Back to Press

FREE TIME OR FRENZIED? DISCOVER THE TASTE OF LEISURE WITH A LUXURIOUS LUNCHTIME RESPITE AT WHIST RESTAURANT

- New pre-set gourmet lunch program transforms standard mid-day meals into opulent affairs -

July 2005 (Los Angeles) Whether you're whiling away a lazy afternoon or haven't a moment to spare, Whist's new Leisure Lunch program at Viceroy Santa Monica will leave you feeling equally refreshed and indulged. With a newly unveiled gourmet lunch menu for the summer season, Whist offers an option for those who crave a taste of extravagance: a different pre-set tasting menu each week. Expertly paired with wines or enjoyed teetotal-style before that important afternoon meeting, Chef Warren Schwartz's personally-crafted three-course menus are divine enough to make time stop. Enjoy an elegant, private cabana in the poolside garden or a table soaking in the radiant sun - Whist will transform even the quickest bite into a rejuvenating and unharried mid-day escape.

Recently named one of "America's top 50 hotel restaurants" by Food & Wine magazine, Whist provides the perfect milieu for Chef Schwartz's talent with fresh local produce and straightforward, flavor-intense creations. The restaurant's whimsical décor is the creation of design maven Kelly Wearstler (kwid). Taking the sophistication and stature of a proper English parlor, she playfully subverts it with innovative design materials, crisp contemporary lines and an airy indoor/outdoor atmosphere. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors extend Whist's space into a stunning garden where guests can dine poolside in the distinctly un-English California weather. Wearstler's "modern colonial" motif extends to her cabanas as well, with a desert tent-design made regal via definitively 21st-century design elements.

Sample "Leisure Lunch" Executive Tasting Menu:

First Course: Belgium Endive Salad with St. Agur Cheese, Apples and Arugula in a Honey Banyuls Vinaigrette.
Second Course: Handkerchief Pasta with Duck Confit, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Baby Broccoli and Parmesan Cream.
Third Course: Fresh white peaches, mint scented shortcake, caramelized white peach cream and micro mint.
Set menu is $22

Sample Lunch Menu items:

Ahi Tuna rolled in Black Pepper, seared rare and served with Seaweed Salad in a Shiitake Vinaigrette. $14
Grilled Wild Boar Bratwurst with Warm Fingerling Potato Salad, Pickled Celery and Mustard Vinaigrette. $15
Crab cakes, fennel salad, citrus confit and lemon aioli. $19.

The Leisure Lunch program features:

Weekly gourmet Executive Tasting Menu
Exclusive garden patio seating
Complimentary valet parking on Mondays-Fridays from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Program available now through October 31, 2005.

Recipes, interview arrangements and photography, including a headshot of Chef Schwartz, are available upon request. Please contact Kor Hotel Group or Hawkins International at the numbers above.

Viceroy Santa Monica is located at 1819 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

For further information or reservations contact 800-679-0397 or visit viceroysantamonica.com

Viceroy Santa Monica is the flagship property of the Los Angeles-based, boutique hotel operator Kor Hotel Group. Named one of the top 15 boutique hotels in the United States by Departures Magazine's 2004 Readers' Survey, Viceroy is among six hospitality endeavors resulting from Kor's partnership with Designer Kelly Wearstler of kwid, the creative force behind its burgeoning Viceroy brand. The hotel's style combines hints of English colonial with lavish Regency furnishings, updated with modern materials such as Lucite using a bold palette of parrot green, driftwood gray and wavecrest white. Each of the hotel's 163 guestrooms and suites are appointed with applied moldings, custom armoires, clean-lined bed frames and bathrooms of immaculate marble tile. Expansive executive suites, with full ocean-view balconies, feature one-of-a-kind furnishings, coffered ceilings and whirlpool tubs with steam shower.

Whist Restaurant's Executive Chef Warren Schwartz was trained at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and has worked at critically acclaimed California restaurants including Lark Creek Inn, Patina and The Saddle Peak Lodge.

In addition to Viceroy Santa Monica, Kor Hotel Group's diverse boutique portfolio includes Viceroy Palm Springs, Avalon Hotel and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, Chamberlain in West Hollywood, Tides in South Beach and The Jefferson in Washington, D.C., as well as the forthcoming Viceroy Anguilla Resort and Residences and Viceroy Riviera Maya debuting in 2008. Kor Hotel Group is the hospitality division of The Kor Group and manages both its own assets and non-owned hotels under third-party management agreements.

1212 South Flower Street Suite 500 Los Angeles, CA 90015 T 323 930 3700 F 323 930 3701