This Classic Dolce Vita Hotel in Portofino Has Reopened With a Very 'Splendido' Makeover
You'll need to head up one of the nearby hills, however, to discover the Italian Riviera's real crown jewel: Splendido, A Belmond Hotel. Once an abandoned Benedictine monastery, the property was completely overhauled in the 19th century to become the eye-poppingly lavish summer home of an Italian baron; in 1902, it opened its doors as a hotel for the first time, quickly becoming a hot spot for some of the world's most glittering stars. And when I say glittering, I mean glittering: The list of former guests includes everyone from the Duke of Windsor to Winston Churchill, Grace Kelly to Madonna; the hotel was even one of the few constants in Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's turbulent romance, with Burton proposing with an enormous Bulgari rock on one of its famous wisteria-clad terraces. (And if you needed further proof the hotel has lost none of its shine, more recent overnighters include the likes of Dua Lipa—that's a woman who knows how to holiday.)
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National Geographic
5 hours ago
- National Geographic
The story behind pavlova, the dessert that sparked an international rivalry
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Sweet as it tastes, this much-loved dessert has a bitter history. As is the case with both hummus and hamburgers, the pavlova's birthplace is hotly disputed, with Australia and New Zealand each claiming credit for the idea of crowning towers of billowing meringue with clouds of snowy cream and tumbling fruit. Regular shots are fired back and forth across the Tasman Sea, most recently when a Kiwi energy company 'declared war' by installing an advert at Auckland Airport baggage reclaim stating: 'Home is where the pavlova was really created'. Reactions on the other side of 'the ditch' were outraged: 'Nice of them to promote tourism to Australia' was one online comment. The feud goes all the way to the top, as then Kiwi prime minister Jacinda Ardern discovered when she arrived in Melbourne to find a DIY pavlova kit in her hotel room — prompting her partner to question whether this represented a 'sense of humour or diplomatic incident'. King Charles must have been unaware of the simmering controversy when he boldly praised Sydney's 'world famous cuisine … whether it's smashed avo, a pav or a cab sav' in a speech at the city's Parramatta Park last year. Yet, in truth, the pavlova's precise origins are shrouded in mystery. It was almost certainly named for the great prima ballerina Anna Pavlova, from St Petersburg — probably to celebrate her hugely successful 1926 tour of Australia and New Zealand. This wasn't uncommon practice at the time; peach melba was invented at London's Savoy Hotel to pay tribute to the Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba, while Britain's Garibaldi biscuit honours the Italian revolutionary, who was given a rapturous welcome on a visit to these shores. Such was the vogue for sprinkling stardust over a menu that, at the height of Pavlova's career, you can find mention of sponge cakes, layered jellies and 'a popular variety of American ice-cream' all bearing her name, too. Although the meringue number is now the last pavlova standing, at the time it was simply a rebranding of an existing dessert — a fixture in the patisserie repertoire long before Anna pirouetted onto the world stage. Food historian Janet Clarkson suggests 'neither Australia nor New Zealand invented the meringue, because the meringue was invented before they were'. And while many trace meringue's origins to 18th-century Switzerland, in Clarkson's blog, the Old Foodie, she dates the first recorded recipe to the 1604 collection of a Lady Elinor Fettiplace. The pavlova's precise origins are shrouded in mystery. Photograph by Hannah Hughes Annabelle Utrecht, a Queensland-based writer, has devoted the past decade to digging into the history of the pavlova, prompted by an online argument with a Kiwi acquaintance. In the course of their research, the pair discovered that by the 18th century, 'large meringue constructions incorporating cream and fruit elements could be found in aristocratic kitchens across German-speaking lands, so the thing we call a pavlova today is actually more than two centuries old'. Naturally, everyone wanted a slice of this noble pie, and recipes began to appear: the vacherin, a meringue bowl filled with whipped cream or ice cream, fruit and syrup-infused sponge cake, often credited to the 19th-century French chef Marie-Antoine Carême; the baked alaska; the German schaum ('foam') torte. Even English writer Mrs Beeton includes a meringue gateau, filled with macerated strawberries and whipped cream, in her 1861 recipe collection. It therefore seems likely that the pavlova probably arrived in both New Zealand and Australia with European immigrants long before Pavlova herself. Of course, few dishes spring fully formed from nowhere, but when did the idea of a meringue topped with cream and fruit begin to be known as a 'pavlova' — or a 'pav', if you speak Antipodean? The earliest mention of something resembling the modern pavlova labelled as such can be found in the 1929 New Zealand Dairy Exporter Annual, contributed by a reader, although this version seems to have been layered more like a French dacquoise. The next-earliest, from the Rangiora Mothers' Union Cookery Book of Tried and Tested Recipes, of 1933, is also Kiwi. Australia's first claim to the dish dates