With booming interest from travelers in all things culinary, luxury hotels in recent years have been scurrying to feature not only famous chefs in their restaurants, but also cook-offs and other partnerships.
This past weekend, the Grand Isle Resort & Spa in Great Exuma, Bahamas hosted Michelin Star chef Alyn Williams, chef at the restaurant that bears his name at The Westbury in London, for three days of cooking demonstrations and specialty meals.
And in the months ahead, resorts in Vietnam and the Maldives are hosting special foodie events with a roster of Michelin chefs and other cooking stars.
In October, eight Michelin chefs will be among a group of global culinary heavyweights for the second edition of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi's "Metropole Culinary Stars."
Every day from Oct. 6 through 13 the hotel will offer a special dinner, cook-off, brunch or other event. All are open to the public.
Michelin-starred chefs participating in this year's food festival include Jacques Pourcel, a 3-Michelin-star chef at Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, France; David Rathgeber, the chef-owner of Michelin-starred L'Assiette in Paris, Herv Rodriguez, chef-owner of Michelin-starred MaSa restaurant in Paris; Jean-Baptiste Natali, who was the youngest chef in France to earn a Michelin star when he was awarded one in 2002 at age 27; Raoul Meuwese, chef de cuisine of the Michelin-starred Bridges at Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam; and Michael Dyllong, head chef of Michelin-starred Palmgarden in Dortmund, Germany.
The event will also spotlight other global culinary luminaries.
From November through March, the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli will have visiting Michelin chefs on property for a month. First up is Gil Rovira, pastry chef at Tickets in Barcelona, who will offer cooking classes with his take on Catalonian cuisine.
In December the resort will host the Dutch one-star Chef Jonathan Zandbergen, who manages a team of 15 chefs spread over two restaurants: Restaurant Hotel Merlet and Grand Caf Bourgonje.
In January, two-star French Chef Guillaume Bracaval will be at the resort, followed by Belgian pasty Chef Willem Verlooy in February and British chef Marianne Lumb, creator of London's Notting Hill in March.
The sixth annual St. Bart's Gourmet Festival, held November 6-10, will feature eight French chefs cooking alongside local culinary teams at island hotels and restaurants preparing multicourse tasting menus.
Events will be held at Le Barthelemy Hotel & Spa, Hotel Christopher, Hotel Le Toiny, Le Sereno, Hotel Manapany, Le Tamarin, L'Esprit Jean-Claude Dufour and Nikki Beach.
Guest chefs include many Michelin starred-chefs from throughout France, including Arnaud Faye of Chateau de la Chevre d'Or, named patron of the festival. He will deliver opening remarks and serve as president of the jury for select events.