One of Latin America's most influential food personalities Alex Atala, is the latest chef to parlay his fame into the hotel business, with the opening of a luxury $160 million-property in Sao Paulo.
Set to open in the second half of 2021 in the upscale Jardin neighborhood of Sao Paulo, the property will be branded with Atala's flagship restaurant name D.O.M., a name jetsetters and gastronomes of upper society know well as one of the hottest dining destinations in the world.
According to business publication Negocios, the high-end property will have 35 floors with 145 rooms and 22 apartments.
The project is a collaboration with investment firm TAG Advisors and real estate development company Inovalli.
Atala joins a growing list of chef-cum-hoteliers. Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa is, perhaps, one of the most successful chefs to expand his culinary brand power into the hotel world. Nobu Hotels has a network of properties in Miami, Manila, Las Vegas, London and Ibiza, with more hotels set to open in Toronto, Barcelona, Chicago, and also Sao Paulo.
Along with owning and operating restaurants at luxury hotels around the world, Gordon Ramsay also has his own boutique hotel in London called York & Albany.
Other well-known examples of chef-owned and operated hotels and inns include Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire, England, Le Suquet by Sebastien Bras in France, and the Waterside Inn in Bray, by Alain Roux.

...