from 1935, when Herbert 'Bert' Sachse, the chef at Perth's Esplanade Hotel, was asked to come up with something new for the afternoon tea menu. Manager Harry Nairn apparently remarked that his creation was 'as light as Pavlova', and the legend was born. However, one of Sachse's descendants contacted Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at the University of Otago, to suggest their ancestor may have confused the dates, given Pavlova's death in 1931. And in a 1973 interview, Sachse himself explained his creation was an adaptation of a recipe from Australian Woman's Mirror magazine, submitted by a New Zealand resident. When questioned by Australian newspaper The Beverley Times, the 'silver-haired great grandfather' mused that he'd 'always regretted that the meringue cake was invariably too hard and crusty, so I set out to create something that would have a crunchy top and would cut like a marshmallow'. This, according to Utrecht's Kiwi research partner Dr Andrew Paul Wood, makes Western Australia-born Sachse unusual among his countrymen: 'I think the Australian meringue is crunchier … the New Zealand one is more marshmallowy inside,' Wood told The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food guide. In her 2024 book Sift, British pastry chef and cookery book author Nicola Lamb writes that adding cornflour to the meringue base, as both Sachse and the New Zealand Dairy Exporter Annual reader suggest, 'helps promote [this] marshmallowy, thick texture'. For maximum squishiness, however, Lamb recommends shaping the mixture into a tall crown, 'as it's more difficult for the heat to penetrate the thick meringue walls'; if you prefer crunchy all the way through, go for a shallow bowl shape. Whatever texture you choose, once the meringue has cooled completely it's generally filled with whipped cream — usually unsweetened, given the sugar in the meringue, although it may be flavoured with vanilla — and then your choice of fruit. Australian cultural historian Dr Carmel Cedro agrees with Wood that not only do the two countries disagree over the correct texture for a pavlova, but on appropriate toppings. 'Here, passion fruit is a must,' she told Australia's ABC News, 'whereas [in New Zealand], they would never do that; it's always kiwi fruit.' In recent years, however, this classic summer dessert — or, if you're Down Under, festive favourite — has gone as rogue as its history. Australian food stylist and author Donna Hay has published countless recipes for everything from a banoffee pavlova to a baked pavlova and upside-down and frozen versions, and even a festive raspberry swirl pavlova wreath. South African restaurateur, broadcaster and writer Prue Leith, meanwhile, has a vegan-friendly take using aquafaba and coconut milk, while English food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson gifted the world the chocolate pavlova paired with raspberries. And although pavlova isn't typically seen as a gourmet creation, Australian chef Peter Gilmore's signature dessert at Bennelong, the Sydney Opera House's fine-dining restaurant, takes it high end. Inspired by the architecture of the building itself, it features white meringue sails atop perfect spikes of whipped cream and Italian meringue filled with passion fruit curd. When it comes to pavlova, it seems, there's one for every taste. Although the caviar and cranberry number recently dreamed up by a firm of Polish fish farmers might prove the one pav neither Australia nor New Zealand wants to claim as their own. The pavlova's birthplace is hotly disputed, with Australia and New Zealand each claiming credit for the idea of crowning towers of billowing meringue with clouds of snowy cream and tumbling fruit. Photograph by Hannah Hughes Where to eat pavlova in Australia and New Zealand Cibo, Auckland Hidden away in a former chocolate factory in Parnell, Cibo has been described as one of Auckland's best-kept secrets, although it's still won numerous awards over the past three decades. There are usually at least two pavlovas on offer: a fruit version (classic strawberry and kiwi, for example) and one with salted caramel, peanut and chocolate dust. Floriditas, Wellington When The Sydney Morning Herald praises a New Zealand pavlova, the dessert has to be doing something right — although this much-loved bistro doesn't make things easy for itself. Instead of the classic recipe using white caster sugar, Floriditas opts for brown sugar, which is damper and more temperamental, but which gives the meringue base a deeper, richer flavour. Fruit varies with the seasons, from strawberries in summer to tamarillos in autumn. Ester, Sydney Forget hovering anxiously in front of the oven to ensure your snowy meringue doesn't take on even the merest hint of tan — at this Sydney neighbourhood joint (which comes highly recommended by Nigella Lawson) they char them in a wood-fired oven at a toasty 600C. That's a full 500C hotter than most recipes recommend, giving them the distinct look of a marshmallow toasted over a campfire. The accompaniments vary; they might be nectarine and yoghurt or passion fruit and elderflower, for example. Snow White Bakery, Melbourne Overwhelming local enthusiasm for this tiny bakery's classic pavlova — an unapologetically traditional tower of meringue, cream and icing-sugar-dusted berries — may be less of a news story than baker Tegan's Vegemite-infused take on the beloved Australian lamington (a cake), but it's probably more of a crowd-pleaser. For maximum squishiness, pastry chef and cookery book author Nicola Lamb recommends shaping the mixture into a tall crown; if you prefer crunchy all the way through, go for a shallow bowl shape. Photograph by Hannah Hughes Recipe: Helen Goh's summer berry pavlova To celebrate summer, I've chosen a mix of berries with a touch of passion fruit as a nod to the dessert's Antipodean roots — but feel free to use any in-season fruit. Serves: 8-10 Takes: 2 hrs 5 mins plus cooling Ingredients For the meringue250g egg whites (6-8 eggs, depending on size)½ tsp cream of tartar400g caster sugar2 tsp vanilla extract1 tsp white vinegar2 tsp cornflour pinch of salt
