Departures Australia Autumn:Winter 2024

AUTUMN/WINTER 2024 

Ready 

to Shine 

The New Age of Gold, Off the Beaten Path in Australia, South Tyrol & India, 

New Zealand’s Chef Provocateur, Return to Greece

SAVOUR THE UNRIVALLED 

Unique and familiar flavours move across your palate in a perfectly 

tuned epicurean dance. The music moving them is orchestrated through 

your chef’s creativity, the direction of the maître d’, your sommelier’s 

guidance and the attentiveness of the waitstaff. 

Experience a symphonic exploration of culinary pleasures 

alongside the unrivalled space and unmatched, personalised service 

found only aboard The World’s Most Luxurious Fleet. TM 

EXCLUSIVE AMERICAN EXPRESS PLATINUM CARD MEMBERS BENEFIT 

US$300 SHIPBOARD CREDIT PER SUITE* 

Terms & Conditions apply.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CALL PLATINUM TRAVEL SERVICE 

ON 1800 673 760 (AUSTRALIA), OR 0800 377 421 (NEW ZEALAND). 

*Cruise Privileges Program benefits are available for Platinum Card Members. Payment must be made with an American Express® Platinum Card through your Platinum Travel Service. All benefits are per 

booking, per suite, and based on two people sharing accommodation (single occupancy privileges available on request). Benefits are non-transferable, non-combinable and valid for new bookings only. 

Some cruise lines have a minimum stay requirement. American Express and partner Terms and Conditions apply, contact your Platinum Travel Service for more details. For full terms & conditions, please visit 

www.RSSC.com ©2024 Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. NCL Australia Pty Ltd ABN 8060 7578 781.

THE 

SPIRIT & 

COLOURS OF 

INDIA BY 

PRIVATE JET 

Enjoy a sunset cruise along the Ganges before attending a private Aarti ceremony 

Stay in opulent and palatial residences with unmatched views of India’s icons 

Float high above Jaipur during a spectacular sunrise hot-air balloon flight 

15 days, Singapore return, departing 19 October 2024, AU$47,900 per person, twin share 

1800 622 628 www.captainschoice.com.au 

For more information, please call Platinum Travel Service on 1800 673 760 

For full terms and conditions, see www.captainschoice.com.au/conditions.

Aboard our business class private jet from Singapore, embark upon a journey perfectly timed for Diwali. 

Everything has been considered and included, from lavish palaces to revered monuments and exclusive events. 

AGRA 

VARANASI 

CHENNAI 

KOCHI 

UDAIPUR 

JAIPUR

8 

DEPARTURES AUTUMN/WINTER 2024 

Features 

60 

A New Gold Standard 

The awesome power of gold is 

on full display in the hands of 

the extraordinary talents of top 

global jewellery designers. 

Photographs by Chantel King 

Production by Elisa Vallata 

66 

Eye Candy 

This season’s most tempting 

watches are a rousing 

experiment in bold geometric 

forms and eccentric colours. 

Photographs by Xavier Young 

Production by Elisa Vallata 

72 

The Ghost of the Mountain 

The craggy peaks of India’s 

Ladakh region are the best 

place on the planet to catch 

a glimpse of the shadowy 

snow leopard in situ. 

By Mary Holland 

Photographs by Behzad Larry 

78 

Fair Game 

Verging on the provocative, 

chef Vaughan Mabee’s 

obsessively crafted carnivorous 

creations are redefining New 

Zealand’s culinary landscape. 

By Ann Abel 

Photographs by Sam Stewart 

p72 

A snow leopard 

sighting on an 

excursion with 

Voygr Expeditions, 

in Ladakh 

BEHZAD LARRY

“Creation” 

Wildlife Photographer 

of the Year 2021 

Grand Title winner 

© Laurent Ballesta 

A Fifty Fathoms is for eternity. 

Launched in 1953, the Fifty Fathoms is the first 

modern diver’s watch. Created by a diver and 

chosen by pioneers, it played a vital role in the 

development of scuba diving. It is the catalyst 

of our commitment to ocean conservation. 

MELBOURNE: MONARDS · MONARDS CROWN · WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND COLLINS ST · WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

SYDNEY: SHUM’S WATCHES · SWISS CONCEPT · WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND GEORGE ST · WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND BARANGAROO 

PERTH: WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND

DEPARTURES AUTUMN/WINTER 2024 

10 

Departments 

Travel 

19 

Adventurous Australia 

Must-book stays at rural 

luxury lodges from Kangaroo 

Island to the depths of the 

Northern Territory. 

24 

Hellas Rising 

Athens’s red-hot bar scene 

has reached its boiling point. 

Plus, tempting hotel openings 

across the Greek isles. 

32 

All Aboard! 

Groundbreaking itineraries, 

new ports of call and justchristened 

ships: a 360° look 

at the world of cruising now. 

38 

What You Reap … 

The hyper-locavore dishes 

at chef Norbert Niederkofler’s 

restaurant tap into the soul 

of South Tyrol. 

40 

Palau Passage 

A new catamaran voyage 

showcases the primordial 

beauty of one of the hardestto-reach 

countries on Earth. 

Style 

p28 

Breakfast under the 

sun at the new Phāea 

Blue Palace on Crete 

43 

The New, New Black 

Dramatic, minimalist 

and versatile all at once, 

fashion’s favourite hue 

is back with an attitude. 

46 

Instant Classics 

The season’s eyewear and 

handbags offer an on-trend 

upgrade to any look, today 

and for years to come. 

p19 

Poolside at Pretty 

Beach House, an 

all-pavilion retreat in 

eastern Australia’s 

Bouddi National Park 

50 

Trusting Your Gut 

All about the gut microbiome 

– and why personalised 

probiotics might be the key 

to lasting good health. 

Arts 

55 

Opening the Vault 

A peek inside Verona’s Palazzo 

Maffei, the new forever home 

for Luigi Carlon’s staggering 

art collection. 

58 

Size Isn’t Everything 

The Little Car Company’s 

Bugattis, Bentleys and Aston 

Martins are almost the real 

deal – just 25% smaller. 

On the Cover 

Turn to page 80 

for more dazzling 

gold and diamond 

jewellery creations. 

Giorgio B earrings; 

left hand: Giorgio B 

bracelet and ring; 

right hand: Solange 

bangle Tasaki ring 

Alberta Ferretti 

dress 

The Key All prices are in British pounds, euros or American dollars unless otherwise specified. Hotel is a member of Fine Hotels + Resorts. 

Establishment is either cash-only or does not accept American Express cards. Online extras at departures-international.com 

Follow us @DeparturesInt 

FROM LEFT: © PHAEA BLUE PALACE, © PRETTY BEACH HOUSE

From the Editor 

Christian Schwalbach 

“ 

Most of the rough edges are now 

gone from contemporary travel, 

but we haven’t entirely 

lost our taste for adventure – 

and for good reason 

“ 

DEPARTURES 

12 

“WHEN YOU FIND a snow leopard, drive it 

like you stole it.” So says the guide to our 

correspondent in her chronicle, “In Search of 

the Snow Leopard”, of chasing the elusive highaltitude 

feline. Screeching out of the northern 

Indian city of Leh in search of the creature 

– I’ll let you discover whether they found it on 

this occasion on page 72 – is a reminder of just 

how enthralling adventure can be. 

Once upon a time, of course, all travel 

was adventurous. The journeys were full 

of danger, from armed bandits to unusual 

diseases. Comfortable hotels were few and 

very far between. And even up until the 1950s, 

an off-the-beaten-path journey was grounds 

enough for a bestselling book. 

Most of the rough edges are now gone from 

the contemporary experience of travel, and 

most of the globe’s corners have been explored. 

But as travel has been mainstreamed, we 

haven’t entirely lost our taste for adventure 

– and for good reason. Adventure is not just 

about exploring a place, it’s a process that 

forces us to confront ourselves as we push 

past boundaries, both known and unknown. 

An increasingly rare thing in our optimised 

and algorithmised world. 

We spotlight a number of contemporary 

adventures in this issue of Departures, beyond 

the search for snow leopards in the high 

Himalayas. Take the burgeoning mixology 

landscape of Athens (p24), an on-the-radar 

destination with an off-the-radar scene only 

known, for the moment, by the cocktail 

cognoscenti. 

We also visit the Australian Outback, the 

coral-rimmed islands of Palau and many 

more places in this issue. In these pages, we 

hope you find inspiration for adventures of 

your own.

THE SUPERCAR OF SUVs 

Limited opportunities for immediate delivery * . 

Drive away in your DBX707 today. 

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*Available vehicles vary from dealer to dealer. Overseas model shown.

GROUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF: 

Christian Schwalbach 

ASSOCIATE GROUP PUBLISHER: Michael Klotz 

INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Thomas Midulla 

ART DIRECTOR: Anne Plamann 

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SENIOR EDITOR: Hiroko Kamogawa 

PHOTO EDITOR: Teresa Lemme 

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Paul Hicks (Asia), 

Isabel Areso (Spain & LatAm), Mitsuyo Matsumoto (Japan) 

CHIEF SUB-EDITOR: Vicki Reeve 

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, FASHION: Avril Groom 

FASHION CORRESPONDENT: Katrin Sillem (Paris) 

YACHTING EDITOR: Cornelia Marioglou 

PROPERTY EDITOR: Peter Swain 

PRODUCTION MANAGER & SEPARATION: Jennifer Wiesner 

CONTRIBUTORS: Ann Abel, Gary Buchanan, Ivan Carvalho, Nicola Chilton, 

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Noriyuki Koike, Behzah Larry, Siobhan Reid, Xavier Young 

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14 DEPARTURES 

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DEPARTURES ONLINE DEPARTURES 

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SAIL IN TOTAL LUXURY 

OUR SECRET MEDITERRANEAN, BEAUTIFULLY REVEALED 

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The Explora Journeys team looks forward to welcoming you on EXPLORA I, now sailing, 

or on EXPLORA II, launching in 2024. 

Platinum Card Member benefit: EUR 300 Journey Experience Credit (JEC) per suite. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE CONTACT 

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** Terms & Conditions apply

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BARCELONA • MALAGA • GIBRALTAR • 

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*Experience fee applies to two venues. **Platinum Card Member benefit EUR 300 Journey Experience Credit (JEC) per suite. Available on all journeys though April 2026. 

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© SOUTHERN OCEAN LODGE 

TRAVEL 

The sun rises over 

Southern Ocean Lodge, 

on Kangaroo Island’s 

southwestern coast 

Into the Wild Speckled across some of the 

country’s most breathtaking landscapes, Australia’s 

luxury-lodge scene has hit its stride – and 

Kangaroo Island’s reborn Southern Ocean Lodge 

is its star. by Ute Junker 

KEYS, PLEASE! DEPARTURES 

19

20 DEPARTURES TRAVEL 

THERE ARE, OF COURSE, plenty of 

kangaroos on Kangaroo Island, but 

only one named Sunshine. The largerthan-life 

metal sculpture – made out 

of pieces of an old Sunshine-brand 

combine harvester – has greeted 

guests at Southern Ocean Lodge, 

one of Australia’s first super-luxury 

retreats, since it opened back in 2008. 

Sunshine is a survivor. After the 

devastating bushfires of 2019-2020, 

which burnt the lodge to the ground, 

The mesmerising 

turquoise waters of 

Ningaloo Reef, near 

the Sal Salis tented 

camp, below 

the various parts of his metal skeleton 

were found lying among the ashes. 

His creator, sculptor Indiana James, 

carefully reassembled the pieces 

and, when the rebuilt lodge opened 

in December last year, Sunshine was 

once again standing watch. Only this 

time, he has a friend. 

As James foraged through the 

ashes, he also found cutlery that had 

survived the inferno, which he used 

to create a sculpture of a lyrebird. Its 

wings made of melted forks, and its 

magnificent tail fashioned from firescorched 

spoons, the new statue is 

an ode to beauty that rises from the 

ashes, just as the lodge has now done. 

Compare before-and-after photos 

and, at first, Southern Ocean Lodge 

2.0 (southernoceanlodge.com.au) appears 

to be an exact replica of the muchloved 

original. The panoramic view 

from the Great Room is just as jawdropping, 

the South Australian wines 

in the cosy wine cellar – where guests 

are encouraged to help themselves to 

any bottle they would like to try – are 

just as impressive. 

It’s only when you actually walk 

through the space that the small 

changes come into focus. The rooms 

may look the same, but each one now 

has a bathtub with a view; the spa still 

smells as heavenly as ever, but now 

includes a sauna and hot-and-cold 

plunge pools. Discreetly tucked away 

behind the main lodge is a new fourbedroom 

Ocean Pavilion that offers 

a private escape for small groups 

travelling together. 

These subtle changes make it clear 

that original owners Hayley and James 

Baillie, who also led the rebuild, got it 

right the first time around. And that’s 

pretty remarkable when you consider 

how much Australia’s luxury-lodge 

SAL SALIS (2)

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: OSCAR SLOANE, RICHARD LYONS, © PRETTY BEACH HOUSE 

scene has evolved over the last decade 

and a half. 

Australia’s first generation of 

lodges – which included the likes of 

Qualia on Hamilton Island and Saffire 

Freycinet in Tasmania – were safe 

bets. Set in some of the country’s bestloved 

holiday hot spots, their elegant 

accommodation and finessed food 

gave guests a new way to experience a 

familiar destination. 

Fifteen years on, the format has 

proven so successful that luxury 

lodges have become attractions in 

their own right. Instead of taking 

a day trip to the beaches of the 

Central Coast, Sydneysiders in need 

of a recharge make the 90-minute 

drive to stay at Pretty Beach House 

(prettybeachhouse.com), an intimate 

clutch of four guest pavilions nestled 

inside Bouddi National Park. 

South Australians savour the 

stargazing and koala-spotting at 

Sequoia Lodge in the Adelaide Hills 

( sequoialodge.com.au), just half an 

hour out of town. 

