Restaurants by Michelin-Starred Chefs Heading to the Med Center

THE MED CENTER will soon boast not one but two new restaurants by Michelin-starred chefs. Blossom Hotel, the area’s newest high-end hotel, announced yesterday that the two distinct concepts will open on its property early next year.

The first is a Cantonese-inspired restaurant by Malaysian-born chef Ho Chee Boon, who recently opened his first restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and is the former international exec chef of Hakkasan, which operates popular concepts such as Yauatcha.

Called Duck House, his Blossom Hotel spot will fuse traditional with contemporary techniques and flavor profiles to create unique duck dishes, plus stir-fries, dim sum and more. The duck will be sourced from fourth-generation family-owned farm Joe Jurgielewicz & Son.

The second restaurant is from chef Akira Back, who has an impressive portfolio of 16 restaurants across the globe, with another 10 slated to open in the next two years — including AB Sushi at Blossom. The former professional snowboarder, who was born in Korea and raised in Aspen, will source premium sushi and sashimi in a “congenial atmosphere that is both refined and unpretentious.”

The 267-room, four-diamond property is situated off Fannin between Old Spanish Trail and Braeswood, and offers amenities such as a library, translation services, laundry, long-term storage, meeting spaces and a sprawling pool deck. Blossom Hotel also served as the location for CityBook’s fall fashion spread.

Akira Back

Ho Chee Boon