Associated Press
a day ago
- Associated Press
Daniele Chiari Wins a 2025 Global Recognition Award for Excellence in Leadership, Innovation, and Mentoring in Government Hospitality
Daniele Chiari received a 2025 Global Recognition Award, recognizing his exceptional culinary diplomacy and serving world leaders in Saudi Arabia. His 'Tastes Beyond Borders' movement bridges international cultures through innovative cuisine while mentoring emerging professionals and advancing government hospitality standards globally. New York, NY, United States, July 2, 2025 -- Italian culinary expert Daniele Chiari has been honored with a 2025 Global Recognition Award for his exceptional contributions to government hospitality and catering on an international scale. The award recognizes Chiari's influential leadership in bridging culinary traditions across cultures while serving at the highest levels of diplomatic protocol. His recognition comes when the global hospitality industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, reaching $4.9 trillion in 2024 and projecting continued expansion through 2025. Currently serving as culinary director for confidential government operations in Saudi Arabia, Chiari has spent over two decades building a distinguished career that spans multiple continents and prestigious hospitality establishments. His portfolio includes managing culinary services for visits by Russian President, Indian Prime Minister, Japanese Prime Minister, U.S. President, Chinese President and many more to Saudi Arabia. Leadership Excellence in International Diplomacy Chiari's award acknowledges his unique culinary diplomat position, orchestrating high-profile catering operations for world leaders and international summits. His approach combines traditional Italian culinary techniques with Middle Eastern and Asian influences, creating a unique fusion that respects cultural sensitivities while delivering world-class dining experiences. 'I am not just a chef. I am a cultural ambassador, educator, innovator, and leader,' Chiari stated regarding his recognition, emphasizing how his work bridges nations and sets new traditions. The precision required for diplomatic events, where cultural sensitivity and diplomatic protocol intersect with culinary excellence, represents a specialized field within the broader hospitality sector. His experience managing culinary operations during major Islamic conferences, Arab summits, GCC and International Summits, demonstrates the scale and complexity of his responsibilities. The demand for exceptional culinary leadership in diplomatic and luxury hospitality settings has intensified as international relations become increasingly complex and culturally nuanced. Innovation Through Cultural Integration A 2025 Global Recognition Award highlighted Chiari's innovation in creating the 'Tastes Beyond Borders' movement, representing a paradigm shift in how international cuisine can serve diplomatic purposes. His educational background includes tourism management credentials from the University of Hertfordshire and specialized training from institutions, including the International Business Management Institute. These qualifications reflect the multidisciplinary expertise required for his role, combining culinary artistry with business acumen and cultural intelligence. Chiari serves as an ambassador of Italian cuisine with well known culinary entities and the Euro Toques association in Saudi Arabia, where he has established mentoring programs that have influenced culinary talent development across the region. His commitment to education extends to his role as a partner with the Dinner Incredible group, where he organizes culinary events and cooking demonstrations that showcase international and Saudi cuisine standards. Last but not least, he actively participates in culinary conferences as an ambassador of both international and local Saudi cuisine, leading master classes and engaging in roundtable discussions with fellow chefs The restaurant industry's projected growth to $1.5 trillion in sales for 2025 highlights the economic significance of culinary leadership roles like Chiari's, with the industry expected to add 200,000 jobs and reach a total employment of 15.9 million. Mentorship and Industry Development Chiari's career progression through prestigious hotel chains, including Starwood, Rocco Forte, Rixos, Marriott, IHG and Hilton, provided the foundation for his current role overseeing culinary operations for government protocols. His journey from the Roman Castles region of Italy to the royal kitchens of Saudi Arabia exemplifies the global mobility that characterizes modern hospitality leadership. 