Doma Hotels’ Canberra-based property Hotel Realm has opened a new flagship restaurant under the direction of two-hatted chef Ben Willis.
The Louis restaurant, based in the Barton’s Realm Precinct within the hotel, will offer a classical European dining experience with a menu of predominantly South of France and Provencal cuisine.
In a career spanning nearly 30 years, Willis has worked at high profile restaurants in London and Australia including Sydney Opera House’s Bennelong Restaurant and Canberra’s Aubergine for 14 years.
He was recently appointed as Doma’s Culinary Director and Sun Hwa Jang – former sous-chef at Aubergine – will lead the kitchen as Head Chef.
“I’m very excited to work together 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 style of cooking and this new venue sticks to the theme: staying true to the heritage and the elegant simplicity, without trying to modernise things too much,” Ben Willis said.
Interior designer Rachel Luchetti of Luchetti Krelle led the design of Louis which features a custom marble mosaic bar front, marble lazy Susan tables with richly coloured bentwood chairs, pendant lighting and custom rugs.
The new restaurant is part of a wider transformation of the five-star hotel precinct which sees the introduction of an outdoor space known as Louis Alfresco, with bistro chairs, custom lounge styled banquette and Rendition tiles.
“Hotel Realm’s new development will amplify Barton precinct current rise as Canberra’s new foodie hotspot,” said Doma Hotels’ Director Patrick Lonergan
“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.”