Conversely, you will also find lodges 

in the most far-flung corners of the 

country. Sal Salis ( salsalis.com.au), 

a high-end tented camp, is set amid 

the sand dunes of Western Australia’s 

Cape Range National Park, near the 

spectacular Ningaloo Reef; Mount 

Mulligan Lodge in Queensland’s 

backcountry (mountmulligan.com), is 

accessed via a three-hour four-wheeldrive 

journey from Cairns, or a halfhour 

helicopter flight. 

Clockwise from left: 

a Kittawa guest lodge, 

which nudges King 

Island’s rugged 

coastline; Finniss River 

Lodge’s bejungled 

setting southwest of 

Darwin; the generous 

panorama from a guest 

pavilion at Pretty 

Beach House in 

Bouddi National Park 

The locations may be diverse 

but the central promise is the 

same: today’s lodges are all about 

immersing their guests in the 

destination through carefully curated 

activities, which have become a key 

attraction. “It’s not unusual for highend 

travellers to forgo the traditional 

luxurious accommodation in favour 

of a property that delivers a richer 

interpretation of the destination, with 

amazing people and culture,” says 

Drew Kluska, founder and managing 

director of The Tailor travel designers. 

Activities range from hikes to heliflights, 

forest bathing to Indigenous 

experiences. Case in point: during the 

“Connection to Country” experience 

offered by Tasmania’s Saffire Freycinet 

(saffire-freycinet.com.au) – one of the 

lodge’s most popular offerings – an 

indigenous guide shares insights into 

the culture, traditions and bush tucker 

of the native Oyster Bay people. 

What’s on your plate – or in your 

glass – has become another way to 

celebrate the environs, with lodge 

menus highlighting the region’s 

wines, spirits and craft brews 

alongside locally grown produce. At 

Southern Ocean Lodge, that might 

mean tucking into South Australian 

venison teamed with cacao, beetroot 

and witlof, while at Silky Oaks Lodge 

(silkyoakslodge.com.au), adjoining the 

Daintree Rainforest, salmon tartar is 

paired with tropical flavours such as 

pickled ginger and yuzu aïoli. 

KEYS, PLEASE! DEPARTURES 

21

DEPARTURES TRAVEL KEYS, PLEASE! 

22 

“There’s much more focus on 

provenance, a gentle pride in what 

we do well that makes us distinctively 

Australian,” says Penny Rafferty, the 

executive chair of Luxury Lodges of 

Australia (luxurylodgesofaustralia.com. 

au), a collection of 19 independent 

properties across the country. 

Even the once-obligatory French 

champagne on arrival has in many 

cases been replaced with a more local 

choice. 

Increased competition has also 

pushed leading lodges to commit to 

constant innovation. “A prime example 

is The Lake House in Daylesford,” 

Rafferty says. When the Lake House 

(lakehouse.com.au), 90 minutes outside 

Melbourne, was launched by the 

Wolf-Tasker family 40 years ago, it 

was one of Australia’s first destination 

restaurants. That evolved into a 

boutique hotel which has now been 

joined by a nearby regenerative farm 

stay, Dairy Flat Farm. “All the while, 

they have maintained that warm hug 

of hospitality,” Rafferty says. 

Other properties where guests 

can connect with the owners include 

the beachcomber-chic Haggerstone 

Island on the Great Barrier Reef 

(haggerstoneisland.com.au), helmed 

by Anna and Roy Turner, and the 

Venturin family’s Finniss River Lodge 

outside Darwin (finnissriverlodge. 

Right: looking out 

into Tasmania’s 

Coles Bay from 

a suite at Saffire 

Freycinet; above: 

kayaking the 

tranquil Mount 

Mulligan weir 

com.au). The appeal of the personal 

touch is so strong, it can even lure 

guests to a destination with which 

they may be entirely unfamiliar. 

“The lion’s share of our guests 

connect to our property online, then 

they figure out how to get here,” says 

Aaron Suine, who owns and runs 

Kittawa Lodge (kittawalodge.com) with 

his partner Nick Stead. The boutique 

property – which is about to open its 

third villa – is on King Island, situated 

in the Bass Strait between Tasmania 

and the mainland. King Island’s 

tourism industry is still in a fledgling 

state, and Suine loves introducing 

guests who know little about the island 

to its diverse environments, which 

range from coastal cliffs battered by 

surging surf to mangroves, to forests 

and white-sand beaches. 

“You’re probably only going to 

spend three nights in your entire life 

here, so it’s my chance to showcase 

everything King Island stands for 

and Tasmania stands for,” Suine says. 

“We give them local provisions, we 

create a customised itinerary that 

has a little bit of history, a little bit 

about the natural elements, all of 

these touchpoints that weave a much 

stronger connection to the place.” 

FROM TOP: © MOUNT MULLIGAN LODGE, © SAFFIRE FREYCINET

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African Waterways 

Uncover two of Africa’s most acclaimed 

wilderness areas – the Okavango Delta and 

Chobe National Park on this inspiring tailormade 

journey. Staggering wildlife encounters, 

diverse landscapes, outstanding safari guides 

and Sanctuary Retreats luxurious lodges 

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South Africa & Zambia Discovery 

This tailor-made adventure will immerse you 

in the wonders of alluring South Africa and 

Zambia. You’ll travel in true A&K style as 

you discover the best of South Africa’s Cape 

Winelands, Cape Town and the iconic wildlife 

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Kenya & Uganda Explorer 

Explore the vast open savannas of Kenya, 

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Please call your Platinum Travel Service on 1800 673 760 (AU) or 0800 377 421 (NZ). 

*Terms & Conditions apply. Prices shown are per person 

based on twin share and are subject to availability.

DEPARTURES TRAVEL FRESH EYES ON GREECE 

24 

Athens, Straight Up 

With tavernas around every corner, the 

Greek capital has always been a good 

place for a convivial round or two – but 

now a raft of new-wave bars is turning 

the city into one of the world’s cocktail 

capitals. by Nicola Chilton 

SET IN A neoclassical mansion a 

few minutes’ walk from the central 

Syntagma Square, The Clumsies has 

long been a fixture on The World’s 

50 Best Bars list. There are now 

three Athenian establishments on the 

global list – more than any other for a 

city of its size – but this spot, heaving 

in the evenings with a cosmopolitan 

mix of the bold and beautiful, is still 

perhaps most responsible for the 

city’s evolution. 

As head bartender Nick Sourmpatis 

makes me a drink – the Mediterranean 

Gimlet, the equivalent of a Greek salad 

in a glass – he tells me that when coowners 

Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos 

Bakoulis opened The Clumsies in 2014, 

their idea was to create a steki, a Greek 

word for a hangout or a local, “a place 

we go often in the week that feels like 

home”. In the daytime, people come 

here for coffee and lazy lunches; by 

night, it’s all about the cocktails. 

On the current menu, called Happy 

Accidents, drinks have names like 

Spilling the Coffee, Missing the 

Train, and Discovering Venus de 

Milo. “When an accident happens in 

Greece, the meaning of the word is 

Inside The Clumsies, 

set in a revamped 

townhouse in the lively 

Psyri neighbourhood 

always bad, but in English, you can 

find a silver lining,” says Sourmpatis. 

“We wanted to show that if something 

bad happens, something good can 

come afterwards.” 

It’s no accident that the cocktails 

here are very, very good. The 

bartenders’ approach to mixology 

incorporates inspiration and 

ingredients from across Greece, as 

well as gastronomic techniques like 

sous-vide and rotary evaporation. 

The menu changes each year, with 

a couple of favourites carried over 

and included in the “Blast from the 

Past” list. This is where you’ll find 

the Aegean Negroni, as turquoise as 

the sea from which it takes its name, 

fragrant and bitter with fennel seeds 

and wild Cretan dittany. 

Still, for first-timers, Sourmpatis 

recommends the Mediterranean 

Gimlet. “We clarify tomato juice, 

slice cucumber, olives, onions and 

peppers, cook them sous-vide with 

sugar to get all the flavours, and then 

© THE CLUMSIES

“If you have the right story and 

a deep knowledge about what 

you do, it’s easier. The music, 

the drinks, the ambience, decor, 

everything has a story to tell” 

add gin,” Sourmpatis explains. The 

glass is dusted with sourdough, with 

a drizzle of olive oil as the finishing 

touch. The result? A startlingly 

accurate facsimile of a horiatiki 

Greek salad: refreshing, vegetal and 

so similar you could almost convince 

yourself that it’s one of your five-aday 

fruit and veggie portions. 

But there’s another drink that’s 

everywhere in Greece these days – 

that perennially popular summery 

mix of tequila, grapefruit and soda, 

the paloma. Stelios Papadopoulos, a 

former sailor who travelled the world 

on cargo ships before dedicating 

himself to bartending full-time, calls 

the current trend “Greece’s pink 

rush”. Papadopoulos opened the 

bijou Barro Negro, named after the 

traditional black clay vessels used to 

store mescal, in 2019, with the rather 

tongue-in-cheek aim of making it the 

“Paloma embassy of the world”. 

But while the paloma may be the 

biggest seller here, Papadopoulos 

is focused on making the “perfect 

margarita”, even developing his own 

Med Liqueur as a gentler and uniquely 

Greek alternative to the more 

alcoholic triple sec, created not out of 

curiosity, he says, but from necessity. 

Made with Greek oranges, 

grapefruit from Crete and mastiha, a 

fragrant, pine-scented liqueur derived 

from the resin of mastic trees that 

grow on the island of Chios, Med 

may seem like an odd addition to a 

margarita, but it works. Used instead 

of triple sec, the result is a fresher, 

lighter, less alcoholic drink, the kind 

that Papadopoulos says you can drink 

any time of the day. And his customers 

do. Open from 10am, this is the kind 

of place where a cheeky paloma 

or margarita feels like a sensible 

lunchtime option. 

A short walk away, in the narrow 

Klitiou Street, the clink and clank 

of cocktail shakers reverberate off 

the walls. Thanos Prunarus, another 

pioneer of the Athens bar scene, 

opened Baba Au Rum here in 2009, 

a place that continues to be an 

inspiration to the many bars that have 

followed since. 

“I didn’t want to open a bar just 

because I’m a bartender,” he says. 

“I wanted to create a bar that would 

focus on fine drinking, exploring 

FROM TOP: STUDIO SKIGO, GIORGOS STATHEAS 

The lively scene at Baba Au Rum; above: the Taco Margarita – a heady blend of tequila, coriander, jalapeños, tomato water, morita and 

corn salt, at the outdoor-only The Bar in Front of the Bar 

DEPARTURES 

25

26 DEPARTURES TRAVEL FRESH EYES ON GREECE 

20th-century cocktail history and 

presenting it to Athenians.” At the 

time of opening, drinks had typically 

taken a back seat to the music and 

ambience in the Greek capital’s bars, 

and with the arrival of Baba Au Rum, 

Prunarus switched the focus. It also 

allowed him to take his customers on 

a journey into the unfamiliar. “Most 

people consider rum to be a tropical 

drink, and that created a happy 

atmosphere that they brought with 

them. It felt like a vacation, and that 

gave us the opportunity to take them 

wherever we wanted,” he muses. 

There’s an irresistible sense of fun at 

Baba Au Rum, with bartenders making 

cocktails beneath spotlights on a 

long wooden counter, and red-toned 

decor staying just on the right side of 

tropical, without falling for tiki-bar 

clichés. And there’s a literary quality 

to the cocktail descriptions, presented 

in a handsome book. Devil’s Milk is 

described as a “scandalous potion”, 

both “luscious and lustful”. Glass Tears 

has a “crystalline suaveness”, made 

with a distillation of leaves from the 

bitter orange trees that line Athens’s 

streets. Drink coasters entreat guests 

to “Save the night, support nice bars”. 

In the tradition of the ancient Greek 

bards, it feels like everyone in Athens 

has a story to tell, and Prunarus is no 

exception. “If you don’t know why 

you’re doing something, you can’t 

persuade people to come along and 

join you,” he says. “If you have the 

right story and a deep knowledge 

about what you do, it’s easier. The 

music we play, the drinks we make, 

the ambience, decor, everything has a 

story to tell.” 

But he also feels that bars have a 

more important role to play in the 

city that goes beyond merely offering 

drinks and fun. “A bar is a place 

where people gather in the best times 

and the hardest times to see what’s 

happening in society and to exchange 

ideas,” Prunarus says. “For me, this 

is very important. It’s not just about 

business, it’s about something much 

more romantic.” 

