Latest news with #MichaelMina
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Forbes
Wagyu And Whiskey: How To Dine In Style At The Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC
Washington D.C. has served as the capital of the United States since 1790, and in the modern era, this scenic city doubles as a world-class tourist destination thanks to its many museums and historic sites. While attractions span from the National Air and Space Museum to the Washington Monument, the district also wows visitors with its thriving drinking and dining scene, with no shortage of refined restaurants and cozy cocktail lounges found within its limits—and when it comes to experiencing the perfect blend of upscale elegance and unforgettable gastronomy, it's tough to beat the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC. Officially opened in 1979, this polished property provides particularly elegant accommodations on the eastern edge of Georgetown, with 212 plush rooms and suites found throughout the hotel—and just a few steps past the lobby, guests can find its culinary crown jewel in the form of Bourbon Steak. Established by esteemed restaurateur Michael Mina, this polished venue is dedicated to showcasing the sophisticated side of the classic steakhouse, with high-end dishes like 100-day dry-aged ribeye, 32-ounce prime porterhouse and Japanese A5 wagyu striploin all gracing the menu. For a truly unforgettable meal, diners can elevate their steak with a hearty dose of truffle butter or roasted foie gras—and as an added bonus, Bourbon Steak is also well-versed in catering to any beef-averse diners, with the garlic aioli-infused braised octopus and Maine lobster pot pie serving as two must-try dishes for seafood fans. As the name implies, Bourbon Steak comes equipped with a wealth of whiskies to sip on during a visit, but the restaurant's expertise spans far beyond the scope of just neat spirits. In addition to crafting top-quality ribeye, the venue has also mastered the art of mixology, inviting guests to enjoy a diverse range of cocktails with each meal. For rum fans, the Monkey Business offers a punch of Puerto Rican distillate elevated with spiced banana and clarified pineapple, while the Kiwi Lime Pie is perfect on a hot day thanks to its refreshing blend of mint-infused tequila and citrus. Meanwhile, cigar aficionados should be sure to spring for a spot on the patio, with specialized cocktail pairings designed to perfectly blend the robust notes of tobacco and spirit into one tantalizing experience. While Bourbon Steak is perfect for a lavish dinner, early risers can look forward to a truly impressive spread during a visit to Seasons, an elegant space that draws locals and tourists in droves thanks to its elevated breakfast dishes. On the sweet side, the restaurant has earned abundant acclaim for its lemon ricotta pancakes, while savory options span from the Pure V—a vegetable-forward option that's brimming with smashed avocado, sun-dried tomatoes and mixed greens—to the Manchego and maitake mushroom-loaded Truffle Grove Scramble. And for Sunday visitors in particular, the weekly Seasons brunch brings an opportunity to experience the space at its most exuberant, with ten dedicated stations serving up fresh bagels, artisanal cheeses, hand-rolled sushi and a wealth of other high-end favorites. With its sophisticated culinary offerings and dazzling atmosphere, the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC stands as a shining example of gastronomic excellence in the national capital, providing visitors with an opportunity to dine on pillowy pancakes, savory seafood and top-quality wagyu all in one stay. Though renowned restaurants abound across the entire district, the property provides guests with an opportunity to enjoy the richness of D.C. dining without having to wander too far from their room. As you plan your next food-focused foray into The District, be sure to leave some room on the itinerary for a meal at this palatial Georgetown hotel, with plenty of exemplary produce, protein and spirits to enjoy throughout your stay.
