Latest news with #Appellation
Forbes
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Charlie Palmer's Americana House, Pushes Lodi's Dining Scene Forward
Americana House interior Americana House is helping put Lodi on the map as a must-visit wine country dining destination. The newly opened restaurant reimagines the historic Towne House space at Wine & Roses, now part of Michelin-starred chef Charlie Palmer's culinary-focused Appellation Lodi Wine & Roses Resort And Spa. Longtime owners Russ and Kathryn Munson partnered with Palmer and luxury hospitality veteran Christopher Hunsberger, now Appellation's COO, to help bring it to life. Charlie Palmer & Russ Munson Ribon Cutting At its heart, Americana House blends the Munsons' local legacy with Palmer's signature Progressive American cooking. Guests will find dishes that pull straight from Lodi's deep farming roots and the surrounding wine country. Starters might include crisp baby artichokes paired with creamy local goat cheese and briny olive tapenade, or tender sweet pea agnolotti nestled in a corn velouté (a silky classic French sauce) and crispy guanciale. For mains, seared scallops arrive bright with sorrel chimichurri, while Russ' steak au poivre, a peppercorn-crusted New York strip, lands rich and classic alongside golden frites. Everything comes together in a space that feels both refined and welcoming. Russ's Steak Au Poivre The design leans warm and unfussy, layered with oak, brass, and harvest-inspired tones that spill out onto a garden patio framed by greenery. A dedicated cheese aging cabinet matures house-made curds and ricotta alongside selections from nearby creameries. To keep local wines front and center, Americana House waives corkage on two Lodi 750 ml bottles per table, a small but meaningful nod to the region's growers. Chefs Marco and Robert at the Appellation garden Executive Chef Marco Fossati and Chief Culinary Director Thomas Bellec round out the kitchen team, working closely with Palmer to shape a menu that shifts with the seasons. Produce comes straight from the resort's expanded gardens, giving dishes an unmistakable sense of place. Guests don't just eat here, they taste what Lodi is growing right now. Blueberry + Rosemary Cobbler 'More than anything, we want Americana House to feel like a hub where locals and travelers connect with the people who grow and make what's on their plate,' says Appellation COO Christopher Hunsberger. Charlie Palmer puts it simply: 'This is about shining a light on Lodi's bounty and the people behind it.' The restaurant is designed to bring neighbors, winemakers, and visitors to the same table. Maison Lodi, a new bakery-café on the same property, adds to the resort's culinary lineup. Guests can pick up housemade breads, rotisserie chicken, and delicate pastries made in partnership with Healdsburg's Quail & Condor. Maison Lodi Interior Americana House may be part of a larger resort refresh, but the restaurant stands on its own as proof that Lodi's food scene is ready to grow. Every plate here tells a story about who grows it, who makes it, and why Lodi matters.
San Francisco Chronicle
30-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Celebrity chef's Wine Country hotel opens soon with house-milled pastas, bread carts and a rooftop bar
Celebrity chef Charlie Palmer's highly anticipated, culinary-centric hotel in Wine Country has opened reservations for its September debut, featuring a rooftop bar and a restaurant with custom bread carts carrying goods from an acclaimed local bakery. A longtime Healdsburg resident, Palmer has played a pivotal role in that city's dramatic evolution from a sleepy agricultural region to a buzzy destination that rivals Napa Valley. He opened Dry Creek Kitchen in downtown Healdsburg nearly 25 years ago. Now he's set to unveil a much more ambitious project: Appellation Healdsburg, with a 204-seat restaurant serving large-format grilled meats and house-milled pastas, a rooftop cocktail lounge, two pools, culinary gardens and a spa. 'Healdsburg is becoming the culinary capital of Wine Country,' Palmer said. 'There's not much we don't have, but this is going to add to it.' Palmer, who has received multiple James Beard awards and whose restaurants have earned 20 Michelin stars in total, partnered with Four Seasons veteran Christopher Hunsberger to create the Appellation hotel company in 2022. Hunsberger told the Chronicle in 2022 that the 108-room Appellation (16977 Healdsburg Ave.) hoped to offer a more affordable luxury hotel option in Healdsburg. Rooms will start at $509, while at the Montage, rooms regularly cost more than $1,000 a night. Reservations open Monday for Appellation Healdsburg stays beginning in mid-September. Appellation recently announced the opening of its Lodi location at the revamped Wine & Roses Resort and has plans for hotels in Petaluma, Monterey County and Morgan Hill, plus Park City, Utah. The Petaluma hotel has been particularly controversial; many residents and local merchants oppose the project, fearing that the hotel will transform the rustic, underrated Wine Country town into another Healdsburg. Palmer penned an open letter in an attempt to appeal to residents, who were collecting signatures for a referendum on the ballot to stop it. The culinary theme is palpable at Appellation Healdsburg, starting from the moment guests arrive and check in at a massive butcher block instead of a desk. 