Left: set in an 

erstwhile art 

gallery, the 

Line bar oozes 

industrial chic; 

right: a stellar 

view of the 

Acropolis from 

The Dolli’s 78sq m 

Acropolis Pieda-Terre 

FROM LEFT: © LINE BAR, HEINZ TROLL, RUPERT PEACE, DIMITRIOS POUPALOS

From left: 

wandering 

Athens’s buzzy 

lanes; inside 

the Monument 

Hotel, in 

a revived 

neoclassical 

building 

The Athens Shortlist 

WHERE TO STAY 

The Dolli’s rooftop pool reflects the Acropolis and Parthenon so perfectly 

that it’s like looking at a mirror. Located on a busy street in the heart of 

the city, the high-ceilinged rooms and suites are soothing retreats from 

the hubbub outside, elegantly minimalist and with Acropolis views from 

some of the beds, thedolli.com. In the graffiti-scrawled neighbourhood 

of Psyri, a place with a lot more charm than first impressions imply, the 

nine-room Monument Hotel Athens is housed in an elegant residence 

dating back to the 1880s. Hand-painted ceilings, Scandinavian furniture 

and statement lighting combine in a harmonious mix, and a small 

subterranean spa sits beneath the lounge with a sauna and excellent 

massages, monumenthotelathens.com. Down on the Athens Riviera, the 

new One&Only Aesthesis brings mid-century-inspired glamour and sleek 

villas to a swath of sand and protected pine woodland. It’s close enough to 

the city that you can wander ancient heritage sites by day and be back on 

the beach in time for sundowners, oneandonlyresorts.com 

WHERE TO EAT 

Chef Tasos Mantis’s Soil dazzles diners with 14- to 15-course tasting 

menus rooted in a genuine farm-to-table ethos, with many ingredients 

coming from the chef’s own garden, which he tends with his father, 

soilrestaurant.gr. Recently opened Ex Machina also has a focus on 

responsibly sourced produce, right down to the “sustainability loop”: 

the kitchen buys eggs and chicken from a farm in Messinia and, in turn, 

the farm uses the restaurant’s waste vegetable scraps as animal feed, 

exmachinagreece.com. Located next to the Monument Hotel, Linou 

Soumpasis k sia is an always-packed and highly convivial spot where 

tables spill out onto the pavement and you’ll need to tuck in your elbows 

every time a taxi drives past. Don’t miss the hearty kakavia fish soup 

and – if you’re there in the very short season when they’re on the menu – 

tempura-fried golden thistles, @lsandsia 

WHERE TO DRINK 

The Clumsies boasts seasonal Greek ingredients and a creative 

bartending team that draws Athenians, international cocktail lovers 

and night owls, theclumsies.gr. A pioneer of Athens’s bar scene, Baba 

Au Rum offers an intoxicating tropical vibe and an education in rum, 

babaaurum.com. A small, friendly hole-in-the-wall establishment, Barro 

Negro is home to some of the city’s best margaritas and palomas, along 

with 300 agave spirit labels, barronegroathens.com. Alexander’s Bar 

serves well-made classic cocktails in an elegant setting off the lobby of 

Athens’s original grande dame, the 150-year-old Hotel Grande Bretagne, 

marriott.com. Tucked away in a former industrial space in a residential 

neighbourhood, Line, The Clumsies’ sister bar, focuses on fermentation 

and currently sits at 12 on the World’s 50 Best, lineathens.gr. The Bar 

in Front of the Bar is an outdoor streetside bar counter that draws a 

vivacious crowd with a small cocktail menu that changes every day, 

@the.bar.in.front.of.the.bar 

DEPARTURES 

27

28 DEPARTURES TRAVEL FRESH EYES ON GREECE 

Island Hopping 2.0 

ARRIVING IN THE closest of the 

Cyclades islands to Athens this May 

is the new One&Only Kéa Island 

(oneandonlyeresorts.com). The c130sq 

km isle, known locally as Tzia, is 

a 30-minute boat or 15-minute 

helicopter transfer from the Greek 

capital. It will also be connected 

by direct speedboat to the recently 

opened One&Only Aesthesis on the 

Athenian Riviera. Perched above a 

rugged stretch of coastline, the new 

resort’s 63 cliffside villas all have 

private pools. Historic wreck dives 

and protected marine parks lie just 

offshore, and ancient ruins are a hike 

or bike ride away. 

On Santorini, the views over 

Ammoudi Bay from the just-opened 

adults-only Santo Mine Oia Suites 

Top, from left: 

an oceanview 

lounge 

at One&Only 

Kéa Island; the 

infinity pool 

of a threebedroom 

villa 

at Folegandros’s 

Gundari; below: 

an alfresco 

kitchen at 

Crete’s reborn 

Phāea Blue 

Palace 

Greece’s most beautiful – 

and lesser-known – islands are 

welcoming spectacular new 

properties this year. Here’s a look 

at some of our favourites. 

(santocollection.gr) are dazzling. All 37 suites come 

with a private pool or jacuzzi (one has both), and the 

sunsets from the property’s dramatic cliffside setting are 

spectacular. The resort is just a short walk from the centre 

of the island’s most popular village, Oia, yet far enough 

away to feel calm and secluded. 

Over on Tinos, just a 20-minute boat ride from 

Mykonos, the pace of life couldn’t be more different from 

that of its party-hard neighbour. Sitting on the edge of a 

peaceful bay, the new 77-room Odera Tinos (oderatinos. 

com) celebrates the traditions, crafts and artisanal work 

of the island, featuring Tinian stonework and menus 

centred on local ingredients and produce. 

And wild, craggy Folegandros sees the arrival of 

Gundari (gundari.com) this May, with 27 bio-climatically 

designed suites and villas. Spa treatments will be based 

on wild-harvested local herbs, and the resort will offer 

e-bike tours and hikes along ancient trails. 

Over in the Dodecanese islands, Patmos Aktis 

(patmosaktis.gr) will reopen after a major renovation as 

a Luxury Collection hotel. Originally built in the 1960s, 

the property has been a favourite of Greek travellers 

for decades, with a spectacular location on the tranquil 

Grikos Bay. 

Meanwhile, on Crete, the family-run Blue Palace 

is being reborn in May as the Phāea Blue Palace 

( bluepalace.gr), downsizing from more than 250 rooms to 

just 47 bungalows and suites (the remainder of the original 

resort will open as Rosewood Blue Palace in 2025). The onsite 

organic garden is the venue for field-to-table cooking 

classes, the Blue Door Taverna is a former fisherman’s 

stone house serving fresh Cretan seafood right by the 

water, and the resort’s traditional caique fishing boat is on 

hand for cruises around the Mirabello Gulf. – NC 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: RUPERT PEACE, © GUNDARI, © PHAEA BLUE PALACE

THE EMPEROR PENGUINS 

OF THE WEDDELL SEA 

Embark on an unparalleled Antarctic expedition aboard Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s only luxury icebreaker, 

from the storied Drake Passage into the almost inaccessible Weddell Sea. 

Explore at leisure with a maximum of just 200 guests and experience the thrill of discovery and once-in-a-lifetime 

encounters, as you enter the kingdom of the majestic emperor penguin. 

Including an overnight stay in Santiago and seamless return transfers and flights to Ushuaia, every detail is meticulously 

curated for your convenience on this extraordinary itinerary. Join PONANT for an unforgettable Antarctic voyage, 

where the promise of new encounters and breathtaking landscapes await at every turn. 

14-day Antarctica Expedition | Santiago to Santiago 

Departs 30 October, 11 & 23 November 2025 aboard Le Commandant Charcot 

Includes 12-night expedition, overnight in Santiago, return flights and transfers* 

PLEASE CALL YOUR PLATINUM TRAVEL SERVICE ON 1800 673 760 

*Full terms and conditions apply, refer to au.ponant.com. ABN: 35 166 676 517. Photographs: © Studio PONANT - Nick Rains, Laure Patricot - Adobe Stock.

Go beyond boundaries where there are no paths, only rare opportunities to travel deeper into little-explored lands in seamless 

comfort and enjoy the highest standards in expedition cruising without sacrificing all-inclusive value. Discover the timeless 

Kimberley Coast and explore some of the most remote regions of Australia with Silversea. Our curated 10- to 17-day itineraries 

will defy conventional experiences and offer incredible opportunities to uncover complex landscapes, uncharted rivers, and 

ancient indigenous art. With more experts per guest than anyone else in the industry, and one Zodiac® for every ten travellers, 

your Kimberley experience is the most immersive it can be. 

*Terms and Conditions apply: Fares and itineraries vary by sail date. All fares shown are in AUD, per person, twin share, in lowest available suite category. Offers are valid for new individual bookings made during promotional 

period and may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Promotional air offer is only available to the first and second full-fare guests in a suite. Valid for select gateways to guests from Australia and New Zealand only. All 

fares, savings, offers, itineraries, and programs are subject to change without notice. Voyage highlights, excursions, and enrichment programs are subject to change and/or cancellation without prior notice. All information 

contained herein is accurate and in effect as of 6 February 2024. Silversea reserves the right to correct any errors and omissions and to cancel any offered product or service in the event of such error or omission. Additional 

restrictions may apply. For complete terms and conditions and promotional period date visit silversea.com or call your Platinum Travel Service on 1800 673 760 (Australia), or 0800 377 421 (New Zealand).

KIMBERLEY 

EARTH 

BEFORE TIME. 

LET US TAKE YOU CLOSER TO 

UNCHARTED BEAUTY 

AMERICAN EXPRESS PLATINUM MEMBERS EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS * 

including 

US$300 per suite shipboard credit + Premium bottle of Champagne + Behind the scenes ship experiences 

Ask about Silversea's Venetian Society and Referral program benefits. 

For more information on Silversea’s all-inclusive luxury voyages, please call your 

Platinum Travel Service on 1800 673 760 (Australia), or 0800 377 421 (New Zealand).

DEPARTURES TRAVEL SHIP TALK 

32 

A Voyage to Remember 

THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED NEW cruise 

enterprise Explora Journeys is on 

course to become a yardstick of 

excellence. Its vision is bold: a fleet of 

six, 922-guest vessels will debut over 

the next four years, each one defining 

the quintessence of modern European 

ocean travel for a new generation of 

discerning travellers. 

The first of these ships, Explora I, 

is at the apex of urbane architecture 

and debonair design, thanks to 

veteran British yacht designer Martin 

Francis who has conceived each ship’s 

aquiline profile to evoke a superyacht 

rather than a traditional cruise ship. 

The ambience of a grand 

cosmopolitan hotel augmented with a 

modern residential vibe engulfs guests 

when they embark into the lobby. This 

two-deck-high space, bathed in light 

from Lasvit chandeliers, has a striking 

illuminated onyx tower displaying 

fine pieces of art and bottles of 

spirits. There are four retail outlets 

showcasing fabulous timepieces 

and jewellery from Cartier, Panerai, 

Piaget and Rolex. One deck above 

is the Galeria d’Arte with exhibits, 

including the Instagrammable British 

Library by Yinka Shonibare CBE. 

The ship melds a 21st-century verve 

with a glamorous leitmotif, nowhere 

more so than in the Journeys Lounge, 

which features individual seats and 

tables with bar service from a team 

of hosts. A semicircular thrust stage 

offers an up-close and personal 

The Explora I sails 

alongside the rugged 

Greenland coastline 

The firmament of ultra-luxe cruising boasts a shining 

new star, the Explora I, set to sail the seven seas in 

the coming years. by Gary Buchanan 

environment for guests enjoying 

after-dinner cabaret shows rather 

than kitsch Broadway revues. 

The luminous Explora Lounge is 

an essay in mellow cosiness. A pianist 

or singer accompanies afternoon teas 

and cocktails. Close by is the Whisky 

Bar, where bartenders entertain the 

crowd, while the adjacent Humidor, 

with plush leather seats and rich 

wood panelling, is a perfect place to 

indulge in a Monte Cristo cigar and a 

rare single malt. The Astern Lounge, 

with a resident jazz band, is another 

late-night haunt, and there’s also a 

casino with two blackjack tables, a 

roulette table and slot machines. 

The panoramic Sky Bar is ideal for 

outdoor cocktails, while the secluded 

MARCO LEITER

Explora I’s svelte 

Journeys Lounge 

adults-only Helios Bar is also a 

popular hangout for a sundowner as 

the ship sets sail. The Astern Pool Bar 

and Atoll Bar offer a chilled mood 

throughout the day. 

The sweeping outdoor decks 

enhance the yacht-like karma. There 

are four heated swimming pools, 

64 private cabanas, four infinity 

whirlpools and a hot tub. The 

splendid infinity-edge Astern Pool 

overlooks the ship’s wake, and there 

are plush daybeds beside the Atoll 

Pool. Equally tempting is the warm 

Helios pool, or the Conservatory Pool 

with a retractable roof, on a par with a 

sassy leisure club. 

The Ocean Wellness Spa boasts 

a hydrotherapy pool and thermal 

suite with a Himalayan salt room, 

Finnish sauna and rainforest 

shower. Holistic therapies, including 

massages and facials such as the 

“Medi-Luxe Experience by Dr Levy 

Switzerland”, are the alpha and omega 

of revitalisation. The Ocean Wellness 

Fitness Centre comes with highperformance 

Technogym equipment. 

There’s cardio and strength training 

apparatus, including an elliptical Artis 

Synchro and two Pilates reformers. 

Gourmands are in their element 

aboard Explora I, which is at the 

vanguard of culinary sophistication 

at sea. It speaks volumes that the 

ship has 129 chefs (about one chef for 

every seven guests); this is by far the 

highest ratio in the cruise industry. 

Head of culinary, French master chef 

Franck Garanger, boasts that he has 

the highest budget for food in the 

business, enabling his corps of chefs 

to infuse fine dining with more than a 

soupçon of fervour. 

The ship’s culinary virtuosity is 

on display at each of the five à la 

carte restaurants. Fil Rouge is an 

immaculate room where the menu 

unveils an extensive repertoire of 

Gallic fine dining; Med Yacht Club 

offers specialities of France, Italy, 

Spain and Greece in surroundings 

that wouldn’t look out of place in a 

chic riviera bistro. 

Inspired by the tearooms of Kyoto, 

Sakura is the go-to option for Japanese, 

Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese 

specialities. The congenial Marble & 

Co Grill offers a range of exceptional, 

sustainably farmed cuts. The succulent 

grilled prime rib is sourced from the 

French Jersiaise breed; short-loin cuts 

of beef from Germany and Sweden 

pack plenty of flavour. 

Emporium Marketplace has a 

wow factor all of its own. Guests 

can choose from a dizzying array 

of cuisines prepared à la minute. 

FROM TOP: IVAN SARFATTI, © THE RITZ-CARLTON YACHT COLLECTION, © CUNARD 

Setting Sail 

A quintet of much-anticipated new 

vessels plying the seven seas this year. 

From top: on deck of the forthcoming Ilma; 

inside Queen Anne’s Grand Suite 

The history of the Cunard 

Line is an allegory of the 

evolution of cruising. Another 

chapter will be added in June 

when the 3,000-passenger 

Queen Anne (cunard.com) 

graces the world’s oceans. 

This noble liner conjures 

up glamour for voyagers 

seeking a retrospective into 

the realm of Downton Abbey. 