Eater
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
It's All About Realistic Corn Gummies in Cocktails at This D.C. Bar
As Halloween-meets-summer continues to trend, one uppity D.C. bar is taking the concept of candy corn to new heights. The lounge at Bourbon Steak, celebrity chef Michael Mina's sleek, people-watching magnet tucked inside Georgetown's Four Seasons hotel, has come up with a cocktail garnish that (we can attest) literally looks and tastes like the freshly shucked summer vegetable. But this yellow corn-ament of sorts, found in the new It's A-Maiz-Ing cocktail, is of the gummy and small variety. 'Engi' Alebachew, Bourbon Steak's head bartender, tells Eater that he has long wanted to invent such a believable, realistic cocktail accoutrement. And the sweet and savory grain ingredient is definitely having a moment at D.C. bars as of late. Since the drink debuted two weeks ago, Alebachew says the team's sold around 100 little corn garnishes. 'Some people ask for it without the drink — 'can I have one more of those?' I can't say no, even though it takes forever to make,' he says. So, how does he make it? 'We buy fresh corn and slowly cook it. Then we throw away the cob and blend the juice [extract] with sugar and salt,' Alebachew says. The syrup then joins pectin (as a gelling agent) and combines with agave nectar and fruit juice to produce a 'gummy candy' of sorts. The complex compilation goes into a cute corn-shaped mold before it's finally 'thrown in the freezer' for a couple of hours, he explains. Bourbon Steak's collection of new summer cocktails. Bourbon Steak Bourbon Steak's Engi Alebachew preparing the Beekeeper (Bar Hill Gin, yellow Chartreuse, lemongrass, honey, lemon). Bourbon Steak Due to limited kitchen prep space, sheer time constraints, and popularity, however, he's now looking to potentially outsource the edible party favor. 'I found a good garnish company online making the same kind of them,' he says, reporting that their recently sent sample hit his high standards. And there's not just corn on the cocktail menu. A new vodka-and-sherry coupe called Rice and Shine also comes topped with a tasty conversation starter: a big piece of rice paper that's fried in hot oil and sprinkled with green matcha. 'There are so many kinds of fun and edible things I want to work on,' he says. A riff on a gin Bee's Knees loops in lemongrass and is garnished with real honeycomb. And a big cluster of grapes dangles off the Singani 63-infused Grape Expectations. All of the new summer cocktails are $26 each (2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). Executive chef Quentin Welch is also having fun in the kitchen during her second summer in the head role. She recently perfected a delightfully fluffy, caviar-topped 'twinkie' made with cornbread cake and yuzu creme fraiche. Meanwhile, Mina is gearing up to expand in D.C. with the opening of Acqua Bistecca, his newly named coastal Italian restaurant coming to City Ridge. Stay tuned for more. Eater DC All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
In a Brutal Week for Los Angeles, Three More Prominent Restaurants Say Goodbye
During a year that has already seen the loss of numerous longtime Los Angeles restaurants, the city is facing another wave of closures. On the heels of Cole's French Dip, Los Angeles's oldest restaurant, announcing its permanent closure, three other prominent restaurants will cease operations or have already closed. Mid-Wilshire's Southern specialist My 2 Cents ends dine-in service on July 31, chef Michael Mina's Mother Tongue closed in June, and Shibumi's final day in Downtown is July 19. The last few years have been punishing for Los Angeles restaurants and bars, which continue to feel the ripple effects of COVID-19 and the 2023 Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes. Los Angeles restaurant operators who had built solid catering, industry meeting, and private events revenue streams noticed a 30 to 40 percent decline in revenue during the strikes, which never recovered as television and film productions in Los Angeles ground to a screeching halt. Many producers, technical crew members, industry set designers, costumers, and more have been without consistent work since 2023, leading a reliable revenue stream for restaurants throughout the region to dry up. As restaurant owners adapt to these unprecedented events, they continue to struggle with the daily challenges of running a business, such as the rising costs of goods and labor, in an exceedingly untenable environment. Here are the latest Los Angeles restaurant closures to know about. My 2 Cents - Mid-Wilshire Founded in 2013 by Alisa Reynolds and her pastry chef sister, Theresa Fountain, My 2 Cents is a Los Angeles staple for soul food. Reynolds, who hosted Searching for Soul Food on Hulu and was nominated for a Best Chef: California James Beard Award in 2024, announced the closure of the restaurant in an Instagram post. After the restaurant closes on July 31, it will transition into a catering operation while producing a line of products and merchandise. Reynolds told the Los Angeles Times that the shift is something she's been considering for years, and looks forward to feeding people in their homes and doing pop-ups. Mother Tongue - Hollywood Michael Mina debuted Mother Tongue in 2022 on the top floor of Hollywood fitness club Heimat with a menu that catered to wellness enthusiasts. (Mina is also the chef behind Orla, which opened in the Regent Santa Monica Beach in late 2024.) The restaurant suddenly shuttered in late June with no formal announcement; its Instagram has disappeared entirely. Shibumi — Downtown Less than two weeks after retaining its Michelin star, chef David Schlosser announced his Japanese kaiseki restaurant Shibumi would close on July 19. The closure was announced in an Instagram post on July 7, with Schlosser writing that that 'Shibumi was a revelation in 2015 Los Angeles,' and hinting that future projects are 'on the horizon,' including a collaborative book on the Japan's cuisine and culture from the 1600 to 1800 Edo period. Open since 2015, Shibumi received a favorable review from the Los Angeles Times' former food reviewer, Jonathan Gold, and was a semifinalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant Award in 2017. Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Great Steaks, Poolside Champagne And Other New Reasons To Visit Las Vegas