'When you walk through the entrance, you're in the restaurant,' said Palmer. 'Registration is like you're walking into somebody's kitchen: There's a butcher block, a wet bar, a library of cookbooks.' Hotel guests will also be greeted with a bite and a sip of 'something we're working on that day,' he said, like a new cocktail or a wine being added to the list. At the restaurant, named Folia Bar & Kitchen, the menu is centered around what Palmer has coined 'live oak ember cooking.' Palmer said diners will be able to watch as an ornate open hearth cooks vegetables, meats and fish on an unconventional combination of oak wood, charcoal and 'flavor enhancements,' such as grapevine cuttings and an 'incredibly fragrant' pear wood. Much of the menu will feature large plates designed for sharing, including grilled Liberty duck served with seasonal fruit (likely late-harvest peaches at opening); ribeye steak for two; legs of lamb; and racks of Kurobuta pork, known for being especially tender and rich with an extra-sweet flavor. 'It's the next evolution of what I think a quintessential Wine Country restaurant should be,' Palmer said of Folia, which will mill its own flour using grain from Central Milling in Petaluma. This will be used for extruded pastas — utilizing what Palmer described as 'the Maserati of pasta extruders' — in addition to stuffed and sheet pastas. The menu isn't finalized, but Palmer said he recently experimented with adding Old Bay seasoning to dough, which 'creates a really interesting, complex flavor with seafood.' Appellation Healdsburg is sourcing seafood exclusively from Hog Island Oyster Co. Small touches will help Folia stand out from the region's many other restaurants. Instead of setting cutlery on the table, each diner will have a drawer stocked with 'every utensil you can imagine,' said Palmer. 'It embraces a casualness, but also, our servers can then really focus on hospitality.' Patrons at the bar will get their cutlery in a smaller version of a chef's knife roll. The restaurant also has a live carving station for charcuterie and bread service delivered via custom-designed carts. These will carry a daily selection of five to six breads; each table gets a basket and 'a big mound' of Straus cultured butter sprinkled with Hog Island sea salt. Palmer said he's partnered with Healdsburg darling Quail & Condor Bakery as the hotel's 'main supplier of large format breads,' and that the rest, like a duck fat Yorkshire pudding, will be made in house. While Dry Creek Kitchen is known for offering only Sonoma County wines, Palmer is taking a different approach with Folia. 'I want the list to really show the greatest local wines side-by-side with the greatest wines of the world,' he said, noting white Burgundy, Bordeaux and Italy as examples. Folia, which has a large outdoor terrace overlooking an olive grove, will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast will feature pastries and heartier items, like avocado toast and a signature bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. 'I'm going to eat there often, and that's what I'm going to eat for breakfast,' said Palmer of the sandwich. The restaurant will also offer private dinners at a long table set among the century-old trees. Palmer said he feels 'there's nothing else' in Wine Country like Andy's Beeline Rooftop, Appellation Healdsburg's rooftop bar, which seats 89. It's destined to be a hot spot during sunset, but he also envisions it as 'a nighttime hideaway' with its blue velvet finishes and sunset-colored hues. Andy's will serve snacks like oysters, ceviche and sashimi alongside original cocktails, some aptly infused with honey. Like Dry Creek Kitchen, Palmer said he expects the majority of patrons at Andy's and Folia to be local. 'It's really about the locals first. That's what (visitors) want to experience at a restaurant in Wine Country,' he said. 'Our goal is for them to walk away saying, 'Oh my God, I have to move to Healdsburg.'' Appellation Healdsburg and Folia Bar & Kitchen. Opening late September. 16977 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.
