NEW YORK - Soneva, a leading luxury resort operator, has announced a unique partnership with the Michelin Guide for 20 dinner events to be hosted at its resorts in the Maldives and Thailand. The dinners, which run from August 2018 until mid-2019, are part of Soneva's Festival of Colour, a celebration of Soneva's diverse array of visiting experts and designed to offer unique guest experiences.
Throughout the festival, some of the world's most celebrated and decorated chefs, all of whom come from Michelin-starred restaurants, will be hosting highly exclusive dinner events at Soneva properties, each for a maximum of eight resort guests at a time. It is the first time that the Michelin Guide has undertaken any kind of event in the Maldives. The partnership is also designed to appeal to the international foodie scene and cement Soneva's reputation as an epicurean destination.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Soneva and the Michelin Guide will be jointly promoting the following chef events, most of which feature chefs from restaurants worldwide with two or three Michelin stars:
- August 26-31, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Kiko Moya, from two-starred Spanish restaurant L'Escaletta
- October 7-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Gert de Mangeleer, from three-starred Belgium restaurant Hertog Jan
- October 15-21, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Bruno Oger, from two-starred French restaurant La Villa Archange
- November 5-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Yoann Conte, from two-starred French restaurant Bord du Lac
- November 25-December 2, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Pere Planaguma, from two-starred Spanish restaurant Les Col
- December 5-14, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Tim Raue, from two-starred German Restaurant Tim Raue
- December 22, 2018-January 4, 2019 at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani: Ronan Kervarrec, from two-starred French restaurant La Table de Plaisance
- February 14-17, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Tom Aikens, from two-starred UK restaurant Toms Kitchen
- March 4-9, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Guillaume Bracaval, from two-starred French restaurant Michel Troisgros
- October 6-11, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Maxime Meilleur, from three-starred French restaurant La Bouitte
*The Michelin stars represented above are based upon the respective restaurant's recognition for 2018 edition in their respective cities/ territories.
Additional chef events will be announced soon.
In addition to the chefs, Soneva will be welcoming explorers, free-divers, astronauts, astronomers, authors, wellness experts, wine producers, sake experts, and other people who will all be offering guest activities. The full list of visiting experts can be viewed here.
"This partnership is an extraordinary opportunity for Soneva guests to celebrate culinary excellence in an outstanding environment. This collaboration is totally in line with Michelin's desire to offer travelers unique fine dining experiences all over the world," says Alexandre Taisne, Michelin Group Food & Beverage Director.
"Gastronomy is now one of the most important factors when deciding where to stay, especially in the luxury travel segment when 'good food' is no longer enough. We focus on creating rare, lasting experiences for guests and part of this is welcoming these incredible chefs to create their renowned dishes using our organic and locally sourced ingredients. We hope that our guests will experience a life-changing meal when they stay with us, and we are delighted to have this opportunity to partner with the Michelin​ Guide," concluded Sonu Shivdasani, Soneva's CEO and Co-Creative Director.