Flaunting a more new-age 

vibe, Silversea’s Silver Ray 

(silversea.com) will join her 

sister ship Silver Nova as 

one of the most sustainable 

ultra-luxury cruise vessels 

at sea when she takes a bow 

next year. Full to the gunwales 

with finesse, this seagoing 

sophisticate, with eight 

signature restaurants, offers 

728 guests a level of pampering 

long vanquished from five-star 

hotels. Around the same time, 

another paragon of the Explora 

Journeys (explorajourneys. 

com) fleet will debut. The 

922-guest Explora II will 

undoubtedly blaze a similar 

trail to her much-lauded scion 

that’s been a pacesetter in the 

race for perfection. Another 

siren of the seas launching this 

September is Ritz-Carlton 

Yacht Collection’s 448-guest 

Ilma (ritzcarltonyachtcollection. 

com), a bijou sanctum that 

personifies stealth wealth. 

Excitement is already building 

in anticipation of the arrival 

of Oceania’s 1,200-guest 

Allura (oceaniacruises.com) 

in June 2025. Considered the 

world’s leading culinary and 

destination-focused cruise 

line, Oceania ships are a 

gourmand’s seaborne nirvana. 

DEPARTURES 

33

DEPARTURES TRAVEL SHIP TALK 

34 

There’s a boulangerie, fromagerie and 

pâtisserie as well as places to enjoy 

charcuterie and fresh pasta, not to 

mention grilled, roasted and slowcooked 

meats. 

A recherché haven for just 70 guests, 

Anthology showcases the cooking 

talents of a continuum of famed 

culinary titans who take up guest 

spots to create outstanding tasting 

menus. One partner is chef célèbre 

Mauro Uliassi, who gained three 

Michelin stars at his restaurant in 

Senigallia, Italy. Another collaborator 

is Emma Bengtsson, executive chef at 

the two-Michelin-star Aquavit in New 

York City, acclaimed for her creative 

interpretations of classic dishes and 

seasonal Nordic cuisine. 

Creatively styled and displaying 

a suave elan, the 461 Ocean Terrace 

Suites, Penthouses, Residences 

Fresh Ports of Call 

From left: Explora I’s lobby under the soft 

glow of a Lasvit chandelier; the generous 

terrace of a Cocoon Residence 

and Owner’s Residence all have a 

spacious veranda with daybeds and 

an alfresco dining area. The 35sq 

m Ocean Terrace Suites are among 

the largest entry-level suites at 

sea. Connecting suites are ideal for 

multigenerational groups: there are 

accessible Ocean Terrace Suites and 

a Grand Penthouse. The cloud-like 

Flexform beds have high-threadcount 

Frette linens. There’s a mini 

fridge stocked with a selection of 

wines or spirits on request, and 

an Illy coffee machine, kettle and 

teapot for speciality infusions. 

Penthouse Suites and Residences 

have a Technogym Case Kit for 

working out in private. Bathrooms 

The sun sets on Australia’s rugged Kimberley coast, a destination on Seabourn 

Pursuit’s itinerary 

Experiencing northern 

Europe’s white 

nights, beholding 

the mesmerising 

tapestry that is India, or 

discovering the vibrant 

metropolis of Hong 

Kong, are just some 

highlights of Crystal’s 

roster of five “Grand 

Journeys” in 2025 

(crystalcruises.com). 

These in-depth cruises, 

lasting 40 to 70 nights, 

with underfloor heating have walk-in 

rainforest showers. 

With 16,600 square metres of 

public space across 11 passenger 

decks, Explora I has one of the 

highest passenger-to-space ratios 

in the luxury ocean category at 69.3 

GRT per passenger. This vessel 

also boasts an impressive 1:1.25 

crew-to-guest ratio. Cruises are allinclusive, 

encompassing five of the 

six restaurants (€190 supplement 

for Anthology), alcoholic beverages, 

gratuities and wi-fi. 

This style-setter is winning plaudits 

from a burgeoning coterie of travellers 

savouring life aboard a peerless hotel 

on the high seas. explorajourneys.com 

From Antarctica to Australia’s undiscovered 

Kimberley coastline, a look at the most 

fascinating new cruise destinations for 2024. 

feature inimitable land 

experiences in some 

of the world’s most 

beguiling destinations. 

The 606-guest 

Crystal Symphony 

and 740-guest Crystal 

Serenity are ushering 

in a new gilded era of 

all-inclusive cruising. 

Windstar’s cross 

between a tycoon’s 

yacht and a small 

cruise ship, the four- 

FROM TOP: IVAN SARFATTI (2), © TOURISM WESTERN AUSTRALIA

IAN SCHEMPER 

masted Wind Star 

(windstarcruises.com) 

will spend a winter 

season in the Canary 

Islands from December 

2025. The sleek, 

148-guest sailing ship 

offers 10-day “Canary 

Islands Idyll” itineraries 

round-trip from Santa 

Cruz de Tenerife, calling 

at La Gomera, La Palma, 

Madeira, Lanzarote 

and Las Palmas de 

Gran Canaria. With 

a similar high-style 

quotient, SeaDream 

(seadream.com) has 

announced new 10- 

and 11-day Caribbean 

voyages for 2026. 

The company, whose 

tagline is “It’s yachting, 

not cruising”, operates 

two dapper 112-guest 

yachts that venture to 

off-the-beaten-track 

anchorages. The sailings 

include overnights 

in the sublime Gallic 

outpost of St Barths, 

shabby-chic Bequia in 

the Grenadines, and the 

quaint retreat of Îles des 

Saintes, Guadeloupe. 

Other highlights are the 

Tobago Cays’ National 

Marine Park, a dinner 

soirée at the Carambola 

Beach Club in St Kitts, 

as well as SeaDream’s 

signature “Champagne 

and Caviar Splash” on a 

powder-soft Antillean 

beach. From June to 

August, Seabourn’s 

264-guest Seabourn 

Pursuit (seabourn.com) 

will offer six 10-day 

Australian voyages 

between Broome and 

Darwin. Not to be missed 

is the Aboriginal culture 

which dates back 50,000 

years in the Kimberley 

region, and visits to 

remote settings such as 

the Bungle Bungles, El 

Questro National Park 

and Ord River. A highlight 

will be a helicopter 

flight over the Hunter 

River and the Kimberley, 

en route to the tiered 

falls of the spectacular 

Mitchell River 

National Park. In July, 

National Geographic 

Expeditions’ National 

Geographic Endurance 

(nationalgeographic. 

com) will retrace the 

voyages of Vikings 

through Iceland’s wild 

Westfjords region and 

Northeast Greenland 

National Park, the 

largest national park 

on the planet. The 138 

guests can venture by 

Zodiac and kayak into 

Scoresbysund, the 

world’s longest fjord 

system. In this stunning 

coastal landscape of 

soaring peaks, vibrant 

blue seas, and iridescent 

icebergs, there will 

be close encounters 

with polar bears, 

walruses, musk oxen 

and Arctic foxes. In 

the other hemisphere, 

Quark Expeditions’ 

138-passenger Polar 

expedition ship, 

Ocean Explorer 

(quarkexpeditions.com) 

will be in Antarctica for 

the 2024/2025 season. 

With its X-Bow design, 

this state-of-the-art 

vessel elevates the 

experiential quotient 

with thrilling off-ship 

adventures. Autumnal 

splendour will be on 

display for 184 guests 

aboard Ponant’s Le 

Bellot (ponant.com) 

during a cruise from 

Toronto in October. 

Having crossed the 

shimmering waters 

of Lake Ontario, 

there’s a navigation 

of the ingenious St 

Lawrence Seaway. 

The ship calls at 

Montreal and Québec 

before entering the 

Saguenay Fjord, a 

refuge for marine 

mammals. At the Mingan 

Archipelago, giant 

limestone formations 

erupt from the sea, 

while nature’s riot of 

colour offers a stunning 

backdrop as the ship 

cruises the coast of 

Nova Scotia before 

dropping anchor at the 

19th-century maritime 

outpost of Portland. The 

voyage concludes at the 

epicentre of American 

history, Boston. 

River Revels 

A handful of exceptionally scenic rivercruise 

itineraries for the year ahead. 

Exploring the ribbon of liquid history that is the 

Rhine, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ new 

whip-smart 110-guest Victoria and Elisabeth 

(uniworld.com) will inaugurate sailings in 2024 

and 2025 respectively. Both vessels vaunt some 

of the largest suites on European rivers. Their 

on-trend design exudes a velvet touch of luxury. 

Also journeying along the timeless Rhine between 

Amsterdam and Nuremberg is Riverside Cruises’ 

Riverside Debussy (riverside-cruises.com). With 

its genteel, eye-catching design, this 110-guest 

vessel is a perfect halcyon from which to view 

the hypnotic river. Stateside, American Legend 

joins the roll-call of four coastal catamarans 

specifically constructed for American Cruise 

Lines (americancruiselines.com). This 100-guest 

vessel will sail on the “American Revolution” 

itinerary along Chesapeake Bay, as well as 

the “Florida Gulf Coast & Keys” departures. 

Abercrombie & Kent (abercrombiekent.com) 

has expanded its portfolio in the Galápagos 

archipelago with its partner, Ecoventura. The 

company recently added the 20-guest Evolve 

(ecoventura.com), its third expedition motor 

yacht. These floating boutique hotels are the 

only Galápagos vessels accredited by Relais 

& Châteaux. In Egypt, Abercrombie & Kent’s 

fifth riverboat on the Nile will sail this ancient 

waterway from late 2025. The 64 guests will revel 

in some of the largest and most sumptuous suites 

on the river. There will be an indoor and outdoor 

restaurant and a sun deck with a swimming pool. 

Above, from top: the Riverside Debussy navigates 

the Mosel river in Germany; inside one of Uniworld’s 

Royal suites 

DEPARTURES 

35

SE359.3

when you unlock the world 

with a single suite key. 

Open the door to the incomparable 

value of all-inclusive, ultra-luxury 

cruising on Seabourn. You’ll feel right 

at home in our intimate, yacht-like 

atmosphere, pampered by intuitive, 

personalised service. Ensconced in 

your spacious ocean-front suite, you 

can explore all seven continents, 

savour gourmet dining that rivals the 

finest restaurants in the world and 

enjoy complimentary premium wines 

and spirits. All with the added benefit 

that you only have to unpack once. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, 

PLEASE CALL YOUR PLATINUM 

TRAVEL SERVICE ON 

1800 673 760 (AUSTRALIA), OR 

0800 377 421 (NEW ZEALAND). 

T&Cs Apply. 

All-inclusive | Ultra-Luxury Cruises & Expeditions | Intuitive Personalized Service

38 DEPARTURES TRAVEL HOT TABLE 

THE MOUNTAINS AND valleys of South Tyrol have long 

attracted travellers keen to enjoy its postcard-perfect 

outdoors. But the storied region has more to offer than 

just physical beauty, as Michelin-starred chef Norbert 

Niederkofler – who has taken this land’s incredible bounty 

and enticed people indoors to savour its flavours – is out to 

prove. At his latest foray into fine dining, Atelier Moessmer 

in the Alpine town of Bruneck, patrons can enjoy the fruits 

of his “Cook the Mountain” philosophy based on creative 

dishes drawn from local, seasonal ingredients (think Eisack 

Valley lamb cooked in spruce embers or beetroot gnocchi). 

A native of Valle Aurina, close to the Austrian border, 

Italy’s Niederkofler achieved fame in the kitchen of St 

Hubertus at the Rosa Alpina hotel, where, in 2017, he 

attained the coveted three-star Michelin rating. This 

accomplishment was paired with a green Michelin star to 

recognise his commitment to sustainable efforts to find 

food from his beloved Alps (gone were dishes prepared 

with wagyu beef, foie gras or gratuitous dollops of caviar). 

“People come here for the unique scenery of the Dolomites. 

They should expect something unique on the plate, too,” 

he explains. 

At Atelier Moessmer, which opened last year and 

already holds three Michelin stars, Niederkofler has the 

added benefit of being open year-round (the now-closed 

Natural Selection 

Drawing on fresh, local ingredients 

sourced from his perch deep within 

the South Tyrolean Alps, an innovative 

chef is letting nature call the shots. 

by Ivan Carvalho 

St Hubertus was a classic summer and winter Alpine 

destination for gourmands). Guests are welcomed inside 

a cosy, yet contemporary dining room set within a 19thcentury 

manor house part of the Moessmer textile mill, a 

supplier of premium wool fabric to major fashion houses 

such as Gucci. 

His menu continues to look to what nature has close 

by and what is grown without the aid of greenhouses – 

grape-seed oil replaces olive oil and winter sees staff rely 

on pickling, be it radishes, fennel bulbs, lacto-fermented 

carrots or even spruce tips. There is no sous-vide cooking, 

so expect venison to be prepared over an open fire. 

Niederkofler adds: “For me, it’s about going back to one’s 

roots.” ateliernorbertniederkofler.com 

Left: the chef’s 

famous mountainherb 

salad served 

with green-tomato 

dressing and 

grilled focacella 

bread; top, from 

left: the elegant 

dining room, set 

in a repurposed 

manor; multiaward-winning 

chef Niederkofler 

FROM TOP: LUCA DALGE, LORENZO POLATO, LUCA DALGE

EN / ES / DE / ZH / JP 

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DEPARTURES TRAVEL PURE SHORES 

40 

Lost in Palau 

Hidden away deep within the Pacific Ocean, the 

jewel-box islands of this archipelagic nation are 

difficult to reach – which is precisely its allure. 

A catamaran voyage across this remote territory 

proves wonderfully eye-opening. by Lee Cobaj 

SO REMOTE IS Palau that European explorers didn’t visit the country until 1710, nearly 

200 years after Magellan mapped the Pacific Ocean – and even then, it was only stumbled 

upon as the result of a shipwreck that eventually led Jesuit missionaries to the islands’ 

shores. While Palau might not be quite as difficult to pinpoint now, it still takes effort 

to reach this verdant corner of the western Pacific Ocean; just two airlines offer regular 

scheduled flights to the country’s commercial hub and former capital, Koror: United 

Airlines via Manila and Guam; and Taiwan’s China Airlines out of Taipei. 