Skift
06-06-2025
- Business
- Skift
11 Fresh Options for Meeting in the Western U.S.
The Western region of the U.S has always been known for its innovation, and these new and newly renovated properties include a just-introduced culinary concept hotel and the only hotel in the U.S. with on-site flight simulators. Skift Meetings' collection of new/newly renovated venues for meetings and incentive trips is as diverse and the region, with a mix of classics like the newly renovated Hotel del Coronado in San Diego; massive convention properties like the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in Chula Vista, CA; and desert resorts including Utah's Black Desert Resort, set among the black lava fields and red rock cliffs of Zion National Park. Explore 135 exceptional new properties hand-picked for meeting and incentive planners Also included are the first member of the new Appellation brand, designed around culinary artistry and the first carbon-positive hotel in the U.S., Denver's Populous. Here's what's new in the Western U.S., and take a look at our just-released report on 135 hotels for meetings and incentive travel here. 1. Appellation Lodi Lodi, CA The Wine & Roses Hotel in Lodi will soon become Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa, the brand's first operating property. It offers 7,000 square feet of event space across six venues, including a ballroom with capacity for up to 350 guests, and 6,000+ square feet of lawn turf. The property's two signature Charlie Palmer dining concepts bring it in line with the brand's vision of infusing culinary artistry into every aspect of the guest experience. 2. Asher Adams Salt Lake City, UT Opened in October 2024, the train-travel-themed Asher Adams hotel was inspired by Salt Lake City's Union Pacific Depot. It offers 225 guest rooms and 10,000 square feet of flexible event space across eight rooms for up to 300 guests. Centrally located, it offers direct access to The Delta Center and quick airport access, as well as four dining options. 3. Black Desert Resort Ivins, UT Set to be completed in spring 2025, Black Desert Resort is located among the black lava fields and red rock cliffs of Greater Zion in Southern Utah. The 600-acre resort will offer almost 800 guest rooms and suites, as well as 13 separate event spaces and four terraces. Amenities include seven dining options and a unique 19-hole golf course, the first to host a PGA Tour and LPGA Tour tournaments in the state of Utah since 1963. 4. Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center Chula Vista, CA Scheduled to open in May 2025, the Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center, is a 1,600-room waterfront resort with almost half a million square feet of meeting space. It features four divisible ballrooms, the largest of which can host almost 10,000 guests and doubles as an exhibit hall. Also available are 47 meeting rooms, 135,000 square feet of event lawns and terraces, 10 dining options, a spa, and views of the Pacific Ocean. 5. Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort (Conversion) Scottsdale, AZ Following a $115 million renovation, the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch reopened in November 2024 as the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort. The resort offers 90,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including the newly expanded 24,000-square-foot Arizona Ballroom, and 48 meeting rooms. The 496-room resort includes casitas and suites, updated F&B by Chef Richard Blais, a 2.5-acre pool area, and refreshed Spa Avania. 6. Hotel del Coronado (Renovation) San Diego, CA Hotel del Coronado, originally opened in 1888, will soon complete the last phase of its $550 million renovation. The property offers 757 guest rooms and more than 96,000 square feet of event space. The hotel's largest indoor meeting space is the 15,130-square-foot Southpointe Ballroom, with capacity for 1,500, theater-style. The hotel also offers multiple outdoor event spaces, including one of the only private beaches in Southern California, and nine dining options. 7. Hotel Polaris Colorado Springs, CO Hotel Polaris is located at the North Entrance of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs in the popular Pikes Peak region. It is the only hotel in the U.S. to offer on-site F-16 and 737 flight simulator experiences, making it popular for teambuilding. The hotel features 375 guest rooms and offers 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, including a large ballroom with capacity for 1,250, theater-style. The hotel also offers six dining options, a pool, a spa, and a fitness center. 8. Kali Hotel and Rooftop, Autograph Collection Inglewood, CA Expected to open in 2026 in Hollywood Park, Kali Hotel and Rooftop, Autograph Collection will be located next to the SoFi Stadium and YouTube Theater, and close to Intuit Dome and Kia Forum. The $300 million development will have an estimated 20,000 square feet of event space, along with multiple dining options, fitness and wellness facilities, a spa, pools, a yoga deck, and on-site parking for more than 300 vehicles. 9. Meritage Collection Phoenix Phoenix, AZ Scheduled to open in 2026, the 236-room Meritage Collection Phoenix will be located in downtown Phoenix, close to major transport hubs. It will feature an estimated 22,250 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, with the largest ballroom holding up to 450 guests, theater-style. The hotel will also offer a full-service restaurant, a large spa, a fitness center, and a rooftop bar and pool deck. 10. Populous Denver, CO Reported to be the first carbon-positive hotel in the U.S., the 265-room property offers two culinary options and five flexible meeting spaces for up to 60 guests. Populous aims to go beyond net-zero to focus on regeneration. The building itself features biophilic architecture and was constructed using low-carbon materials. The property plants one tree for every night a guest stays, it sources food from regenerative, organic farmers, and composts 100% of food waste on site. 11. The Venetian Resort Las Vegas Convention Center (Renovation) Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Resort Las Vegas is undergoing a $1.5 billion renovation. This includes a $188 million refresh to its meeting and events space, which is scheduled to open in stages through 2026. The refresh will include an evolution of the current catering program, including using organic ingredients, sustainable practices, and a food rescue program. A new 10,000-square-foot speakeasy-style lounge will be added to the resort's already ample collection of event spaces.
