Dubai’s award-winning Fi’lia at SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences proudly announces the appointment of a new head chef, Chef Celia Stoecklin. With years of experience and a passion for creating delicious, visually stunning dishes, Chef Celia is set to bring a fresh new perspective to the restaurant’s menu with her innovative fresh take on Italian cuisine.
Celia had aspired to be a chef since she was a child. As a result, she began her career at the age of fourteen with a two-year apprenticeship at “Le 7eme continent,” a Michelin-starred French restaurant, and then spent several years honing her culinary skills at the two-star Italian restaurant “Il Cortile”.
“We are happy to welcome Chef Celia to our team,” said Spencer Wadama, General Manager of SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences. “Chef Celia is the ideal fit for our restaurant, with her great culinary abilities and enthusiasm for food, and we are convinced that she will provide Fi’lia’s guests with an elevated dining experience while bringing fresh innovations to Italian cuisine in Dubai.”
Her extensive culinary experience brings a wealth of expertise and talents to the team and is ready to make her mark on the establishment. She intends to revamp the menu with deliciously different flavours, updated to include dishes with simple, one-word titles based on the main ingredient or type of dish, making the menu straightforward, in addition to being both intuitive and delicious.
Here are a few of the new menu items:
– Mozzarella: roasted beetroot, marinated grapes, arugula, pine nuts
– Carpaccio: truffle beef carpaccio, porcini, parmesan cream, sobacha
– Agnolotti: confit duck legs, nectarine, rosemary reduction, sunflower seeds
– Osso Buco: lamb shank, creamy polenta, glazed onion, cherry tomato
– Orata: grilled sea bream, broccolini coulis, asparagus, vierge sauce
– Triglia Rossa: Red mullet, fregula risotto, baby fennel, paprika sauce
– Fig’n’nuts (pizza): fresh figs, ricotta, walnuts, scamorza, honey
– Baba: citrus cream, lemon basil, clementine
Working in Michelin-starred restaurants and honing her skills alongside world-renowned chefs has elevated her culinary background and allowed her to perfect her techniques. Chef Celia said, “I am honoured to be a part of Fi’lia and have the opportunity to add my own spin to the menu. I’m looking forward to introducing diners to my interpretation of Italian-Mediterranean cuisine and highlighting the best flavours, as I’ve always loved Italian food and culture, and used to work and live with Italian friends who took me on culinary tours of their beautiful country through gastronomy. I also admire Fi’lia and SLS’s commitment to sustainability, and I would like to contribute to future generations as well. Today, I’d like to give Fi’lia a whole new dimension, share my love and passion for food with others, and introduce them to new flavours and taste combinations in dishes that are filled with memories. As a female chef, I am a strong proponent of women empowerment in our industry, and Fi’lia is an ambassador for this cause in Dubai, and I would like to encourage and support every woman in our industry.”
With positions held at the Guy Savoy, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, and then the Four Seasons Hotel George V, Chef Celia broadened her expertise, and her culinary skills in several kitchens during her time in France, before travelling to Dubai. She joined the Jumeirah Group team, assisting in the opening of “French Riviera,” a French Mediterranean restaurant that has since become one of the company’s signature restaurants, rated in the first UAE Gault & Millau Guide.
“With the addition of our talented new Chef Celia, we are eager to explore new flavour profiles and techniques that will tantalise the taste buds of our guests. This is an exciting time for us, and we can’t wait to showcase her culinary genius in her new role, and I am very excited about her new menu.” Said Cláudio Cardoso Culinary Director at SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences.
With a goal of simplifying the menu while adding her own culinary expertise and creativity, Chef Celia promises to take diners on a journey through Italy, showcasing the best of the country’s regional specialties, including traditional dishes and contemporary creations. Chef Celia’s menu is set to tantalise the taste buds of all guests.
We look forward to enjoying Chef Celia’s exciting new Fi’lia flavours.