Michael Mina and Josh Smith do it again at Bourbon Steak inside the Four Seasons. JMP Force Media As always, Las Vegas dining is about raising the stakes and creating new excitement in all kinds of baller ways. It's about merging great food and showmanship. As things in Vegas heat up this summer, here are some new ways to have a memorable dinner. When it comes to blockbuster Las Vegas restaurants, Josh Smith is a nonpareil executive chef who combines technical prowess and purposeful playfulness as he creates crowd-pleasing dishes. Smith (who previously ran the kitchens at Seablue, Bardot and Delilah) is back at the Michael Mina empire after a successful stint at Wynn Las Vegas, and he's having a blast at the new Bourbon Steak inside the Four Seasons. His new dishes include a creamed spinach pop tart with comté cheese and bechamel, which is a properly over-the-top Vegas way to eat a vegetable. Smith is focused on hyper-specific sourcing, so he celebrates American beef by serving both Creekstone Farms rib eyes and Snake River Farms wagyu rib cap while also showcasing top-tier Japanese and Australian wagyu. Dry-aged branzino and dry-aged Ōra King salmon are supplied by Liwei Liao's Joint Seafood. Blinis might seem boring after you've had caviar like this. JMP Force Media And there's all kinds of theatrical fun at Bourbon Steak in Las Vegas. A5 wagyu tartare, topped with a thin slice of A5 wagyu on a potato pavé and enhanced by the addition of fresh wasabi, is torched tableside. A Twinkie-shaped piece of cornbread is filled with yuzu crème fraîche and topped with oscietra caviar. Both of these luxurious appetizers are expertly constructed and thoroughly delicious. The flavors are big, but they're also balanced. This is the way Bourbon Steak (which has also opened New York and Delray Beach locations recently) rolls all over the country, and of course Mina classics like the lobster pot pie and the 'smoke show' tomahawk are available at the Four Seasons. For dessert, there are perfect beignets that you can dip into Macallan 12-year butterscotch pudding. If you're lucky, you might even be able to enjoy carajillo in dessert form, with the coffee cocktail transformed into a creamy concoction that's more of a pick-me-up than any tiramisu you've ever had. Like everything Smith does, Bourbon Steak in Las Vegas is about leveling up. Caramella serves lobster arrabbiata at Planet Hollywood. Joe Janet At this red-sauce restaurant inside Planet Hollywood, your server might highly recommend the cheesy garlic bread and suggest that you eat that with the cheese-stuffed veal Parm meatballs before getting the cheese-stuffed chicken Parm for your entree. For pastas, there's cavatelli Bolognese and properly spicy tomato penne, which pairs nicely with the 2-pound lobster arrabiata. Caramella is a Tao Group Hospitality restaurant that doesn't seem to care much about whether you're going out after dinner, and the Strip views on the patio (you can see the Bellagio fountain show here) might also want to make you linger. If you do want a post-meal stop, go find Caramella's hidden lounge. Hint: Look for the candy store. The Signature Seafood Buffet at Genting Palace Genting Palace, which serves upscale Chinese food at Resorts World, has launched an elegant buffet. Resorts World Las Vegas The high-end Chinese restaurant at Resorts World has launched a Wednesday-through-Sunday dinner buffet with an array of chilled seafood (including oysters and crab legs, of course) and standout dishes like West Lake-style minced beef soup, har gow and shrimp fried rice. Best of all is the carving station, which eschews the unexciting beef and ham you find at other buffets. Instead, Genting Palace serves beautifully rendered Beijing duck and crispy pork belly. You can create DIY buns with the duck, but eating it atop fried rice or noodles works nicely too. This is Las Vegas, so choose your own adventure. Nomikai Nomikai serves A5 wagyu sandos at the Venetian. Drex Agency The new sushi speakeasy and hand-roll counter at the Venetian riffs on the classics. Highlights include a miso black cod roll that might simultaneously remind you of both Nobu and Katsuya while being its own distinctly delicious and texturally pleasing bite. For an extra layer of flavor, you can dip your open-faced Hokkaido scallop and Alaskan king crab rolls into a yuzu green sauce or a chili red sauce. Order the premium hand-roll set and you'll also get a fancypants toro-and-caviar roll. The counter, like other hand-roll bars, works well for a quick meal while the speakeasy is where you can pair sake and cocktails with A5 wagyu sandos and nigiri flights. There's nitro matcha on tap and ube espresso martinis if you're looking to amp yourself up for a big night ahead. Sun Club Fontainebleau's Sun Club offers poolside Veuve Clicquot. Isabel Ng This breezy pool pop-up at Fontainebleau Las Vegas is a summery showcase for Veuve Clicquot and its newest cuvées: Rich and Rich rosé. Drink your bubbles in a setting that pops with yellow Veuve decor while eating La Cote double cheeseburgers and Caesar salads at your daybed or cabana. If this feels like a Champagne-powered European beach vacation, that's the entire point. Sun Clubs are also popping up in destinations like Ibiza, Mykonos, Capri and Saint-Tropez this year.