San Francisco Chronicle
30-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
A luxury hotel could transform this California town. Some residents are fighting back
On paper, the Appellation Hotel proffers one vision of the future for downtown Petaluma: A hefty cube of ceramic tile, anchored by a farm-to-table restaurant and crowned with an airy rooftop bar. Rising 72 feet from what's now a weed-choked lot, the building would dwarf its neighbors, a scattering of feed stores, Victorians and plazas with old-timey architecture. To some, the hotel concept appears too big and modern for that rustic setting. To others, it represents prime in-fill development that the North Bay town would be foolish to squander. These two competing mindsets have stoked a battle among Petaluma leaders and residents, one that has led to scurrilous attacks online and shouting matches at City Council meetings. In the Bay Area, the story is familiar. Every community, at one point or another, confronts the vexing politics of change. But emotions are particularly charged in Petaluma, where a landscape of grain silos and backyard chicken coops sprawls along the border of Wine Country. Neighboring cities like Healdsburg have already converted into tourist destinations, trading their scruffy charm for Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury hotels — including another Appellation, set to open this summer. 'Petaluma is like Healdsburg was 20 years ago,' said Charlie Palmer, a celebrity chef who co-founded the Appellation brand. He watched Healdsburg residents evolve from skepticism, to acceptance, to a point where the former outpost for prunes and lumber now has 22 tasting rooms ringing its main square. Such economic prosperity bouys everyone, said former Healdsburg Mayor Gary Plass. 'A town of 11,000 can't survive and have good schools just by taxing the people who sleep there,' Plass said. 'You have to find ways to support it. You have to pick the right projects.' While Petaluma has a different culture and mentality, it sits right at that crossroads and could easily become the next wine and foodie mecca. So far residents and merchants have resisted the transition. The downtown has a trapped-in-amber quality, with seemingly every business opening inside a factory from the early 1900s. A river cuts past the train station and warehouse district, and chain retail gets hidden behind corniced masonry. Plaques commemorate birth dates of the saloon and fire department; T-shirts celebrate the 'egg capital of the world.' Locals who fiercely protect this sense of tradition and independent spirit cast a wary eye toward new real estate. 'Petalumans do not want to become Healdsburg,' said Jane Hamilton, a former city councilmember and volunteer for the group Petaluma Historic Advocates, which is pressing for a ballot measure — possibly for a special election or the 2026 June primary — that would undo a recent zoning ordinance to enable construction of the hotel. 'We already have tourists,' Hamilton continued. 'We draw people in because we're a unique, quaint town that everybody can walk around in, and visit all of our small businesses. The hotel will serve people who don't live here, and make life for people who do live here very difficult.' Proponents of the hotel argue, to the contrary, that it would inject tax money and vitality into a sleepy town beset by retail vacancies. 'This is the gateway to Sonoma County,' said Ebbie Khan Nakhjavani, CEO of EKN Development, the Southern California firm that partnered with Palmer for the Petaluma venture (EKN is not involved in other Appellation hotels). Nakhjavani views the small North Bay city as ripe with potential, and uniquely positioned to define its next phase. 'And we want to be on the ground floor,' Nakhjavani said. 'We want to capitalize on Petaluma's incredible history, on its DNA.' That pitch appealed to Petaluma City Councilmembers who in February approved a zoning overlay to allow dense structures of up to 75 feet in three sections of downtown. Following a backlash, the council reduced the scope of its new zoning rule in March, limiting it to one subarea that encompassed the lot at B Street and Petaluma Boulevard, where the six-story Appellation would open in 2028. 'We've listened to everybody, and we were really careful to preserve and protect this historical district,' said Petaluma Mayor Kevin McDonnell, who counts himself among the hotel's supporters. He touts the jobs, tax revenue and tourism it would bring, and the ripple benefits for surrounding businesses. And the height would be relatively innocuous, McDonnell said, with a recessed fifth floor below the breezy rooftop terrace. The edifice would feel 'more like four stories' to anyone looking up from the street. Unsatisfied, opponents of the hotel and the upzoning began gathering signatures for a voter referendum. They expect to have 5,000 by next week, exceeding the 4,100 needed to qualify for the ballot. With the deadline looming, Hamilton spent part of Wednesday morning outside Umpqua Bank, clipboard in hand, making her case to anyone who would listen. She and others plan to hoist a giant weather balloon near the site at B Street and Petaluma Blvd. this weekend, to show how big 72 feet can be. Joggers, shoppers and dogwalkers who passed by the lot on Wednesday appraised it with bemused expressions. Most people were familiar with the hotel proposal and had strong feelings about it, though opinions were sharply divided. 