'My story inspires chefs and professionals to dream beyond borders and use food as a language of peace,' Chiari explained, reflecting on his role as a mentor to emerging culinary professionals. The Global Recognition Awards evaluation process considered Chiari's comprehensive impact across leadership, innovation, and mentoring categories, with his scores reflecting exceptional performance in inspiring and motivating others. His position within the Club Des Chefs in 2023, an exclusive organization of chefs serving various international governments, places him among a select group of culinary professionals operating at the intersection of gastronomy and diplomacy. Alex Sterling from the Global Recognition Awards comments, 'Daniele Chiari representsthe modern culinary professional who understands that exceptional food service extends farbeyond the kitchen. His ability to navigate cultural complexities while maintaining the highest standards of culinary excellence exemplifies the type of leadership that drives our industry forward.' About Global Recognition Awards Global Recognition Awards is an international organization that recognizes exceptional companies and individuals who have contributed significantly to their industry. Contact Info: Name: Alex Sterling Email: Send Email Organization: Global Recognition Awards Website: Release ID: 89163720 In the event of detecting errors, concerns, or irregularities in the content shared in this press release that require attention or if there is a need for a press release takedown, we kindly request that you inform us promptly by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our dedicated team will promptly address your feedback within 8 hours and take necessary actions to resolve any identified issues diligently or guide you through the removal process. Providing accurate and dependable information is our utmost priority.
Condé Nast Traveler
a day ago
- Condé Nast Traveler
Come for the Amenity Kits, Stay for the Flight
This story is part of The New Era of Work Travel, a collaboration between the editors of Condé Nast Traveler and WIRED to help you navigate the perks and pitfalls of the modern business trip. Last March, Air France hosted a private event at the upscale Ritz Paris hotel in Place Vendôme, in the luxurious heart of the city. The airline had built a full-scale mock-up of its new La Première first-class cabin and treated travel journalists like its most valued customers. The new cabin was classic and elegant, a showcase of the Air France aesthetic. Matteo Rainisio, founder of the Italian frequent-flier website The Flight Club, who was in attendance, called it akin to haute couture. Each first-class suite has a separate chair and bed, five windows, sound- and light-blocking curtains, and two 32-inch high-resolution 4K screens. At the end of the presentation, guests were given a gift: the same upgraded amenity kit the airline's future La Première travelers will receive, complete with high-end pajamas by Jacquemus. British Airways offers first-class passengers a Temperley London bag filled with Elemis products. Photography: Roberto Badin This single kit is a small part of a larger, increasingly aggressive push by major global airlines like Air France, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, and others to attract coveted, high-spending passengers. These kits serve as powerful marketing tools, widely discussed online (see: amenity kit TikTok), collected by enthusiasts and sometimes even sold on eBay. Call it the amenity kit arms race. Gone are the utilitarian days of dental kits and foam ear plugs. At their lie-flat beds or private pods, premium guests in both first and business class today are greeted with a collection worthy of an Oscars gift bag. These are defined by collaborations with premier luxury brands. Emirates' first-class kits feature skin care products from Byredo, with face toner, eye cream, and even sleep oil. Singapore offers its business-class passengers a pouch from Le Labo filled with plant-based products. ANA, Japan's largest airline, collaborates with luggage maker Ettinger and Sensai cosmetics for first-class offerings, while British Airways works with The White Company for its toiletry kit and Temperley London for its amenity bag. Sometimes it's the bag itself that's the collectable. Delta's first-class kits are made by Tumi, Qatar's by the Italian luggage maker Bric's, and EVA Air's by Rimowa. These airlines' battle to offer the best bag takes place within the context of the rise of business class and the fall—until recently—of first-class travel. Beginning in the early 2000s, many airlines shifted away from first-class cabins, favoring larger business-class sections that offered an increasingly luxurious experience, with lie-flat seating becoming the standard. Some airlines, especially in the United States, scrapped their first-class sections altogether. The reason was economic: Business travelers account for only about 12 percent of passengers but can generate up to 75 percent of an airline's profits. In the past few years, however, high-end airlines have begun reinvesting in first class, betting that a small but influential market of elite travelers was being ignored. First-class availability globally has shrunk to about 1 percent of total seats, according to aviation analytics company Cirium, but the airlines that still offer it are making their cabins more exclusive than ever. Air France, Qatar, and Emirates have all launched, or are planning to launch, new offerings focused on unparalleled privacy, space, and luxury. Think a chauffeur service to and from the airport, private suites with doors, unlimited caviar, and even double beds for couples. The goal is not always direct profit but powerful brand awareness.