In our easily traversed, hyperconnected world, it’s this remoteness that gives Palau much 

of its appeal – something in which Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has had the foresight 

to invest, becoming the first true luxury brand to enter the Micronesian market. After 

KEN SEET

Clockwise from left: 

the Badrulchau stone 

monoliths, which date back to 

c161; yoga by the Ngardmau 

Waterfall – the tallest of its 

kind in Micronesia; snorkelling 

the sealife-rich waters around 

Palau’s islands; traditional 

Palauan dancers; opposite 

page: the Explorer navigates a 

maze of bejungled islets 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SUZUKI KAKU / ALAMY, KEN SEET, © FOUR SEASONS, KEN SEET 

nearly 20 years crisscrossing the Maldives, this is where I 

meet the relocated Four Seasons Explorer, a luxurious 39m 

double-hull catamaran, with 10 staterooms, one Explorer 

Suite and a staff of 25, including globetrotting chef Abhay 

Singh, who has previously cooked for celebrities such as 

Beyoncé and Jay-Z during his time at Four Seasons Voavah 

Private Island in the Maldives. 

The gourmet cuisine is interspersed between one-ofa-kind 

adventures, as the Explorer makes its way across 

the length and breadth of this extraordinarily beautiful 

country, made up of about 340 squiggly palm-painted 

islands and a vast network of coral reefs. One day, we 

find ourselves swimming with an estimated one million 

(harmless) jellyfish in Ongeim’l Tketau lake – a surprisingly 

meditative experience. Another outing takes us to the 

Badrulchau stone monoliths, an ancient collection of 

basalt standing stones carved with crude faces staring out 

across panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. There is also 

a trip to the highly informative Belau National Museum, 

and a tour around the island of Peleliu, the site of one of 

the most ferocious battles of the Second World War. 

“It feels like tourism is moving in the right direction, 

especially with groups like the Four Seasons coming here,” 

says proud Palauan historian Charles “Des” Matsutaro as 

we appraise the carcass of a 1944 Japanese Betty Bomber 

aircraft woven with tropical greenery. “Hopefully, that 

will open up possibilities for other high-end companies to 

come out here to Palau.” Matsutaro’s distinctly American 

accent and Japanese heritage speak to Palau’s complex 

history. Nearly two centuries of colonial rule followed the 

arrival of those early Jesuit missionaries, with the islands 

first stolen by Spain, then sold to Germany, annexed by 

Japan, later forming a part of the US-administered Trust 

Territory of the Pacific Islands before finally gaining 

independence in 1994. 

Onboard the Explorer, we experience a far more 

peaceful existence than Palau’s history might suggest. 

With 80% of the territory’s waters designated as a national 

marine reserve – which includes the world’s first shark 

sanctuary – its underwater world is a vision. Along with all 

meals and most excursions, diving and snorkelling trips are 

included in the Explorer’s US$3,000-a-night rate. Across 

seven days, I barely see any signs of the coral bleaching 

so common in other destinations nowadays. Instead, I’m 

greeted with bright bouquets of cabbage corals appearing 

like giant rose petals cascading all the way down to the sea 

bed, sea turtles navigating through great fields of lavendercoloured 

staghorn ferns, and hypnotic murmurations of a 

canary-yellow blueline snapper. 

Mornings arrive in vivid technicolour. Night brings 

velvety black skies filled with shining stars. We’re not 

just sailing, we’re moving through the works of Louis 

Stevenson and Melville, Maugham and Michener, Gauguin 

and Matisse. It may be an effort to reach Palau, but in 

this far-flung land, every moment feels like a discovery. 

fourseasons.com 

DEPARTURES 

41

PROMOTION 

RAFFLES SINGAPORE 

A legendary welcome at a landmark destination 

RAFFLES SINGAPORE is one of the few remaining great 

19th-century hotels in the world, perfectly preserved 

both inside and out, giving it an intoxicating blend of 

luxury, history and classic colonial design. Its distinctive 

architecture, legendary heritage and iconic service 

continue to enthrall visitors where suites, social spaces, 

restaurants and bars have been specially curated for 

discerning travellers. No visit to Singapore is complete 

without a stay here, where the grand historic hotel exudes 

old-world grandeur infused with the unique charm of the 

city state. 

Guests can experience the modern comfort and 

amenities presented within 115 luxuriously spacious 

suites complemented by our legendary 24-hour Raffles 

Butler Service and a heritage tour of the property by our 

resident historian. Nine restaurants and bars present 

both local favourites, fine dining and collaborations 

with internationally renowned chefs and curated 

classics such as the iconic Singapore Sling experience 

and signature Raffles Afternoon Tea amid the colonial 

charm of the historic Grand Lobby. 

A rooftop swimming pool and state-of-the-art fitness 

centre provide a respite from the hustle and bustle of the 

city while the Raffles Spa is a holistic sanctuary offering 

pampering spa experiences and renewed well-being. 

Guests are also invited to visit the Raffles Boutique to 

shop for gourmet gifts and heritage-inspired souvenirs 

and the Raffles Arcade showcasing an elegant mix of 

new-to-market and world-renowned international 

brands, collectively creating a one-of-a-kind retail 

experience that goes beyond traditional brick and 

mortar shopping. 

1 BEACH ROAD, SINGAPORE 189673, RAFFLESSINGAPORE.COM 

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A BOOKING, PLEASE VISIT TRAVEL.AMERICANEXPRESS.COM.AU

STYLE 

Richard Quinn 

silk taffeta mini 

ballgown with 

ostrich-feather 

trim, oversize bow 

and opera-coat 

effect with train, 

richardquinn.com 

RUNWAY REPORT DEPARTURES 

JEFF SPICER / BFC 

Back to Black At long last, top designers around 

the globe are making a bold return to the dark 

side, says Avril Groom. 

43

44 DEPARTURES STYLE RUNWAY REPORT 

Whistles cotton 

crochet lace sheath 

dress, whistles.com 

ACCORDING TO THE gurus at Pantone, the 

global colour-matching and trend-tracking 

institute, this season we will all be swathed 

in something called Peach Fuzz, which it has 

designated the Color of the Year. 

Well, not so, if you follow fashion designers 

and the catwalk results of their creative 

musings. The colour front and centre of 

collections across the world was something 

literally much darker, and both obvious and 

startling – black. 

It’s obvious because, as those outside the 

industry constantly remind insiders, it’s the 

default design colour – Coco Chanel’s 1926 

unveiling of the little black dress (LBD) is 

still regarded as one of fashion’s greatest 

moments. Even brands like Prada and Miu 

Miu, known for directional colour mixes, are 

featuring black more than usual. It’s startling 

because these are summer collections, for 

which black can seem too sombre. It also 

goes against the recent grain of brilliant, 

Insta-friendly summer shades – probably one 

reason for the volte-face. 

There are many others. The LBD cemented 

black as the epitome of timeless chic in 

contexts from office to ballroom, a principle 

that stands in an era of tightened luxury 

spending, when ephemeral trends are seen 

as unsustainable and which Virginie Viard 

at Chanel now works faultlessly. Later, as an 

antidote to 1980s bling, Paris-based Japanese 

designers like Yohji Yamamoto and Rei 

Kawakubo brought in the eerie yet beautiful 

black layering of “apocalyptic chic”, closely 

followed by the subversion of conventional 

shapes in the deconstructionism of Belgians 

Martin Margiela and Ann Demeulemeester. 

Now, this all resonates in the stark light of 

climate threat and is reflected in experiments 

from new designers like Daniel Roseberry at 

Schiaparelli or Rok Hwang at Rokh. 

Milan designers have their own version 

of black, known as the “Italian widow look” 

and based on sensuality and curves, featuring 

lace and corsetry and exemplified by Dolce 

& Gabbana (inspired by Domenico Dolce’s 

home island of Sicily and old films like the 

1950 Rossellini picture Stromboli – a look at 

which it still excels). It surfaces in the current, 

nostalgic, 1980s-style mob-wife look, which 

adds leopard print and a ton of gold jewellery 

From left: Dior silk dress with full lace skirt embroidered in florals, dior.com; Simone Rocha satin dress with pleats, fold details and 

ribbon trim, simonerocha.com 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: © WHISTLES, BEN BROOMFIELD, © DIOR

Pale shades suggest vintage with black – they were 

originally used under black lace to suggest skin and 

still make a wistfully lovely combination 

Right: Rokh leather 

and canvas geometriccut 

jacket and culottes 

with belt and straps, 

rokh.net; bottom: 

Undercover terrarium 

dress with twisted tulle 

skirt containing live 

flowers and butterflies, 

undercoverism.com 

FROM TOP: © ROKH, © UNDERCOVER 

and is, paradoxically, the easiest way to wear summer black 

if done tastefully (not a contradiction in terms). A simple 

black dress, from tailored chic to full-skirted peasant style, 

with strappy, flat, leopard-print sandals, elegant gold hoop 

earrings and the lightest tan has an effortless sophistication 

that fans of hot colour rarely match. 

Black is also the go-to shade for eveningwear at any 

time of year. The social media takeover of the red carpet 

pushes extreme style but current flesh-flashing, barely 

there, boudoir-ready designs almost always look better 

in black and can dazzle on the right body with the right 

delicate straps, lace and cutouts from the likes of Nensi 

Dojaka, Tove or Mônot, which dial down the dominatrix 

overtones. Other riffs on evening black notably include the 

tuxedo suit, an item which is today gender-free and, as a 

great foil for jewels, looks wonderful on everyone, whether 

worn over nothing but a necklace, some exquisite lingerie 

or a proper shirt. 

That option leads to colours with black – and the few 

that always work. White is the obvious, especially with 

a tuxedo, from romantic stock-neck shirts at Maison 

Margiela (now designed by John Galliano) to firstcommunion 

white lace at Rokh and white silk flowers 

from Irish designer Simone Rocha (who also loves splashes 

of red with black) but equally in the majestic black gowns 

designed by Richard Quinn as a tribute to his late father 

and given added impact by white beaded flowers or a huge 

white bow, or the crisp contrast of long-cuffed white shirts 

under sober jackets and coats or leather bib-front dresses 

at Dior. Graphic, Art Deco-style silk prints at Edward 

Crutchley or the simple impact of Tove’s black jumpsuit 

under a voluminous white coat are no less striking. 

Shades of pale pink, from shell to – yes – Peach Fuzz, 

instantly suggest vintage with black as they were originally 

used under black lace to suggest skin and still make a 

wistfully lovely combination, as Dior’s fragile, embroidered 

dresses or Rocha’s veiled roses show. But of all the new ways 

with black this season, none is more beautiful than the 

final look in the collection by Jun Takahashi (a protégé of 

Kawakubo) for his label Undercover, a delicately decorated 

dress mysteriously veiled in black chiffon with a full, 

short skirt lit from within and containing live flowers and 

butterflies. A literal showstopper – despite some naysayers 

– that captures this spring’s elegiac fashion mood. 

DEPARTURES 45

DEPARTURES STYLE MUST HAVES 

All Eyes on You 

There’s no better way to supercharge an outfit 

than these stylish sunglasses and handbags. 

By Chiyumi Hioki 

Photographs by Noriyuki Koike 

46 

Gucci geometric sunglasses 

with rose-gold-toned (top) and 

yellow-gold-toned frames; 

Jackie Notte mini shoulder bag 

in patent leather, gucci.com

Louis Vuitton lambskin Pico 

GO-14 bag with cowhide 

lining and twist-lock 

closure; GO-14 sunglasses 

in acetate, louisvuitton.com 

DEPARTURES 

47

48 DEPARTURES STYLE MUST HAVES 

Bulgari acetate 

Serpenti sunglasses; 

calfskin Serpenti 

Forever Mini top-handle 

bag (top); calfskin 

Serpenti Baia Micro bag 

(bottom), bulgari.com

Cartier Trinity de Cartier 

sunglasses with three-tone 

golden finish and grey 

graduated lenses; mini calfskin 

Trinity shoulder bag (top); 

vertical calfskin Trinity bag 

(bottom), cartier.com 

DEPARTURES 

49

50 DEPARTURES STYLE GETTING REAL 

Are Personalised Probiotics the Next Big Thing?

Our overall health is uniquely tied to the microbiome of our gut. 

Camilla Hewitt asks leading scientific minds about what probiotics 

can – and can’t – do, as well as what the future may hold. 

GETTY IMAGES 

THE GUT MICROBIOME is made up of a community of 

microorganisms that includes bacteria, viruses and fungi. 

Most of these microbes are beneficial and keep us in 

good health by helping to fight off infection and break 

down food. Searches on how to boost the gut microbiome 

often point to probiotics – the so-called “good” bacteria 

found in food or supplements that are believed to restore 

balance, particularly after a round of antibiotics or a bout 

of irregular bowel movements. 

In today’s booming wellness market, a multitude of 

probiotic pills lines the shelves of health stores, but do we 

need a dietary supplement to populate our gut with good 

bacteria, and are they as effective as we are led to believe? 

Opinions from the scientific community are – as so 

often in matters of diet – more nuanced than definitive. 

Emeran Mayer, a UCLA gastroenterologist and braingut-microbiome 

expert, tells us, “If you are on a diet 

rich with different types of fermented foods (kimchi, 

kombucha, yoghurt, kefir or sauerkraut), there is no need 

for an additional supplement.” Professor Tim Spector, 

co-founder of ZOE (see page 52) and one of the world’s 

leading experts on nutrition, is of the same opinion, and 

points out that there are added benefits to the food-first 

approach. “When we consume fermented foods that 

naturally contain probiotics, we also get the benefits of the 

food itself,” he says. “In the case of fermented plants, this 

includes fibre and hundreds of healthy compounds, which 

also support our gut bacteria and overall health.” He adds 

that “supplement manufacturers often choose probiotic 

strains based on which species are most convenient to use 

rather than evidence that they benefit health. So, regularly 

eating a diverse selection of probiotic foods is a good 

way to hedge your bets – you’ll consume a wider range of 

probiotic strains while benefiting from the fibre and plant 

chemicals.” 

