Stephane Lacroix has been appointed as General Manager at Gilt at The New York Palace Hotel
Lacroix joins GILT from the Forbes-Five Star, AAA Five-Diamond Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, where for ten years he served as Director of Wine and Sommelier for the hotel and for its one-star MICHELIN rated restaurant, The Dining Room. Under his leadership, The Dining Room achieved many global accolades and, together with the hotel, became the highest-rated U.S. hotel and restaurant property for Ritz-Carlton. Lacroix, built one of the region’s most esteemed small bottle wine collections in conjunction with the celebrated wine program. Lacroix began his wine career in 1985 at Le Puy-en-Velay Hotel School in France and then became assistant sommelier for Le Clave in Clermont, France. He continued his education at Chamalières Hotel School, where he was awarded “Best Young Sommelier of Central France.” In 1990, he attended the highly-regarded Tain L’Hermitage Sommelier School and was named “Best Young Sommelier of France – Bordeaux Wines” and “Best Young Sommelier of Monaco.” After graduating from Tain L’Hermitage, Lacroix worked with many top-ranked chefs including Roger Vergé at Le Moulin de Mougins in Mougin; Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo; Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.; and Michael Mina at Aqua in San Francisco. He also opened Aqua at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.