'Well, I'm definitely against it,' said Mandy Podesta, owner of The Hunter & the Bird, a baby clothes boutique where the shelves teem with tiny floral print dresses and gingham onesies. Tucked into an old grain mill that's been repurposed for shops and restaurants, Hunter & the Bird is located half a block from the hotel site, within what critics would consider its blast radius. Hunter & the Bird might not stay there long according to the store's Instagram page, which announced a relocation in June. Even so, Podesta worries about potential traffic and parking impacts for other businesses, as well as the hotel's sheer bulk. 'It's just too big to fit in that little space,' she said. Others expressed undiluted enthusiasm for the project. 'I think it's going to be great,' said longtime resident Jessica Scerri. She and her brother, Seth Nonmann, were walking down B Street to grab lunch at Ayawaska RestoBar, a Peruvian restaurant inside a former brick manufacturing plant. Like McDonnell, she hoped the new commercial development would help energize a downtown that's surviving, but not thriving. 'We've had so many vacancies,' Scerri said, gesturing at the row of shops in the grain mill and at a similar strip mall across the street, also in a salvaged building fronted by a dusty brick facade. Amid this hodge-podge of retail sits the lot, a third acre of dead space with signs advertising The Appellation. Previously it housed a Chevron gas station which closed more than a decade ago. Now, the parcel is fenced off and strewn with grass and hay. Preservationists insist they would accept a hotel there if it were four stories instead of six, and more in keeping with Petaluma's bohemian small-town vibe. Nakhjavani scoffed at this, saying the detractors would find something wrong with any proposed development. 'They've been all over the place: 'It's too tall, it's too big, we don't need it,'' Nakhjavani said, barely suppressing his frustration. 'I've addressed every allegation, every potential concern. I can't really hit a moving target.' Still, even those who want the hotel say they understand why it's provoked conflict. Reflecting on the situation, Scerri and Nonmann looked at each other and shrugged. Change, they said, 'is just really hard for this town.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Culinary, wellness-focused resort coming to Utah ski destination
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. Michelin-starred chef Charlie Palmer and luxury hospitality pro Christopher Hunsberger — the partners behind luxury hotel brand Appellation — are collaborating with wellness guru Deepak Chopra to bring a new branded hospitality concept near Park City, Utah. The 78-acre hospitality retreat, Ameyalli Park City by Appellation, will include an 80-key hotel, a wellbeing center and multiple luxury dining concepts in the mountain town of Midway, Utah, according to a news release from Appellation, which will manage and operate the property. Ameyalli Park City by Appellation launches as luxury travelers increasingly seek immersive experiences centered on wellness. The resort is the latest to come to the Park City area, which has seen several high-profile hotel developments announced in recent months. Ameyalli Park City by Appellation will blend 'culinary excellence with a transformative wellness experience,' offering a Charlie Palmer restaurant and bar as well as a 50,000-square-foot wellbeing center with a spa, luxury mineral pool and garden-to-table restaurant, Appellation shared. Using Appellation's culinary-first hospitality approach, Ameyalli will offer guests locally inspired and interactive dining experiences. The resort's 55-acre natural geological preserve and biodiverse garden will support its on-site dining concepts. Ameyalli will be built around a natural geothermal spring, offering 28 natural hot springs and views of the Wasatch Mountains. According to Appellation, for generations, people have visited the resort's site to 'connect with the land's healing energy and breathtaking views.' A product of San Antonio-based architecture firm Overland Partners, the resort's design will take inspiration from the surrounding landscape. The resort will also be home to the Ameyalli Center of Excellence, offering health and longevity programming aligned with Chopra's seven pillars of wellbeing: emotional regulation, sleep, mindfulness, movement, relationships, nutrition and laughter. The resort's debut comes as travelers seek immersive experiences focused on holistic wellbeing — and hotels are finding more ways to meet that demand. Luxury resort brand One&Only, for example, is expanding to New York's Hudson Valley with a wellness-oriented property set to offer guests 'immersive one-off experiences' created in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. Sam Nazarian's SBE, meanwhile, launched a longevity-focused resort brand that will offer medical services like preventative MRI and CT scans and advanced blood diagnostics. Ameyalli Park City by Appellation, set to debut in 2026, will be located 10 minutes from the newly expanded Deer Valley Resort. Grand Hyatt, Canopy by Hilton and Four Seasons are all expanding in the market as demand for the Utah ski resort picks up. Sign in to access your portfolio