To understand the limitations of off-the-shelf probiotic 

supplements, we need to take a closer look at the gut, and 

it is personalised nutritional programmes like ZOE that 

have given us a consumer-friendly insight into just how 

complex the microbiome is. Now, more than ever before, 

we understand that each person has a unique network of 

microbes shaped by early life as well as lifestyle factors 

including diet and geographical location. When asked 

about the efficacy of supplements, Mayer notes, “The same 

microbes may not be effective in everybody, and based 

on current knowledge, the effectiveness of a particular 

microbe is likely to depend on the unique composition and 

function of the gut microbiome of a particular individual.” 

He adds that, “Until we are able to design custom cocktails 

of probiotic strains that match an individual’s microbiome 

DEPARTURES 

51

52 DEPARTURES STYLE GETTING REAL 

Personalising 

Probiotics 

Decoding the microbiome is 

in hot demand. Here are the 

at-home testing kits and spa 

retreats designed to measure 

gut health and provide 

personalised nutrition plans. 

ZOE 

This at-home test delivers an 

inside look at blood fat, blood 

sugar and gut microbiome health. 

Based on your results, the Zoe 

team will teach you how to swap, 

add and combine foods so you 

can eat in the best way for your 

body. zoe.com 

VIVAMAYR MARIA WÖRTH 

At this Austrian health resort, 

testing the microbiome plays a 

crucial role in shaping effective 

treatment plans by providing 

valuable insights into individual 

gut health. During the one- to 

two-week programme, the team 

assesses and works on not just 

nutrition but movement and mental 

strength too. vivamayr.com 

VIOME 

Another at-home test that 

measures what’s happening 

inside your gut microbiome. 

Viome results look at the 

presence of live microorganisms 

but also their activities, such 

as producing harmful toxins or 

beneficial nutrients. viome.com 

KAMALAYA KOH SAMUI 

Kamalaya combines the traditional 

healing principles of Ayuverda 

and TCM with the latest findings 

in nutrition. The Enriched 

Gut programme aims to reduce 

inflammation and restore balance 

through a combination 

of healthy cuisine, herbal 

remedies and holistic therapies, 

including stimulating abdominal 

massage and yoga. kamalaya.com 

“It’s not as easy as providing bacteria 

that we think are beneficial – your unique 

metabolism is also important” 

and evaluate their effectiveness, it may be impossible to 

demonstrate significant benefits in clinical trials.” 

This seems to be the sticking point with probiotic 

supplements. As it stands, there is a lack of evidence to 

support claims made by brands, meaning they are often 

unsubstantiated. Spector comments, “It’s not as easy as 

simply providing bacteria that we think are beneficial – 

how that species interacts with other species in your gut 

and your unique metabolism is also important.” 

While the advantages of probiotic supplements sound 

rather slim, there is some evidence of their benefits 

in treating minor digestive issues like indigestion and 

bloating, and clinical studies suggest that certain strains 

– particularly Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria – can help 

treat diarrhoea caused by antibiotics. 

Looking to the future, Spector is optimistic that 

probiotic supplements will become very effective once 

we start to personalise them; however, he says that “first 

we need to untangle the complex relationships between 

individual species of bacteria and human health, which is 

no mean feat”. For the time being, the advice is to focus 

on eating foods that will help gut microbes flourish, and 

following a predominantly plant-based diet consisting 

of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and 

fermented foods is considered to be the most reliable way 

to maintain a thriving microbiome. 

The healthforward 

Kamalaya 

Koh Samui 

© KAMALAYA

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LUCA ROTONDO 

ARTS 

Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo 

founder Luigi Carlon poses 

in front of Massacre of the 

Innocents, an early 17th-century 

painting by Veronese artist 

Simone Brentana 

On View In Verona’s historical Palazzo Maffei, 

Italian industrialist Luigi Carlon has finally found 

a home for his outsized collection of rare art. 

by Siobhan Reid 

SPOTLIGHT DEPARTURES 

55

56 DEPARTURES ARTS SPOTLIGHT 

The Archangel Raphael with Tobias and St Jerome, a 15th-century painting by Italian Apollonio di Giovanni and Warrior Saint, a Sienese or 

Umbrian sculpture on polychromed wood 

ENTERING VERONA’S ATMOSPHERIC main square, Piazza 

delle Erbe, your eye is immediately drawn to Palazzo 

Maffei. The private 17th-century Baroque residence is one 

of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, situated in the 

heart of the ancient Roman forum behind the imposing 

statue of Saint Mark’s winged lion (a vestige of Venice’s 

400-year rule over Verona) and immortalised in paintings 

by Giovanni Boldini and Ercole Calvi. Yet, for centuries, few 

people knew what existed behind its resplendent façade. 

Veronese industrial tycoon and art collector Luigi Carlon 

was fixated on Palazzo Maffei. Every night before bed, 

he gazed at a painting by the Italian artist Carlo Ferrari 

that depicted Piazza dell Erbe and its Baroque palace and 

dreamed about one day installing his vast art collection 

inside its grand halls. 

Carlon had made a fortune in the manufacturing 

industry. His company, Index, which he sold in 2019, has 

waterproofed the world’s most important landmarks, 

including the Empire State Building, the Burj Al Arab 

Jumeirah hotel and the Place Vendôme. But art had long 

been his true passion. As a young man, he befriended 

Veronese painters and sculptors and studied futurist, 

metaphysical and post-war contemporary painting. As his 

business took off and he began travelling the globe, his 

knowledge of the art world broadened. He acquired works 

from the world’s most prestigious museums, including 

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and pored over 

catalogues from Christie’s and Sotheby’s. 

Fifty years of collecting later, his treasures no longer fit 

inside the family home (he had even resorted to stacking 

some of his acquisitions behind sofas). There were ancient 

manuscripts, sculptures, a 16th-century doge’s throne, 

and the complete Encyclopédie of Diderot and d’Alembert 

(the most complete compendium of human knowledge 

up until the Enlightenment) alongside seminal works by 

Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Amedeo Modigliani, 

René Magritte, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel 

Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. While it gave him great 

pleasure to live among such masterpieces, he was keen on 

sharing his collection with the world. “When I see these 

works, I get a beautiful sensation,” he tells me. “I wanted 

others to feel the same.” 

For a decade, he searched for the perfect home for his 

650-piece collection, visiting properties in and around 

Verona, but a part of him was always holding out for 

Palazzo Maffei. Then, in 2015, the palace’s then-owners 

put the property up for sale. Carlon’s dreams had, quite 

literally, come true. “The [Carlo Ferrari] painting brought 

me good luck,” he figures. 

Before long, the Milan-based architecture and design 

studio of Baldessari e Baldessari was carrying out an 

extensive restoration of the palazzo, breathing new life into 

the ancient residence while preserving its time-weathered 

frescoes, elaborate stucco work, Venetian terrazzo floors 

and helicoid staircase, which, at one point in time, was the 

highest self-supporting spiral staircase in the world. 

Carlon also called on legendary Italian art historian 

Gabriella Belli, formerly the director of Fondazione Musei 

Civici di Venezia, to head up the museographic design. 

Unlike a traditional museum, Carlon wanted the institution 

to be steeped in all the intimacy of a private residence, with 

vividly coloured walls, designer furniture and ancient art in 

conversation with modern works. A medieval crucifixion, 

for example, a triptych by the Second Master of San Zeno 

was placed next to Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale from 

his acclaimed Cuts series. The museum’s vice-director Rada 

Kratchanova explains: “Luigi’s motto is that art is always 

contemporary, regardless of when it was made. Artists are 

always striving to go beyond what is visible, to reach an 

infinity. Pairing these works engages a broader audience.” 

PAOLO RIOLZI

In February 2020, the Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo finally 

opened to the public only to be shuttered just weeks later due to 

the pandemic. Still, the first three days lured over 3,000 visitors, 

and the weekly events – concerts, dance performances, talks 

with artists and museum directors – were an instant hit with the 

community. More recently, the museum has partnered with the 

local university and Verona’s Academy of Fine Arts to bring on 

students as museum tour guides and attendants. 

Carlon’s daughter Vanessa, who trained as a lawyer and is now 

the museum’s director, explains that, in many ways, the Palazzo 

Maffei Casa Museo has been formed in the image of Venice’s Peggy 

Guggenheim Collection, whose robust range of public programming 

is without equal in Italy. “We want our museum to be as much of a 

cultural centre as it as an initiator of conversations,” she says. 

While most visitors come to see 20th-century masterpieces, 

Kratchanova notes that the museum’s Veronese and Venetian 

treasures – many of which have been returned to Italy after long 

stints abroad – are equally a source of local pride. She points to 

two works by the Renaissance painter Niccolò Giolfino which 

were recovered from a collection in New York as an example. 

And sure, the museum features the front page of Le Figaro’s 20 

February, 1909 edition, in which Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s 

revolutionary Manifesto of Futurism was published, but it appears 

alongside a front-page copy of the daily Veronese newspaper 

L’Arena, which published the same manifesto 11 days earlier. “The 

idea is to show that what was happening in the world was also 

happening here in Verona,” says Kratchanova. 

In many ways, Carlon’s objective can be summed up by a 

work by Chiara Dynys, Over Nature (2021), which appears in a 

second-floor exhibition room. Superimposed onto a landscape 

wall painting, the three-dimensional work features a Goethe 

quote inside a gilded-steel and glass net. Translated into English, 

it reads: “It’s not necessary to go around the world to understand 

that the sky is blue everywhere.” 

That being said, at the age of 85, Carlon shows no signs of stopping 

his relentless, globe-spanning pursuit of artworks he’s been tracking 

for much of his lifetime: he recently acquired a woodblock print 

of Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave, of which there are very 

few originals. And this March, the museum unveiled a site-specific 

sculpture by Claire Fontaine in its central courtyard. 

“Collecting is an illness,” jokes Carlon. “But it’s my 

passion. I want this to be a museum that lives and breathes.” 

palazzomaffeiverona.com 

When in Verona … 

Antiquity-obsessed Verona has no shortage 

of old palazzo hotels and Renaissance-era 

villas to stay in. But when Vista Palazzo 

swung open its doors in 2022, the city had 

never seen anything quite like it. Tucked 

inside a 19th-century mansion a stone’s 

throw from the Porta Leoni Roman gate, the 

boutique gem offers the same mix of Old 

World elegance and contemporary flair as 

its sister properties in Lake Como. Thirdgeneration 

owner Bianca Passera — whose 

family created the Lario Hotels group in 

the 1920s – has deep knowledge of Italian 

craft (she was the former director of a silk 

museum in Como), which shines through 

in the hotel’s glamorous, jewel-box-like 

interiors: handmade walnut-parquet panels, 

curvilinear Baxter furnishings, pedestalstyle 

Italian marble sinks and creative 

lighting from Marchetti Illuminazione. The 

subterranean spa was dug out of a Roman 

well and features a Finnish sauna, a heated 

swimming pool and Biologique Recherche 

treatments. But the focal point is the 

property’s sophisticated rooftop terrace, 

where locals and guests sip Campari 

spritzes and take in 360-degree views of 

the Torre dei Lamberti, the Santuario della 

Madonna di Lourdes and other fascinating 

city landmarks. verona.vistapalazzo.com 

DEPARTURES 

MASSIMO RIPANI (2) 

Works by Marino Marini (central sculpture and left of the doorway), Alberto Burri (far left), Antonio 

Calza (second left), Leoncillo Leonardi (far right) and Matthias Stom (over the doorway) 

57

58 DEPARTURES ARTS AT THE WHEEL 

Small Wonders 

The limited-edition, 

scaled-down creations from 

The Little Car Company 

pair uncannily accurate 

aesthetics with remarkably 

robust performance. 

by Adam Hay-Nicholls 

WITHOUT A FULLY grown driver to 

draw attention to its products’ scale 

you’d swear blind The Little Car 

Company produces full-size replicas 

from motoring’s most valuable 

archive. In fact, you’d be forgiven for 

thinking that was an all-original 1926 

Bugatti Type 35, 1957 Ferrari 250 

Testa Rossa or 1963 Aston Martin DB5 

convertible before you, such is the 

attention to detail and craftsmanship. 

The 75 per cent scale electric 

versions of three of the most iconic 

roadsters ever created are 

manufactured under licence from 

these prestigious and uncompromising 

supercar companies in a small unit at 

Bicester Heritage, a historic vehicle 

heartland on the site of a World War II 

Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, 

UK. The Little Car Company was 

launched in 2019 when Bugatti sought 

to celebrate its 110th birthday by 

recreating the “Bugatti Baby” which 

Ettore Bugatti built for his youngest 

son Roland. That was a 50 per cent 

scale electric buggy, built in 1926 

and based on a Type 35, too, but the 

Little Car Company made theirs large 

enough to accommodate an adult. 

Like the original, the Bugatti Baby 

II is a limited edition: 500 are being 

built, priced at US$38,400 before 

taxes and shipping. Power is available 

up to 10kW and there’s a top speed of 

up to 68 kilometres per hour (in some 

countries, like Canada and the US, it 

has to be restricted). 

Inspired by a one-off built by Aston 

Martin, which was delivered to the 

Buckingham Palace nursery in 1966, 

the DB5 Junior’s production run 

reflects that of the real thing – 1,059 – 

and is priced from US$59,600. Power 

is up to 10kW and a top speed of up 

Left: The Little 

Car Company’s 

75%-scale Ferrari 

250 Testa Rossa, 

designed for 

drivers over 14 

years old; 

top: two 

diminutive Aston 

Martin DB5 

convertibles 

follow a full-sized 

model 

to 72 kilometres per hour, and there’s 

also a more potent “No Time To Die” 

special edition which is loaded with 

007 gadgets including miniguns, 

rotating licence plates and smoke 

screen priced from US$109,500. 

The Ferrari is the most exclusive. 

