Splendido Honoured by Ontario Hostelry Institute

Splendido Captures Gold in High Profile Annual Awards

Toronto, Ontario – Splendido restaurant and co-proprietors Yannick Bigourdan and David Lee have been honoured by the Ontario Hostelry Institute (OHI) with a gold award in the category of Independent Restaurateur. They will be on hand to accept their award at the OHI’s Annual Gold Awards Dinner, taking place April 19, 2007, at the Four Seasons Hotel.

“David and I are delighted to be recognized in this way,” said Yannick Bigourdan, General Manager, Splendido. “We have worked hard over the last 5 years to make Splendido a restaurant based on quality, innovation and stellar service. To be acknowledged by a group of our peers and awarded a gold is a great feeling.”

The Gold Awards Dinner is the OHI’s annual opportunity to celebrate excellence in the hospitality industry. Each year, a committee of past gold medal winners is asked to select appropriate nominees to be considered for the OHI Gold Awards. The winners are then praised at an exclusive black tie dinner. Proceeds from the dinner go towards food service and hospitality scholarships and to the promotion of quality education and training for the future employees of the hospitality industry.

The congratulatory letter received by Splendido stated “Your labours, critically acclaimed achievements and dedication to the quality cuisine and wines together with the recognition as the owners and operators of a truly important destination restaurant and dining room…has done much to heighten the awareness and stature of this industry, its people, its professionalism.”

The OHI was established in 1977 by leaders of the hospitality - tourism industry in Canada. The Institute seeks to raise the standards of post-secondary hospitality programs and to serve as the advocate for the industry in matters relating to professional education, training and apprenticeship in this sector.

Splendido continually ranks as one of Canada’s top fine dining restaurants. Known for their commitment to creating dishes that are fresh, interesting and constantly evolving, as well as for their professional level of service, each visit to Splendido is a unique experience sure to please. Chef Lee and his team count a recent sold out event at the James Beard House in New York City, which featured Canadian Food and Wine, among their most recent highlights.