HOTEL LUCINE, THE forthcoming boutique hotel project that boasts Justin Yu and Bobby Heugel as food and beverage partners, is slated to open near Stewart Beach in Galveston this spring. The team just named Leila Ortiz the executive chef of The Fancy, the hotel's restaurant that is billed as American fine-ish dining. (A brochure states that Galveston is, after all, a place of contradictions — where your fried fish is served with white gloves.)

Foodies will recognize Ortiz from her time at UBPreserv, and she's spent time abroad with Sheraton and Westin hotel properties and at New York's famed Momofuku Noodle Bar. “I have been incredibly lucky to have Leila working with me to develop the opening menus for the hotel,” said Yu in a release. “She has a way about her that is incredibly easy-going, but her flavors are fierce and pop with a lot of pizazz. I can’t wait to show Galveston what we’ve been working on.”

The 61-room hotel, which was originally built in the 1960s as the Treasure Isle Motel and was most recently the ramshackle-y Pearl Inn, will also have the more casual Den Bar and Restaurant and a rooftop bar (for aprés surf, naturally). Guests can also expect to enjoy private beachfront relaxation, or alternatively opt to lounge at the interior courtyard pool. Design notes will homage the spot's mid-century origins, while incorporating tons of natural light, greenery and warm tones.

Hotel Lucine, named for a pearlescent sculptured shell, is owned by Dave Jacoby, Keath Jacoby and Robert Marcus.

Leila Ortiz (photo by Gerardo Velasquez)