We’ve just returned from a visit to New York, where we were inspired by many things: the food, the fashion, the numerous ambassadors (and the President) in town for the United Nations summit, the crowd waiting for Madonna outside Macy’s Herald Sq. (and we got to see her too) and the speakers at the Star Chefs International Chefs Congress. Now that we are back in Maine we’ve been thinking back on the visit to NY and some themes have become apparent, primarily the theme of dialogue, and its importance in every aspect of our lives.

One of the business seminars at the International Chefs Congress featured a panel with Francis Lam from salon.com, Ed Levine from seriouseats.com, Chefs Marcus Samuelsson and Tony Susi. Lead by Antoinette Bruno, the panel focused on the power of social media and the food critics of today, and a lot of the conversation focused on sites such as yelp, chowhound and others as well as the increase in the number of anonymous comments on blogs and these websites. The consensus was that as difficult as it can be to hear negative comments (setting personal attacks aside) the internet provides an important opportunity to engage diners, guests and everyone who visits your website in dialogue. This dialogue can help a restaurant grow, by uncovering its weak points and its strengths and addressing them in an open manner.

Part of our own process of growth here at Natalie’s includes exploring other restaurants and cuisines. During our stay in New York we had lunch at one of the best restaurants anywhere, Eleven Madison Park. Executive Chef Daniel Humm has recently changed his approach to his menu, removing all descriptions of his dishes and listing only his main ingredients.

This simple menu, an outline almost, meant that our meal was full of surprise, and engaged us in dialogue before our order was placed (any allergies? dislikes? anything you are not in the mood for?) - and the conversation continued over the course of the meal, shifting from the initial introduction to the meal with our server to one where we talked about the dishes, the flavors, the arrangement of the food on the plate and the experience.

Since our return to Maine the conversations have continued. Many of the recent conversations here at our restaurant have been with our new Executive Chef, who moved here just this week from New York, Geoffroy Deconinck. We’re honored and excited to have him here, and are pleased to see that our guests are already engaging him in conversation, asking him about his move to Maine, his wife and young child, his thoughts on Camden - and in return, he also engages them in a different kind of conversation with his dishes, and his exploration of our seasonal ingredients.

Executive Chef Geoffroy Deconinck

A native of Belgium, his career took him to Restaurant Alain Ducasse, Plaza Athenée in Paris, France, and then on to leading and executive roles in New York City’s Café Boulud, Restaurant Daniel and Bouley Restaurant and now to Natalie’s. Chef Deconinck’s conversation in our restaurant has just begun, and we look forward to experiencing and learning more about his philosophy of cooking, rooted in French tradition, emphasizing fresh, local, simple flavors.

We hope that you, our guests and visitors, will share your thoughts with us and let us know where you would like to see improvements and when we are doing things correctly. We look forward to seeing where these new conversations take us, and hope that you will join in the dialogue.

We’re excited to add to new additions to our team — Maitre d’ Jean-Baptiste Darcourt and Sous Chef Juan Gil.

Juan Gil is a native of Chile and received his training at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, completing the Grand Diplome de Cuisine et Patisserie in 2001. After the completion of his studies, he was awarded an internship at Les Ambassadeurs, holder of two Michelin Stars at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. Gil holds extensive experience as a pastry chef, working at the Sheraton Hotel in Santiago, Chile and The Brasserie on Grand Cayman Island. He previously worked as the Head Chef at Solana Restaurant at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, one of the finest Grand Cayman restaurants. Most recently, Gil was the Sous Chef and Head Pastry Chef of Koalkeel in Anguilla, where he was in charge of the bakery and French pastry shop. He also served as the Private Chef for Villa Modena in Anguilla. Gil brings with him extensive knowledge of classic French technique, fitting with the culinary emphasis on technique at Natalie’s.

Jean-Baptiste Darcourt comes to Natalie’s from his previous post as Restaurant Manager at Restaurant Du Glace in Deep River, CT. With over twenty-five years experience in the food and beverage industry, he has worked in such varied locales as New England, California, and Hawaii. While serving as Director of Restaurant at The Third Floor at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in Hawaii, the restaurant won the Travel Holiday magazine award two years in a row and was honored with the AAA Four Diamond Award. While at Alexander’s at the Los Angeles Hilton, the restaurant received three stars from the California Restaurant Writers Association two years in a row. Another restaurant under his tutelage to receive the AAA Four Diamond Award is the Saybrook Point Inn and Spa of Connecticut, accepting the honor in both 2006 and 2008. The Inn also received the Zagat Award in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Earlier this summer we were named as one of the 50 best experiences in the world by one of the most important travel magazines, Sherman’s Travel, and our guests come with high expectations. We are thrilled to be able to bring two such tremendously talented and experienced individuals to Camden and to Natalie’s. It will help us to continue our journey of excellence and further secure our position among the very best properties in the world. Juan has trained at some of the most prestigious restaurants in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and will be a tremendous asset to our kitchen and Jean-Baptiste brings great knowledge and understanding in management of properties similar to our own.

We’re very happy to have them both on board and look forward to introducing them to everyone, please stop by to say hello and welcome them to Maine.