In close collaboration with 

Ferrari’s Centro Stile and Classiche 

Department, 299 examples of the 

Testa Rossa J will be built, priced 

from US$103,500. There’s an even 

rarer US$130,000 “Pacco Gara” 

version designed for racing, with 

14kW of power, a roll cage and Sabelt 

harnesses, adjustable dampers and 

brake bias. 

The company is also starting 

production on its biggest little car yet: 

the bellicose 4.5-litre Bentley Blower 

of 1929, a legend of Le Mans which 

was described as “the fastest lorry 

in the world” by Monsieur Bugatti. 

The Little Car Company has built 

it in 85 per cent scale. It measures 

3.7 metres long and 1.5 metres wide, 

can accommodate two adults and, 

unlike the other cars mentioned, the 

© THE LITTLE CAR COMPANY

“We took a Bugatti Baby II to Ferrari. 

They said, ‘We thought you were bringing us 

a toy, but you’ve brought us a little car!” 

FROM TOP: FREDERIK HERREGODS, © THE LITTLE CAR COMPANY 

Blower Jnr is fully road-legal. This 

surely makes it the perfect vehicle for 

Sunday drives to an English country 

pub (designated driver permitting, 

of course). It’s priced at US$115,000 

– around one twentieth the price of 

a full-scale “Continuation” Blower. 

Expect these to be the most soughtafter 

accessory at the Goodwood 

Revival in September. 

Getting permission from Bentley, 

Aston Martin, Bugatti and especially 

Ferrari to do anything with their 

brand is, as one might expect, a 

major hurdle. How did The Little Car 

Company CEO Ben Hedley do it? “We 

took a Bugatti Baby II to Ferrari very 

discreetly, brought it through the back 

gate at Maranello, and put it in front 

of the board. They said, ‘We thought 

you were bringing us a toy, but you’ve 

brought us a little car!’” 

Hedley, who studied mechanical 

engineering at Cambridge University 

before becoming an entrepreneur, 

has also been COO of Linley, the 

high-end furniture maker founded 

by King Charles III’s cousin, Lord 

Snowdon. This gave him core insight 

into the luxury industry. The little 

cars he produces are “not replicas, 

they’re reinterpretations. And we’ve 

had a bit of fun with them, like the 

little ‘Manettino’ dial for the mode 

selection on the Ferrari’s Nardi 

steering wheel. Or the missile switch 

on the Aston. We feel like the naughty 

cousins of these car companies.” 

There’s also a Pur Sang version of 

the Bugatti, boasting a “speed key” 

to unlock extra horsepower, which 

is inspired by the modern Chiron 

hypercar, and a Carbon Edition 

inspired by the 410kph Mistral; both 

are aimed at collectors. One wonders 

how many ever get into the hands of 

children. 

Each little car is based on a digital 

3D scan of all the full-size vintage car 

parts or archived design drawings. The 

original suspension geometry design 

is used, and the aluminium is handbeaten. 

The paint is original Bugatti, 

Aston Martin, Ferrari and Bentley 

Mulliner paint. So too the leather 

and other materials, and those iconic 

badges in enamel or silver. In the Testa 

Rossa J, the pedals are taken directly 

from the F8 Tributo. The handling is 

as authentic as an enthusiast could 

hope for, and is developed, tuned and 

signed off on by the chief test driver 

from each supercar marque – all 

professional racing drivers. There are 

different driving modes to manage 

the amount of power at the rear 

wheels and various safety features 

with children in mind, but generally, 

the cars are designed for the over-14s. 

The cars are built to order and are 

fully customisable, and the waiting 

list is, at the moment, eight months. 

However, there are a handful of 

stock cars ready to drive away from 

Harrods and Selfridges department 

stores in London and a few Ferrari 

dealers in the US. “If you teach your 

kids to learn to drive in a Ferrari, 

that’s the most amazing way to 

learn,” Hedley points out. “I think 

the manufacturers have twigged that 

if you learn to drive in, say, a little 

Ferrari, that young person may go 

on to drive a full-size Ferrari. That’s 

brand loyalty for life.” thelittlecar.co 

Right: the Bugatti 

Baby II – part of a 

limited edition of 

just 500; top: the 

expertly recreated 

dash of the scaleddown 

Ferrari 250 

Testa Rossa 

DEPARTURES 

59

Midas Touch 

The hour of gold is now, 

as these instant-classic jewellery 

creations prove. 

60 DEPARTURES 

Photographs by 

Chantel King 

Production by 

Elisa Vallata 

DEPARTURES 

60

DEPARTURES 

Giorgio B rose-gold Palma earrings set with diamonds; 

left hand: Giorgio B rose-gold Palma bracelet and ring; 

right hand: Solange yellow-gold Goldstar bangle Tasaki 

Sakuragold Surge ring Alberta Ferretti satin cut-out dress 

Opposite page: 886 by the Royal Mint yellow-gold 

The Ornament & Safeguard necklace set with diamonds 

Louis Vuitton draped leather-panel top 

61

62 DEPARTURES 

Van Gelder yellow-gold ear pendants and heavy linked 

necklace Ute Decker ring in solid-gold fused with silver 

Magda Butrym sleeveless jersey mini dress 

Opposite page: Chris Davies yellow-gold vaulted 

pear-shaped earrings, seen at louisaguinnessgallery.com 

Boghossian yellow-gold and diamond Merveilles Halo 

necklace; left hand: Chanel beige- and yellow-gold Coco 

Crush bracelets set with diamonds; right hand: Pomellato 

rose-gold and diamond Iconica bracelet and ring

HAIR: SHARON ROBINSON; MAKE-UP: EOIN WHELAN; MANICURE: CHERRIE SNOW; MODEL: NATASHA LUWEDDE @ SELECT; PHOTOGRAPHER ASSISTANTS: PIM VAN BALAAN & KRISLEN CHETTY; RETOUCHING: JESSICA MCHUGH 

Solange yellow-gold and diamond fringe bracelet 

Pomellato rose-gold and diamond Fantina earrings 

Opposite page: Louis Vuitton yellow-gold LV Volt mesh 

earrings set with diamonds Boucheron yellow-gold Delilah 

scarf necklace set with diamonds with diamond-set clasp; 

right hand: Louis Vuitton yellow-gold LV Volt mesh ring set 

with diamonds; left hand: Van Cleef & Arpels yellow-gold 

and diamond five-row Perlée ring Giorgio Armani 

short silk-organza bustier dress with laminated leather belt 

DEPARTURES 

65

Colour Theory 

66 DEPARTURES 

These eye-popping timepieces combine boldly geometric 

silhouettes and vibrant colours to striking effect. 

Photographs by Xavier Young 

Production by Elisa Vallata

Clockwise from top: Omega 

Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m with 

a 41mm stainless-steel case; 

stamped Seamaster logo on the 

caseback; PVD-treated dial; 

rhodium-plated hands and 

indexes filled with 

SuperLumiNova; self-winding 

movement; rubber strap 

Gerald Charles Maestro 3.0 

Chronograph with a 39x41.7mm 

stainless-steel case; sunburst 

dial; indexes and hands filled with 

SuperLumiNova; self-winding 

chronograph movement; rubber 

strap Zenith Defy Skyline 36 with 

a 36mm steel case; sunburst dial; 

self-winding movement; rubber 

strap Hermès H08 with a 39mm 

glass-fibre composite case coated 

with aluminium and slate powder; 

ceramic bezel; sapphire caseback; 

luminescent hands; self-winding 


Opposite page: Richard Mille RM 

07-01 Racing Red with a 31.40 x 

45.66mm Carbon TPT and Quartz 

TPT case and dial; sapphirecrystal 

caseback; luminescent 

indexes and hands; self-winding 


DEPARTURES 

67

From top: Audemars Piguet Royal 

Oak Offshore Selfwinding 

Chronograph with a 42mm 

stainless-steel case; sapphirecrystal 

caseback; dial with Méga 

Tapisserie pattern; white-gold 

Royal Oak hands with luminescent 

coating; rubber strap Patek 

Philippe Ref. 7968/300R 

Aquanaut Luce “Rainbow” 

Chronograph with a 39.9mm 

rose-gold case; sapphire-crystal 

caseback; diamond- and 

sapphire-set bezel; mother-ofpearl 

dial; sapphire hour markers; 

self-winding movement with 

flyback chronograph 

Opposite page, from top: Roger 

Dubuis Excalibur Blacklight MB 

with a 42mm white-gold case; 

diamond-set bezel; sapphirecrystal 

caseback; skeletonised 

dial; white-gold-plated hour 

markers; self-winding movement; 

rubber strap with calf inlay Harry 

Winston Zalium Turquoise/Orange 

with a 42.2mm zalium case; 

openworked dial with retrograde 

counters; chapter ring with 

satin-brushed finish; alligatorleather 

strap 

DEPARTURES 

69

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A snow leopard holds 

court from atop the craggy 

peaks of Hemis National 

Park in Ladakh, India 

72 DEPARTURES

In Search 

of the 

Snow 

Leopard 

With a global population 

of less than 7,000, 

the snow leopard is one 

of the most elusive 

creatures on the planet. 

Mary Holland ventured 

into the beautiful 

depths of Ladakh to 

catch a glimpse of the 

camera-shy cat. 

Photographs 

by Behzad Larry 

DEPARTURES 

73

33° 

51´ 

07.2” 

N 

_ 

77° 

42´ 

27.9” 

74 DEPARTURES 

E 

Opposite page: a bird’s-eye 

view of Lungmār (below right), 

set at nearly 3,750 metres 

above sea level 

I peered through the scope transfixed, like a sniper on a target, 

watching the snow leopard’s every move. It lay on the mountain sunning itself, 

then stood up and stretched, pushing its enormous paws into the rock and arching 

its back like a regular house cat, if a house cat were thirty times its size. I tried 

not to blink so that I wouldn’t lose sight of the magnificent creature. It dipped 

behind a rock, then craned its furry neck and looked directly at us. Over two 

kilometres away, across a valley on the opposite mountain face, could it know we 

were there? The cat then pounced along the ridge and slinked behind the rocky 

bluff, disappearing deep into the mountains. Fifteen minutes later and I would 

have missed it. 

I hadn’t expected the snow-leopard sighting to happen so early into my trip. It 

was only day two of the journey and we were meant to be adjusting to the altitude 

of 3,524 metres at the Grand Dragon Hotel in Leh, in northernmost India, 

before our expedition at Snow Leopard Camp in Hemis National Park began. 

That morning I’d been drifting in and out of sleep, desperately trying to ease my 

altitude-induced headache, glugging bottles of electrolytes. When I rolled over 

to check my phone I saw four missed calls and a barrage of text messages from 

Behzad Larry, my host and founder of Voygr Expeditions. “Leopards sighted,” the 

first one read. I immediately burst from my bed. “Keep a relaxed pace though,” 

came the next message. Right, slowly, I told myself as I skipped to the shower. 

About twenty minutes after receiving his text message, Larry had pulled up 

outside the Grand Dragon Hotel. I threw myself into the front seat like we were 

making a getaway from robbing a bank. “When you find a snow leopard, drive it 

like you stole it,” he said, as we screeched out of Leh. 

Larry, who has been leading these expeditions for over ten years, was as surprised 

as I was. Though his team has had a 100 per cent success rate, the sightings tend 

to happen a couple of days into the usual ten-day trip (I was on a shortened sixday 

journey due to my schedule). My assumption was that I’d be well acclimated 

before I saw my first snow leopard – perhaps on the fourth or fifth day. That was 

if I was even going to see one at all. 

With between 4,500 and 7,000 estimated to be roaming central Asia, the snow 

leopard is one of the most elusive, endangered animals in the world. Before I met 

Larry, I didn’t even think it was possible to see one in the wild. “People think 

it’s entirely undoable,” explained Larry, as we shot past storefronts outside Leh, 

dodging stray dogs sunning themselves on the road. “Even if they see pictures, 

they’re like, ‘Oh, wow!’. That’s not something I could do.” I’d seen the rare video 

footage of videographers unsuccessfully staking out in the mountains for days, 

desperately waiting for the prick of an ear or a flick of a tail. If even David 

Attenborough hasn’t seen one in the wild, how could I? 

When we arrived at the entrance of Hemis National Park, we whizzed past a 

flock of wild blue sheep (the snow leopard’s main prey) a few metres from the 

road. It was an unusually close sighting of the protected animal but there wasn’t 

time to stop because, well, there was a snow leopard to see. After arriving at the

DEPARTURES 75

76 DEPARTURES 

Above, from left: 

a villager from the 

hamlet of Rumchung, 

in Hemis National 

Park; local crafts fill 

the tented suites at 

Lungmār; opposite 

page: Stakna Gompa, 

a Buddhist monastery 

near Leh 

viewing point on a small hilltop in the valley, I drew in the thin, cold air. “As 

quickly as you can,” said Larry. I hauled myself out of the car and plodded up to 

Larry’s team, which was standing in a crooked line under a string of prayer flags 

peering through scopes. 

A historian and photographer who is based between the US and India, Larry 

started his company in 2013 after spending a year and a half travelling across 

India, the country he was born in. When he finally arrived in Ladakh in the 

Himalayas on the border of China, he found little reason to leave. “It was unlike 

anything I’d seen before; I just fell in love with it,” says Larry. A part of the 

country not unlike Nepal, with soaring snowcapped shale mountains that carve 

high into a powder-blue sky as translucent rivers gush through valleys below, 

Ladakh is a place that has a haunting beauty. But it wasn't only the landscapes 

that enticed him to stay, it was also the people and their approach to tourism. 

“Ladakhis are really great with conservation,” he says. His aim was to create a 

sustainable business model that would fund the communities it works within, 

and Ladakh – a place that doesn’t benefit as much from tourism as other parts of 

India – felt like a good place to do it. “I wanted to do fair tourism, where you're 

travelling to a community and most of the money stays there,” said Larry. 

