If you’ve ever gone ziplining, you know it’s hard to carry snacks with you. Anything you bring will likely be lost to you forever if it drops into the tree canopy below. But don’t cry over spilled trail mix. At Soneva Fushi, a luxury eco-resort in the Maldives, you can zipline straight to a fine dining restaurant.
Courtesy of Soneva
On February 1, Chef Alberto Faccani, who can usually be found at two-Michelin-starred Magnolia Ristorante in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, began a three-month residency at Soneva Fushi. Magnolia’s Chef de Partie, Sean Conti, is joining Faccani at the treetop restaurant. Guests will fly about 39 feet in the air on the roughly 600-foot zipline before landing at the Flying Sauces dining platform.
Flying Sauces chefs Sean Conti and Alberto Faccani. / Courtesy of Soneva
Flying Sauces originally opened at Soneva Fushi in late 2021. Flying Sauces has also hosted a few high-profile visiting chefs before Faccani. Chef Julien Roye of Singapore’s acclaimed three-Michelin-starred Odette restaurant worked at the zipline restaurant from February to April 2022. Chef Pascale Barbot of Paris’s two-Michelin-starred Astrance restaurant was there from October 2022 to January 2023.
Why dine high in the trees? “This new experience gives our guests a new perspective of our unique island eco-system, allowing them to reconnect with the sights and sounds of nature while enjoying fine dining hospitality at the same time,” said Sonu Shivdasani, CEO and co-founder of Soneva.
Courtesy of Soneva
Faccani is excited to be cooking in the Maldives. “The sea is a part of me, and feeling it close to me gives me the energy and strength I need,” he said. “Its breeze accompanies me, every day, all the way to the kitchen. This allows me to unleash my creativity through different forms, giving traditional recipes a new and contemporary twist.”
A six-course dinner at Flying Sauces costs $350, or $204 for guests on a full or half board plan at Soneva Fushi. Dishes include toasted wahoo with tosazu, celery, green apple, and nori seaweed and a meal of ravioli, cacio e pepe, red prawns, lime, and chives.
Flying Sauces at night. / Courtesy of Soneva
Despite the high price tag, there is no dress code at Flying Sauces. Soneva Fushi has a come-as-you-are policy, no shoes required. Though you might want some sneakers for the zip line ride.
The concept combines food, drink and putting, with further expansion planned in 2022 in Florida, Texas and Arizona.
The Tiger Woods-backed PopStroke, an experiential golf and casual-dining business, has broken ground on the east side of Orlando as the company plans to open seven new locations in 2022.
PopStroke currently has two locations open, one in Fort Myers, Florida, and another in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Each PopStroke location features two 18-hole putting locations designed by Tiger Woods and his TGR Design, which also designs full-size courses. Other amenities at each location will include a jumbotron screen with a putting leaderboard, an outdoor gaming area with pingpong and other games, an open-air restaurant, an ice cream parlor and a playground. PopStroke said in a media release announcing the fresh groundbreaking that the golf experience will be designed for players of all skill levels.
A finished PopStroke facility (Photo submitted)
The Orlando location in Waterford Lakes is one of seven that are scheduled to open in 2022 in Sarasota, Florida; Houston; Salt River/Scottsdale, Arizona; Glendale, Arizona; Tampa, Florida; and Delray, Florida.
The Orlando location is scheduled to open in April and was the second groundbreaking among the list of announced new locations. The Sarasota facility is scheduled to open in March, with the others in line behind that, according to popstroke.com.
“Orlando has long been recognized as one of the premier entertainment destinations in the world and a natural fit for PopStroke’s continued expansion,” company founder Greg Bartoli said in the media release. “We look forward to being a part of such an exciting and rapidly expanding community as we introduce the PopStroke brand to people of all ages across Central Florida.”
Founded in 2018, PopStroke is co-owned by Bartoli and Woods’ TGR Ventures. The company is headquartered in Jupiter, Florida.
EVANS, Ga. – The Food Network might be missing a major opportunity near Augusta. Champions Retreat Golf Club is best known as the host site for the first two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, run in conjunction with that other high-end …
EVANS, Ga. – The Food Network might be missing a major opportunity near Augusta.
