Something exciting happened at Hideaway Beach Resort & Spa last Wednesday. The resort showcased the talents of Michelin Star chef Jean Marc Boyer at a special dinner held that evening at the Sunset Pool Café.
Frenchman Boyer had been at the resort for nearly two weeks by then and he’d teamed up with Hideaway’s executive chef Olivier Ramos, also French, to experiment in the kitchen.
“I was inspired by the unique Maldivian environment and culture,” Boyer said. “I was completely awestruck by life below water. The Maldives is a very special place.”
The five-course dinner that evening featured mains and dessert that nodded to traditional Maldivian flavours through the use of local spices and ingredients. The food was paired with wine and infused water that closely resembled the wines served with each course, courtesy of sommelier Dora Dzurjak.
Boyer also debuted a poultry dish with grapefruit compote and parsnip mash that alluded to the colours of the Maldives’ striking sunsets and also to its indigenous marine life. The dish is to be a staple at the resort.
“[Outside the culinary realm] my mother and my wife are my greatest influences,” said the fifty-year-old chef speaking to Hotel Insider.
“He’s very humble and open to suggestions, which you may not think will be the case with a chef as accomplished as Boyer,” said resort manager Anne Procope.
Boyer’s Michelin Star restaurant Le Puits du Tresor sits in his native Lastours (a village near Toulouse in southern France) where he also runs a bistro.