Resort food is getting a rebrand as luxury hotels turn to guest chefs, one-night dinners, and other ambitious culinary experiences.
Roughly two hours north of Los Angeles, chef Joel Viehland prepares dinner for guests at El Encanto, a hillside resort overlooking Santa Barbara and the Pacific. With its historic, recently renovated bungalows and sweeping ocean views, the five-star hotel combines understated California luxury with the romance of a Mediterranean holiday.
Each night, two-time James Beard Award semifinalist Viehland brings his refined, produce-driven style to the resort’s outdoor terrace, drawing on experience at Noma in Copenhagen, Gramercy Tavern in New York, and New Orleans kitchens led by Emeril Lagasse and Donald Link.
The menu is resort-friendly without being predictable. Steak tartare is embellished with dried plum, sorrel, caper leaf, and a heavy dusting of finely grated Manchego, then served with potato chips for dipping. Just-baked oat levain arrives with cultured butter and bright bay leaf oil, a reminder of how memorable a bread course can be. King salmon with stone fruit, cucumber, mint, and basil tastes of summer, while a substantial braised beef short rib sits atop a potato latke with mustard greens and horseradish cream. Santa Barbara halibut offers a lighter counterpoint, paired with crisp jicama, bok choy, haricots verts, tart blood orange, and a tangy Vietnamese vinaigrette.
Viehland’s everyday menu balances familiar hotel fare with a distinct culinary point of view. But El Encanto, like a growing number of luxury hotels and resorts, is moving beyond its regular restaurant offering by inviting chefs from around the world to stage collaborative dinners and limited-run culinary events.
El Encanto began welcoming guest chefs in October 2025 with Rodrigo Rivera-Río of Michelin-starred Koli in Monterrey, Mexico. The resort followed that dinner in early December with a one-night, multicourse tasting menu from Fauna chefs David Castro Hussong and Maribel Aldaco Silva, who traveled from Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe. The series now runs year-round, drawing both locals and travelers.
In January, Byron Gomez of Denver’s acclaimed 18-seat, one-Michelin-star restaurant BRUTØ joined the series. Michael Tusk of San Francisco’s Cotogna brought his house-made pastas to the hotel in March, followed in April by Marcus Nemrin and Jonas Hartwig of Sofiero in Helsingborg, Sweden, who presented a menu of Scandinavian dishes.
El Encanto has long been a destination in its own right. Yet even well-known resorts are searching for new ways to broaden their reach. Patrick Davila, El Encanto’s managing director, sees the series as a way to attract new diners.
“When you are bringing the royal chefs from a Swedish palace, a Michelin and Green Star chef from Denver, or the teams behind two of Mexico’s most celebrated restaurants, that reaches well beyond our existing guest base and gives people a compelling reason to make the trip to Santa Barbara,” Davila says. “Luxury travelers today are not content with a standard hotel restaurant experience. They want something they cannot get anywhere else. At the same time, we have devoted locals who have been here since the very first dinner. That mix of in-house guests and community in the same room creates something really special.”