Champions Retreat Golf Club is best known as the host site for the first two rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, run in conjunction with that other high-end private club 30 minutes away by car. But while winner Jennifer Kupcho and runner-up Maria Fassi stole the show in the inaugural ANWA in April, there might be an even better presentation on tap any given night at Champions Retreat.
Call it the “Rouchi and Ross Dinner Show.” The Iranian-born Fariborz Rouchi and Englishman-via-Scotland David Ross trade congenial jabs as easily as they describe whatever deliciousness is presented on their plates and in their glasses.
David Ross, left, and Fariborz Rouchi at Champions Retreat (Courtesy of Champions Retreat)
“I’m not sure who let him outside, but the fresh air doesn’t suit him very well, does it,” Ross, the executive chef at the club, says with a sly smile within earshot of Rouchi. “And good thing he knows about wine, because he sure doesn’t know how to dress.”
“Hey, Dad, isn’t it your bedtime? Time to go home!” Rouchi, the club’s new director of food and beverage, retorts. “Shouldn’t you at least be in the kitchen where you can burn something? … We’re only supposed to let him outside twice a day.”
Their ease of banter is flawless, clearly deserving a prime-time cooking show or at the least a YouTube channel. It’s somewhat surprising that Ross joined the club in 2018 and Rouchi arrived in May of this year – it might be expected that it would take years to perfect a routine like this.
Even better than the laughs is the dining program, but that’s to be expected from two such pros – both of whom, interestingly, started as engineers before turning to food and beverage.
Rouchi (pronounced like Gucci), a master sommelier, joined the club after more than a decade at Lake Shore Country Club near Chicago, which followed various stints that included general manager roles at Spago and Club Macanudo.
Ross most recently was tournament chef at Berckmans Place at Augusta National, a well-heeled retreat near the fifth hole open during Masters week. Before that, Ross was proprietor and executive chef of the popular, French-inspired 5oclockbistro in Augusta, and he has taught at Le Cordon Bleu international institutes in Atlanta and New Hampshire.
The Grill House at Champions Retreat (Courtesy of Champions Retreat)
They and their staff are accustomed to handling everything from intimate dinners in Champions Retreat’s palatial “cottages” to wedding-size functions at The Barn, the club’s new red-roofed facility that can seat 250 people. Want a post-golf libation after playing one of three nines designed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Gary Player? They have you covered. Want to blow the minds of your C-suite corporate staffers? They can do that, too.
Everything is taken to a different level in April, when out-of-towners rent the cottages as Champions Retreat becomes one of Augusta’s best places to see and be seen during the Masters. Normally a private enclave, the club accepts outside play (contact the club for information) that week, and the grounds host numerous parties and events. It’s up to Rouchi and Ross to surprise and thrill their guests, that week and every other.
“The definition of culinary arts leans heavily on the arts,” Ross said. “It’s not just simply cooking or searing. It’s about thinking beyond that, thinking three dimensionally. … It’s like the best possible job, because I’m being paid to be an artist. It just happens to be with food. The textures, the colors, the flavors: It’s just so much fun.”
Rouchi can talk for hours about ideal dining experiences, bringing laughs the whole time while making his listeners think about flavors and scents in new ways. He will guide a table of guests through their meal, the diners at rapt attention.
A seafood dish at Champions Retreat (Courtesy of Champions Retreat)
“A lot of it has to do with envisioning the whole journey and putting ourselves in place of the guest to make sure every detail is met,” Rouchi said. “It should come across as effortless. At the end, the show is smooth and perfect.”
A recent dinner for a group of golf writers – hey, who let these guys in here? – included a charcuterie board with house-smoked duck pastrami, sesame-crusted ahi, arugula salad sourced locally, Chilean sea bass with jasmine coconut rice and jalfrezi curry sauce, followed by a chocolate Napoleon. The wines came from around the world. O.B. Keeler, Bobby Jones’ longtime biographer, likely never had it so good.
“This isn’t just about food and drink; it’s a whole experience,” Rouchi said. “When the experience is perfect, you know it. That is our goal.”
