Hôi An on the fast track

Hoî An was nominated on the Unesco World Heritage list in 1999. Very well preserved, the central old town is a major tourist destination. 30km west of Hôi An is My Son, the main Cham civilization site in Viêt Nam; and the old Imperial city of Hue is 120km north. Both sites are on the World Heritage list, thus making Hôi An a major cultural hub for the country. The coast from Lang Co, north of Danang, to Tam Hai, 50km south of Hôi An, has been ranked by the vietnamese government as one of the four nationwide prioritary tourist areas. It is developing extremely fast. China Beach, the 30km-long beach stretching from Danang to Hôi An, will be an almost uninterrupted line of five-star resorts and golf courses by 2012. Over 5700 4 & 5-stars hotel rooms and more than 1500 luxury villas are being built by all the major hospitality names: Intercontinental, Hyatt Regency, Four Seasons, Sofitel, etc. The number of visiting international tourists, already up every year by 15-20%, will grow drastically with the resort developments. Tourism is switching from medium-income groups to upscale, wealthy individuals. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years.

From the press :

VietNamNet Bridge - “The central Quang Nam province welcomed the one millionth foreign visitor of 2007 at the ancient town of Hoi An on December 28.”

“Viet Nam targets to welcome 5 million foreign visitors in 2008, or a year-on-year increase of 19 percent.”

“The socio-economic structure of foreign tourists to Vietnam is changing. The number of luxury travelers,
who stay in nice hotels and spend lots of money, is on the rise, while the number of backpackers is decreasing. Most of foreign luxury travelers come from Western European countries. In 2007, Vietnam welcomed 170,000 French guests (annual number of French traveling to Vietnam hasn’t exceeded 100,000 in the last ten years). Vietnam also welcomed high numbers of travelers from the UK (100,000) and Germany (100,000). Russian visitors increased sharply, 50%, in 2007.”

“We have long believed that Da Nang-Hoi An will become the next great Southeast Asian resort destination” said Peter Ryder, CEO of Indochina Land, whose development portfolio includes the GHM-operated super-luxury Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An.

“Son Tra – Dien Ngoc area is now considered the golden strip of land, which a lot of investors have been
eyeing to build international-standard complexes of resorts and apartments. The total registered investment
capital of the projects has reached nearly $1bil.”

La Verticale in Hanoi

“ Guests at Hanoi’s Sofitel Metropole hotel, where Corlou was executive chef until recently, raved about his cuisine. Vietnam’s government is a fan of his cooking too, choosing him over native-born chefs to prepare banquets for last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. So it comes as no surprise to discover that Corlou’s elegant new French-Vietnamese restaurant—his first solo operation—is currently the most desirable dining venue in the Vietnamese capital.”

Time magazine, July 7, 2007 For the full article: www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1642444_1659459_1642730,00.html

About Didier Corlou

Didier Corlou is probably the most renowned chef in Viêt Nam.
He was the former chef at the prestigious Sofitel Metropole in
Hanoi, where he still holds a consultancy position. When the Apec
summit was held in Hanoi for 800 Heads of States and politicians,
the government called him, not a local chef, to prepare the gala
diner. He is currently the owner of La Verticale, Hanoi’s premier
restaurant.
Born in French Brittany, Didier Corlou is no armchair traveller. He
finished his training when he was seventeen, put in three years in
some French inns and restaurants then headed off to explore the
world, and in the process became enchanted with the exotic spices
and fruits of Africa, Asia and distant islands.
His travels saw him cooking for presidents in Africa, show biz stars
in Bora Bora, royalty in Malaysia, the king of Cambodia, and he has
now worked across the globe, including though Africa, Polynesia,
Indian ocean, the Caribbeans and Southeast Asia.
His pleasure resides in mixing French ingredients with Vietnamese
taste for creating new tastes. Examples: grilled duck foie gras with
lemongrass, spring roll with truffles, « banh cuon » with caviar and
salmon roes, braised « calang » in papillote with turmeric, crab
cannelloni with sea urchin nectar, rock lobster in fish bladder, pork
nougat with caramel, caramelised cream with young rice…
These creative dishes draw their inspiration from the tradition of
French and Vietnamese cuisines, by combining with new ingredients:
wild peppers from Phu Quoc, bees’ pollen, ambrette seeds, nuoc
mam salt flower, essential oils of Hanoi ’s herbs. This new concept
of Vietnamese cuisine has followed Didier Corlou’s steps to different
culinary promotions held abroad (Singapore, France, United
States, Thailand, Mexico and Australia).

La Riziere restaurant Hôi An, Viet Nam

Welcome to La Riziere, a restaurant project for Hôi An with renowned chef Didier Corlou. This blog has been created to highlight the project, give potential investors the necessary background informations and keep everybody interested in fine, gourmet cuisine, informed about the project's developments. Your comments and suggestions are welcome to help us make La Riziere the most exciting venue in beautiful Hôi An.