For years, Larry offered camping in mobile, rug-strewn tents warmed by 

gas heaters, which his team would set up flawlessly in the mountains. It was 

as luxurious a camping experience as you could find. But with temperatures 

plummeting well below zero in the winter, even with sleeping bags that keep 

you warm at -40°C, it was an experience for the intrepid. In 2020, Voygr opened 

Lungmār Remote Camp, the only luxury lodge set inside Hemis National Park, 

where all the snow-leopard action takes place. “No one else has a property that 

is designed to be warm in the winter months,” says Larry. 

Hidden up a steep jagged road, the simple lodge built from stone and mud plaster 

appears as a humble dwelling that blends seamlessly into the purple landscape. 

The rooms are modest, with snug wooden beds, Afghan kilim rugs, windows that

ZOLTAN SZABO / ISTOCK 

look onto the dramatic shale mountains and, most importantly, hot showers. In 

the main area, sheepskin-draped window seats and intricately carved coffee tables 

provide a cosy place to sit, especially during the midday when the sun floods in. 

The dining room has wooden tables and benches where extraordinary, homey 

Indian dishes such as pillowy naan, spinach rotis, dahl and tandoori chicken or 

tender mutton (cooked in the outside tandoor oven) are served. 

There’s no wifi or reception, but there is a library and photographic area with 

historical and geography books. The property is simple, made from locally sourced 

materials and light on the land – everything Larry would want from a lodge in this 

part of the world. “We have major water issues, so we only have a few suites that 

have showers within them,” says Larry, adding that the water is pulled from the 

stream before it’s heated. “To have showers in every room is financially doable but 

the environmental cost is massive.” 

For Larry, the luxury isn’t in the thread count, it’s based on the experience. 

“We have the most expensive linens and nice beds. But we don’t have flush toilets 

for everyone,” says Larry, adding that he hopes other operators will eventually do 

the same. Working in an environment as fragile as this requires setting your own 

rules. “It’s about voluntarily limiting yourself,” he explains. What guests get with 

Voygr is an unparalleled tracking team (his head tracker Dorjay has worked with 

snow leopards since 1990), as well as access to things like individual scopes that 

cost thousands of dollars, so they can enjoy the cat sightings to themselves, which 

isn’t the case with most operators. “At the key moment when a cat is spotted, 

everyone has to take turns, no one can continuously watch,” says Larry. “It’s 

about creating an experience that’s not only based on the feel of luxury but on the 

rareness of what you’re experiencing.” 

During my five days in Hemis National Park, we saw not one other tourist. 

In the mornings and evenings, when snow-leopard activity is at its highest, the 

trackers use their scopes to scan for cats (there’s even a tracker who is employed 

as a full-time “kill-seeker”, traversing over 20 kilometres per day in search of 

“When a 

cat is spotted, 

everyone has to 

take turns, no one 

can continuously 

watch. It’s about 

creating an 

experience that’s 

not only based 

on the feel of 

luxury but on 

the rareness 

of what you’re 

experiencing” 

DEPARTURES 

77

33° 

51´ 

07.2” 

N 

_ 

77° 

42´ 

27.9” 

E 

snow-leopard kills). While they scoured for any sign of life, we sat in the valley 

like policemen on a stakeout, biding our time by sharing stories, petting furry 

village dogs and drinking large cups of ginger tea. The scopes are set out in 

different viewing locations each day – on a hilltop or the patio of a villager’s home 

– depending on where they think we might see activity. When snow-leopard 

movement is low during midday, there’s plenty else to do: visit a monastery, hike 

through the shale valleys past small villages and over frozen streams, or curl up 

with a book on a sun-drenched chair. 

One morning when activity felt particularly low, we took a drive to the other 

side of Hemis National Park, passing Leh and the many army bases before 

we arrived at the point where the Zanskar and Indus rivers converge. In the 

wintertime, the river, which is fed by glacial water, is mind-numbingly cold. Seeing 

the translucent blue water gush through a valley of towering grey and brown 

mountains is otherworldly. We dipped down into the valley, tracing the river for 

a few kilometres before stopping for a packed lunch of rotis and masala chai on 

the patio at the home of a tracker’s uncle in the hope that we might see a snow 

leopard. They’d been spotted there before. On the way back, I insisted on taking a 

dip in the freezing river to help jolt me out of my sluggish, altitude-induced state, 

knowing I would return to Lungmār where a hot shower awaited. 

The lodge is certainly pioneering tourism in the area, but it’s only one part of 

Larry’s holistic tourism strategy to be more responsible. In the past four years, the 

carbon-negative company has channelled over US$100,000 into ranger training 

and building corrals to keep livestock safe from snow leopards, mitigating humanwildlife 

conflict, which often leads to poaching of cats. Ultimately, Larry’s hope 

is that tourism in the area will overtake shepherding, an activity which has 

sometimes been challenging for the snow-leopard population. 

Already, 70 per cent of his field team is local. He has expanded his pool of 

trackers and started working in other locations such as Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and 

78 DEPARTURES

Tajikistan, where snow-leopard tourism is still in its infancy and there’s a great 

opportunity to develop a good model with governments from scratch. “If you are 

entering landscapes that are as pristine and fragile as the high Himalayas, you need 

to work with governments,” says Larry, adding that they have been collaborating 

with different ministries to help create regulations. 

Operating in this environment while maintaining such high standards is not 

without its challenges. On my last night at camp, as we gathered in the living 

room to watch a local band while drinking expertly made martinis by Larry (who 

is based in New York for part of the year, so a discerning cocktail drinker), the 

electricity cut out. At the same time, the backup generator broke. Larry’s team 

– which always seems to be ready for any issue that might be thrown their way 

– seamlessly jumped onto the problem. With the temperature plummeting to 

around -10°C overnight and no heat to keep the rooms warm, Larry made the 

decision to shuttle us to the Grand Dragon Hotel in Leh for the night, which 

meant I would miss the final morning of snow-leopard spotting. Naturally, the 

group I left behind saw another leopard that following morning (and, a few days 

later, another cat on a kill). 

When I landed back in New York, Larry texted me photos of a snow leopard 

sitting on the purple mountainside with a bloody face and paws while feasting on 

a blue sheep. A momentary pang of jealousy quickly shot through me. But I had 

to remind myself how truly rare my experience had been, and how little could 

surpass that first moment seeing a snow leopard slinking across the mountaintop. 

The memory and feeling of complete and utter awe is etched in my brain like a 

tattoo. “I’ll just have to come back for more!” I texted back. And I meant it. Here’s 

hoping that Voygr’s work over the past ten years – researching and collecting data, 

working full-time to track snow leopards and pouring money into conservation 

efforts and communities – will pay off, and that when I return someday, there will 

be more of these extraordinary cats to see. voygr.com; snowleopardcamp.com 

Below: on a snowleopard 

stake-out: 

opposite page: the big 

cat in motion 

DEPARTURES 

79

The Mad Genius 

of South Island 

80 DEPARTURES 

Iconoclastic, eccentric and extraordinarily talented, New Zealand 

chef Vaughan Mabee draws diners from across the world to his Central 

Otago restaurant – and his dishes are only getting, well, weirder. 

By Ann Abel 

Photographs by Sam Stewart

Left: Bluff oyster, fresh 

from the cool waters of the 

Foveaux Strait, which chef 

Mabee prepares with 

Chenin Blanc vinegar and 

Amisfield olive oil; above, 

from left: Amisfield’s 

idyllic perch along Lake 

Hayes; the awe-inspiring 

view from the restaurant’s 

dining room; Amisfield 

chef – and MasterChef 

New Zealand judge – 

Vaughan Mabee 

D 

inner at Amisfield begins with a provocation. People expect as 

much when they make the journey to the bottom of the world to 

dine at New Zealand chef Vaughan Mabee’s restaurant, which 

is at the Amisfield winery in the South Island’s Central Otago 

Valley. “We’re showcasing the difference of New Zealand,” says 

Mabee. “We have so many things you can’t get anywhere else.” And so, arriving at 

Amisfield, some of those things appear to be alive and in your face. 

For the past few months, the epic evening has included an invitation to the 

cellar, where the chef keeps charcuterie that’s been curing for a decade or more. 

There, alongside the tied sausages and game legs, a pair of New Zealand mallards 

(“rakiraki” in Māori and on the menu) are suspended from the ceiling, seemingly 

in midflight. 

Mabee spent three years working on the dish along with pastry chef Becky 

Sheffield. He shot the birds in Hawkes Bay a few years ago and taxidermied them 

himself. Then the chefs replaced the heads with an edible version: bills and shells 

made of duck fat flavoured with duck essence and garum, shining feathers made 

of duck egg white coloured with chlorophylls. Inside the head, there’s aerated 

acidic liver pâté, rillette and heart. The bill is filled with pickled Otago cherries. 

“It’s a gangsta bite,” says the chef excitedly during an early-morning call, for 

which he’s surprisingly energetic after a late night in Melbourne with the Australian 

World’s 50 Best contingent. (Yes, he’s going to the ceremony in June.) He repeats 

that it looks like guests are “about to eat an actual duck head that’s alive”. 

That dish encapsulates all you really need to know about Vaughan Mabee. The 

man is a hunter, a science nerd, a mad genius, a troublemaker, a mohawked Kiwi 

viking, a classically trained chef, a taxidermist, a child of nature and, above all, 

an entertainer. He’s defining what New Zealand fine dining can be. When he 

negotiated his contract with Amisfield in 2012, it had one main stipulation: his 

goal would be to create the best restaurant in the world. 

It wasn’t – and isn’t – an unfounded idea. He was in the room where it 

happened before. After stints in hotel kitchens in California and as part of Martín 

Berasategui’s three-star team in Lasarte-Oria near San Sebastian, he was working 

in the original Noma – when it was just 16 chefs and he was the chef de partie for 

“snacks” – when it was first named the best restaurant in the world, in 2009. 

He credits Berasategui with instilling his appreciation for tradition, and Noma’s 

René Redzepi with showing him the power of being driven and transmitting that 

to his team. The relentless creativity, however, is his alone. 

Now that the global food cognoscenti have caught on – thanks to a slew of 

international press, a number 44 ranking in the 2023 Best Chef Awards, and a 

DEPARTURES 

81

“Everyone remembers everything they had. 

It’s a culinary journey around the mountains, and it 

keeps everyone thinking about New Zealand” 

82 DEPARTURES 

Bedding Down 

There is no accommodation 

available at the Amisfield 

winery, so making the 

trip to this rural outpost 

requires finding a spot to 

stay. In nearby Queenstown, 

Eichardt’s Private Hotel 

( eichardts.com), a 

163-year-old hostelry set 

directly on Lake Wakatipu, 

is the best place to stay. 

For a wide variety of villas 

– some truly extraordinary 

– consult longtime local 

travel specialist Touch of 

Spice (touchofspice.co.nz). 

Chef Mabee adds the finishing touches to his 

famous “rakiraki” duck – an intricate dish whose 

creation was some three years the making 

spotlight as a World’s 50 Best Discovery (on top of being named best restaurant in 

New Zealand for several years running) – Mabee has been feeling freer to “bring 

guests into the wild” and “blow people’s minds”. 

At the same time, he says, “It’s quite humbling to see people flying in from all 

the corners of the world.” Whereas Amisfield used to be an aside to an adventuredriven 

itinerary, now it’s the main event. A couple from New York recently told 

him they planned a two-week trip to New Zealand only after they had been 

promoted from his waiting list. 

“If someone comes so far, I want to give them something different and unique, 

something that can’t be copied,” he continues. “Everyone remembers everything 

they had. It’s a culinary journey around the mountains, and it keeps everyone 

thinking about New Zealand.” 

Dinner generally runs to 23 courses, though it might be less if the fishermen 

can’t get into the harbour or if the hunters come back without an elk. Or it might be 

more, particularly in the summer vegetable season. (In the summer, the famously 

pro-hunting chef does offer a vegan menu as well.) 

While the details may change, it’s all indelibly Kiwi. Cones of cured greenbone 

with garden horseradish are presented in the fishes’ mouths. A fillet of butterfish 

is wrapped with whitebait and bathed in beurre blanc. Baby pāua (abalone) from 

Mabee’s sustainable farm in Bluff is served on 

warm rocks to bring out the flavour. 

A high point is a dish called the Whole 

Beast, which guests consume outside at a 

table beside a fire over which an entire game 

animal has been cooking all day. Mabee avoids 

conventional meats like beef and pork – or 

any farmed animals – but makes an exception 

for one savoury highlight. (The farmer is a 

friend and has her own abattoir.) A lamb’s tail 

is confited in its aged fat, then covered with 

wool that’s burned at the table before the meat 

is served. 

Even desserts pay homage to South Island 

wildlife. A spiker antler (the first, unusually 

pointy set of a young buck) is fashioned out of 

deer-milk ice cream and affixed to a deer skull, 

alongside a regular antler made of cartilage and 

bone. The edible part is served with a “deer’s 

blood” caramel sauce – berries the animals 

could have eaten. 

Duck heads return in another dessert, 

probably Amisfield’s most famous dish. Now 

it’s a pūtangitangi (shelduck), a bird that’s 

illegal to serve in a restaurant. Not wanting to 

break any laws, Mabee and Sheffield recreated 

it as a cake. The cake base is topped with duckliver 

ice cream and covered in “New Zealand 

chocolate” – emulsified harakeke seeds since 

cacao isn’t endemic – feathers made of duckfat 

icing and another crunchy bill, this time 

made with fermented elderberry jelly. 

Guests from all over the world look forward 

to these dishes, so they’re staying on the menu. 

“I can’t move these dishes,” he says. “They took 

years to get perfect. I can’t even imagine how I 

came up with that shit.” amisfield.co.nz

F al m ou t h 

Khaki Suede 

BY APPOINTMENT TO 

HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES 

MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER OF FOOTWEAR 

CROCKETT & JONES LIMITED, NORTHAMPTON 

MADE IN ENGLAND | SINCE 1879 

Our interpretation of 

a classic summer Boat Shoe 

featuring our new Wedge Rubber Sole 

CROCKETTANDJONES.COM

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Departures Australia Autumn:Winter 2024

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