FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

Chef Scott Conant Profile

by Kimberly Inlander

Sep 22, 2016
2016

It’s likely you recognize the name behind New York City’s hottest new hotel restaurant: Impero Caffè at INNSIDE New York Hotel by Scott Conant. Conant appears as a regular judge on Food Network’s Chopped and has been seen on Good Morning America, The Chew and many other shows. His newest culinary outpost in the Big Apple’s NoMad is a relaxed spot for all-day dining serving a variety of antipasti and housemade pastas.

A Culinary Institute of America graduate, Conant made a name for himself while running the famed il Toscanaccio and City Eatery before opening L’Impero in 2002, which won a 3-star review from The New York Times. It was only up from there for the celebrity chef.

Following the success of L’Impero came Alto in midtown Manhattan, Scarpetta in Las Vegas and Miami, and D.O.C.G. Enoteca at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. His SC Culinary Suite, a private loft in SoHo, allows Conant to interact directly with guests through private dinners, cocktail parties and cooking demos. A signature Conant menu is available at the American Express Centurion Lounge at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport. Learn more about his signature dishes in his three cookbooks: New Italian Cooking, Bold Italian and The Scarpetta Cookbook.

Conant’s philosophy endures through every dish he prepares: Savor the pure pleasure of food, down to its last taste.

WHAT THREE GO-TO INGREDIENTS ARE ALWAYS IN YOUR HOME KITCHEN? It’s so hard to say … but if I were pressed, extra-virgin olive oil, crushed red pepper and chicken bones for stock or sauce. You can make so much from those items.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SEASON FOR COOKING, AND WHY? One of the things about being in the Northeast is the changing of the seasons that shapes the experience of cooking. Spring, in particular, has such a great opportunity for fresh, bright, interesting flavors and textures that are both main items and accompaniments for other products or proteins. The optimism of spring has to be my favorite. It’s truly a reset, a starting-over point.

ASIDE FROM YOUR CURRENT POSITION, WHAT’S THE BEST JOB YOU’VE EVER HAD? My first job afforded me the luxury of seeing things for the first time. That view, that opportunity to see things I’d never experienced before was a truly remarkable and exciting time. It created a foundation of appreciation that has lasted my entire career thus far.

WHAT’S THE FIRST MEAL YOU EVER COOKED? At home, it had to be a seared halibut that I had seen on a show. It was ambitious at the time!

IMPERO CAFFÉ

INNSIDE New York Hotel

132 W. 27th St. New York, NY 10001

tel 212 951 1000

melia.com

Introducing

FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

Explore Excursions

#globility

Insta Feed
Daily
Sep 18, 2024

Likuliku Lagoon Resort to Close for Major Renovation

Ahura Resorts, the 100 percent Fijian family-owned management company of Likuliku Lagoon Resort, recently announced a series of revitalization projects that will close Likuliku Lagoon Resort from Feb. 1, 2025 through April 30, 2025.

Sunflower Accessibility Program Featured at O’Hare and Midway Airports

Travelers with invisible disabilities passing through O’Hare and Midway International Airports can now discreetly signal they need assistance thanks to a new Chicago Department of Aviation partnership that helps create more accessible and inclusive spaces.

Daily
Sep 18, 2024

Industry Leader Awards 2024

Join us as we honor travel industry leaders who go above and beyond.

Daily
Sep 17, 2024

Uncover the Beauty of Blue Lagoon’s Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll in Iceland

If past trips to Iceland have focused on Reykjavik and nearby sites such as the steamy waters of the Retreat at Blue Lagoon, you may not be familiar with this iconic destination’s other hotel address: Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll, centrally located in an isolated mountain range in the country’s mountain region. It was named for a mythical giantess transformed to stone by the rays of the rising sun, and the resulting 82-foot pillar of volcanic rock still stands as both a reminder of the sun’s might and a powerful argument for sleeping late.

Remarkable Medellín

Visiting Medellín in Colombia: The Country of Beauty is like stepping into a fantastic story — literally, as the city in the Western Colombian Andes region inspired Disney’s Encanto. Here, valleys, the world’s tallest palms, vibrant communities, colorful houses, garden-like balconies and more prove reality is more picturesque than anything on film. And it’s especially more tempting following Medellín’s remarkable transformation, shedding its troubled past and reawakening as a city of innovation, art, cultural richness, modern infrastructure, thriving tourism and resiliency.

Daily
Sep 17, 2024

Noble House Welcomes Snake River Sporting Club to Collection

Noble House Hotels & Resorts, a family-owned boutique hotel brand, welcomes Snake River Sporting Club to its portfolio of unique, experience-driven properties.

Cruises
Sep 15, 2024

PONANT Announces Latest Ship

PONANT partnered with the world’s leading South Sea pearling company, PASPALEY, to introduce a 30-guest boutique expedition motor yacht, PASPALEY PEARL. This new boat will sail year-round to regions spanning the Kimberley, East Indonesia, Australia’s Far North and Papua New Guinea.

Colombia: A Different Kind of Beauty

Colombia’s beauty defies description — it’s that unique, that special, that different — and travelers are taking notice as 2023 marked the country’s best year for tourism, welcoming more than 6 million international travelers. The Country of Beauty looks to continue growing and enhancing its regions and communities in 2024 and beyond.

Cruises
Sep 14, 2024

Seabourn Names New Expedition Ship

This summer Seabourn named Seabourn Pursuit in an expedition-naming ceremony at Ngula Jar Island, Australia. The naming marks the first time the Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners have named a ship.