W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak has announced the appointment of award-winning Australian chef, Matthew McCool, to the role of Chef De Cuisine of its signature restaurant, Starfish Bloo. Starfish Bloo is the hotel’s elegant, beachside dining destination for lunch and dinner and is well known for its extensive Sunday brunch.
The menu is heavily inspired by the sea, featuring Pan-Asian fare mixed with Western touches – an ideal fit for McCool who credits two years in Beijing for his Asian influence on cuisine.
McCool, who relocated to Bali for the role, was previously Chef De Cuisine at Altitude Restaurant at Sydney’s Shangri-La Hotel, a restaurant which earned three hats from the prestigious Gault&Millau Australia and won Restaurant of the Year at the Tourism Accommodation Awards in 2014.
Kicking off his career over a decade ago, McCool cut his teeth with a traineeship under world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay at his three-star Michelin restaurant in London, in addition Tom Aikens and two-star Michelin restaurant Chez Bruce.
He made his foray into Asia in 2010, when he was appointed Chef De Cuisine at Aria at China World Hotel, Beijing, a post that would earn McCool Chef of the Year in the 2011 Time Out Beijing Awards and ‘Restaurant of the Year’ by City Weekend Beijing.
Speaking on his appointment, Matthew said he was eager to showcase the best of Bali’s natural produce to the large number of Australians visiting the destination. “I’m really excited to be heading up the kitchen at Starfish Bloo. The resort is like no other property in Bali, offering pure luxury in the perfect location, and the W brand was a natural fit for me. I’m always looking for innovative ideas and cutting edge approaches I can bring to my cooking; a philosophy which W Hotels brings to every aspect of the guest experience,” he said.