The French Riviera has come to Canberra, with Doma Hotels' latest property, Hotel Realm, opening a new flagship restaurant under the watchful eye of head chef, Ben Willis.
The Louis restaurant is located in the Barton's Realm precinct of the hotel and offers a touch of classical European dining with a menu of cuisine found in the south of France.
Willis' career has spanned for almost 30 years, working across London and Australia, including the Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House, and Aubergine in Canberra for 14 years. Sun Hwa Jang – former sous-chef at Aubergine – will lead the kitchen as Head Chef.
"I'm very excited to work with Doma Hotels, a very successful hotel group which is precisely what I was hoping for after closing Aubergine," Willis said.
"The dining room by Rachel Luchetti will be a beautiful space, and I'm looking forward to getting this restaurant up and running. For most of my career, I've leaned towards a classic European cooking style, and this new venue sticks to the theme: staying true to the heritage and the elegant simplicity without trying to modernise things too much."
Rachel Luchetti has focussed on including a custom marble mosaic bar at the front of the restaurant, marble lazy Susan tables, with Brentwood chairs, custom rugs, and pendant lighting.
The Louis Restaurant is part of a large-scale transformation of the five-star precinct, and has also introduced a new outdoor area of the restaurant, known as Louis Alfresco.
Doma Hotels' Director Patrick Lonergan said that Hotel Realm's new development would amplify Barton precinct's current rise as Canberra's new foodie hotspot.
"The multitude of new outlets and offerings gathered in one space will fill in a gap in the overall offering of our capital's culinary scene, and we couldn't be happier to write the next page in DOMA Hotels' history with Ben Willis."