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Travel + Leisure
27-06-2025
- Business
- Travel + Leisure
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection Launches Its Third Ship Next Week—and We Got a First Look Inside
The third ship from Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Luminara , welcomes its first guests next week, sailing from Monte Carlo on July 3. The biggest ship yet from the brand, Luminara has 226 suites, each with a terrace. ( Ilma , which launched in 2024, is just slightly smaller, with 224 cabins). Setting it apart from the two sibling yachts that came before, Luminara will sail to Asia, Alaska, and Canada—all firsts for the company. ' Luminara will lead the collection's expansion into Asia-Pacific beginning December 2025, with voyages to destinations including Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam; Osaka, Japan; and Bangkok,' says Ernesto Fara, the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's president and CFO. 'In summer 2026, Luminara will sail to Alaska and Canada, bringing the brand's ultra-luxury approach to some of the most remote and awe-inspiring coastlines in the world.' With five restaurants, the ship taps top culinary talent, including chefs Michael Mina and Fabio Trabocchi, both of whom also worked on Ilma's restaurants. 'Mina is the creative mind behind Luminara 's Beach House, which offers a vibrant and relaxed setting for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine inspired by his Egyptian heritage,' says a spokesperson for the brand. Italian restaurant Seta su Luminara is by Trabocchi and offers both à la carte Venetian fare and an eight-course dégustation menu. Haesu Bit will serve Pan-Asian food, a nod to the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's first foray into Asia. There are also seven bars on board including the Art Bar, 'where guests can mingle among a striking curation of Cycladic art,' says a spokesperson. Luminara is by the same design team behind Ilma , with Aivan studio crafting the exterior and AD Associates and Chapi Chapo Design handling the interiors and creative direction, respectively. (The first Ritz-Carlton Yacht was designed by Tillberg of Sweden.) Since the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection launched in 2022 with Evrima —a ship half Luminara's size that affords travelers access to lesser-visited cruise ports—it has continually introduced non-cruisers to the benefits of this style of travel. On Evrima , '50 percent of the guests are new to vacations on the water,' Chrissie McClatchie reported on T+L. 'We've seen remarkable interest from first-time luxury travelers at sea,' Fara confirms. 'Many are loyal guests of The Ritz-Carlton or other Marriott luxury brands, seeking a new way to explore the world. They also choose to extend their experience with pre- and post-voyage stays at the Ritz-Carlton or other luxury brands within the portfolio.' When Evrima launched in 2022, it marked the start of a major trend. Since, hotel operators including Four Seasons, Orient-Express, Aman, and Waldorf Astoria, have invested in ships—following The Ritz-Carlton's lead. 'When Evrima set sail in 2022, the Ritz-Carlton became the first luxury hotel brand to enter the world of yachting, ushering in a new era of hospitality at sea,' says Tina Edmundson, the president of Marriott International's luxury brands, in a message shared exclusively with T+L. 'As we look ahead to the launch of Luminara , we're reminded of our continued commitment to innovation and excellence. With chef-led culinary experiences, museum-worthy art, and immersive cultural programming, Luminara raises the bar once again by delivering the kind of personalized, elevated travel our guests have come to expect from the Ritz-Carlton.'
