking presentations. In Pacific Grove, simply a couple of miles from the “Artichoke Capital of the World,” they’ll have the ability to discover the art of preparing the plant. And in Sun Valley, fly-tying classes await those who want to try their hand at attracting their supper.
The locations were picked not only due to the fact that they are where the hospitality duo enjoys to spend time in, joked Palmer, but “to fulfill unaccommodated luxury hotel need.” In Healdsburg, for instance, restrictions on gatherings at wineries need to offer Appellation’s events space (which includes a convertible open-kitchen idea) a “substantial advantage.” “Wide-open, contiguous spaces” at each location were also a prescient move when it concerned fulfilling the desires these days’s traveler, Palmer stated.
Those needs divert more immersive, hands-on, and healing than ever in the past, said Brooke Jennings, director of public relations at The Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, Pennsylvania. The medical spa resort sits on 500 acres of forest, with a farm-to-table garden and an orchard. She’s seen an increased interest in visitors “getting their hands unclean” while experiencing the outdoors, and Woodloch has actually satisfied the need by expanding shows like hands-on classes with grower/”farmacists.” “We always say ‘let nature support’ and part of that today is a stronger engagement in our environments, and the locavore movement, particularly.”
An enhanced focus industry-wide on all elements of wellness positions Appellation well for future advancement, which is already prepared in other areas renowned for mountainous landscapes, food, and wine: San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Paso Robles.