Recently in Relais & Chateaux Category

Daniel Humm, executive chef and co-owner of the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York, has been named the most outstanding chef in the USA in the country's coveted James Beard Awards.

Swiss-born Humm, who won the James Beard award for best chef in New York City in 2010, has been at the helm of Eleven Madison Park since 2006 after he was recruited to run the kitchen by restaurateur Danny Meyer.

He began his culinary training at the age of 14 as an apprentice and gained his first Michelin star at the age of 24 at Gasthaus zum Gupf in the Swiss Alps. In 2003, Humm became executive chef at Campton Place in San Francisco before moving to New York three years later to head up Eleven Madison Park.

The restaurant was awarded Michelin's top accolade last autumn, jumping from one to three stars, after which Humm and business partner Will Guidara took over the business. Humm's cooking combines classic flavour combinations with a mix of classic and modern techniques.

Meanwhile Boulevard in San Francisco picked up the James Beard Foundation's award for restaurant of the year, with Christina Tosi of David Chang's Momofuku Milk Bar in New York being named rising star chef of the year.

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who last year opened his first European venture, Cut at the Dorchester Collection's 45 Park Lane in London, won the lifetime achievement award.

Luxury hotel and restaurant consortium Relais & Chateaux this week hosted its second annual Grands Chefs dinner in New York, bringing together 45 top chefs from around the world.

The event, which took place at Manhattan's Gotham Hall on Monday evening, featured chefs from 10 countries from four continents, with the UK represented by two-Michelin-starred Grands Chefs Andrew Fairlie and Claude Bosi.

Other chefs included three-Michelin-starred chefs Daniel Boulud and Jean-Georges Vongerichten from the USA, Thomas Bühner from La Vie in Germany, and Emmanuel Renaut from Flocons de Sel in France. In addition iconic French chefs Marc Meneau and Annie Féolde as well as young chefs such as César Troisgros and Christopher Kostow were also cooking.

New York marked Relais & Chateaux's second annual Grands Chefs dinner after the inaugural event held at Versailles in France last year. Next year, the dinner will take place in London.

The Grands Chefs dinner, which raised funds for New York charity Citymeals on Wheels and was sponsored by Champagne Pommery, saw the chefs paired up in teams of three cooking for 20 or 30 covers. The menus featured a first course of lobster, a second course of either scallops or sea bass, and a third of either veal or lamb.

Andrew Fairlie, chef patron of Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in Scotland, served seared Maine scallops with Scottish sea vegetables and seaweed broth. He was teamed up with US chef Mark Ladner from El Posto in New York, and Patrick Bertron, head chef at Le Relais Bernard Loiseau in France.

Meanwhile Claude Bosi, chef patron of Hibiscus in London, served roast tenderloin of veal with aubergine and miso caviar, roast baby gem lettuce and dried bonito. He cooked alongside Davy Tissot from Villa Florentine in France and and Stéphane Mazières Hôtel Le Toiny in Saint Barts.

Commenting on the event, Fairlie said it had been a great honour to have been involved. "Being among culinary greats such as Marc Meneau, Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller was a fantastic and humbling experience," he said.

"While the cooking on the night was a challenge, the organisation of the event was impeccable and I had a great team in Mark and Patrick."

Fairlie added: "The room looked absolutely spectacular and I didn't realise until I got there just how big the event was going to be. It was an amazing and exhilarating experience and one of the best events of its kind that I have cooked at."

Andrew Fairlie has become the latest addition in the UK to the ranks of Grand Chefs recognised by luxury hotel consortium Relais & Chateaux.

The prestigious accolade is held by only a select number of 160 chefs around the world, including 70 independent operators, in recognition for leading the way through innovation and excellence.

Fairlie, who runs his eponymous restaurant at Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire and is the only chef in Scotland to hold two Michelin stars, joins an elite group of just seven chefs to have been awarded the title in the UK.

The others are: Alain Roux at the Waterside Inn; Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck; Michel Roux Jr at Le Gavroche; Michael Caines at Gidleigh Park; Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons; and Martin Burge at Whatley Manor. Fairlie is only the third independent UK operator to have been named a Relais & Chateaux Grand Chef.

Fairlie said he felt extremely honoured and proud. "Receiving my award in front of 500 Relais & Chateaux proprietors including Michel Guérard, Michel Troisgros and Olivier Roellinger was a very special moment," he said.

"Being accepted into Relais & Chateaux has been an ambition of mine for many years. I first heard of Relais & Chateaux in 1985 when I was working at the Waterside Inn just before I was due to start my scholarship with Michel Guérard. The guide was full of the greatest chefs in the world and as a young 20-year-old I dreamt that one day I would be included."

Fairlie won the first Roux Scholarship in 1984, offering him the opportunity to train with Guérard at Les Prés d'Eugénie in Gascony, during a period when the UK's food reputation on the world stage was poor and a foreigner working in a French kitchen almost unheard of.

He opened his restaurant within Gleneagles hotel in 2001 and achieved a Michelin star in 2002 as well as the Newcomer of the Year Catey. His second star followed in 2006 and he remains the only chef in Scotland with two stars. He was named Scottish Chef of the Year in 2008.

The 2012 Relais & Chateaux guide features 31 properties in the UK, including newcomers Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Greywalls Hotel and Isle of Eriska, all in Scotland.