The Lineup

Four Seasons Yachts is expanding its Chef-in-Residence program for 2027, naming five Michelin-starred chefs from across the Four Seasons hotel portfolio to lead featured voyages aboard Four Seasons I in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. The second iteration of the program scales up both the talent roster and the onboard footprint, moving residencies beyond the yacht's marquee fine-dining destination, Sedna, into additional culinary venues across the vessel.

The confirmed lineup spans four countries and seven Michelin stars in aggregate: Chef Guillaume Galliot of three-starred Caprice at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong; Chef Bertrand Noeureuil of two-starred L'Orangerie at Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris; and three one-star chefs — Yoric Tièche of Le Cap at Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, Guillaume Bracaval of est at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi, and Evan Neumann of Auro at Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley. Additional chefs are expected to be announced ahead of the 2027 season.

Program Structure

Each residency now carries a three-part format: a four- to five-course tasting menu with curated wine pairings at Sedna; a one-day venue takeover elsewhere on the ship; and a welcome reception hosted by the chef at the Horizon Lounge. The expanded format gives high-spending guests more touchpoints with each featured chef — a deliberate move beyond the inaugural season, which was confined to Sedna alone. Ben Trodd, CEO of Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings Ltd., joint owner and operator of Four Seasons Yachts, framed the philosophy as intentional scarcity: "Each featured sailing will carry the signature of one chef, in one region, at one moment in the season, creating a culinary experience that exists only on that voyage."

Voyage assignments spread the residencies across the full sailing calendar. Galliot boards for the Grand Caribbean to Tobago & Dominica voyage (January 18–31, 2027); Neumann takes the Lesser Antilles run featuring Guadeloupe & Nevis (January 31–February 7); Tièche returns for a second season on The Rivieras voyage featuring Capri & Cannes (October 3–10); Bracaval is slated for the Canary Islands itinerary featuring Casablanca & Tenerife (November 6–13); and Noeureuil closes the announced slate on the Lesser Antilles voyage featuring St. Lucia & Nevis (November 21–28).

Hospitality Foodservice Context

The Chef-in-Residence model is gaining traction across ultra-luxury hospitality as operators seek differentiated food-and-beverage programming that cannot be easily replicated at land-based competitors. For a vessel like Four Seasons I — an all-suite product built in partnership with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri — culinary programming functions as both a revenue driver and a retention tool for repeat guests willing to book specific voyages around a named chef. The strategy mirrors what several high-end resort brands have pursued with rotating culinary talent, but the captive dining environment of a yacht intensifies the opportunity: guests have limited off-vessel dining options, elevating the F&B experience as a core product differentiator rather than an amenity add-on.

The cross-portfolio sourcing of talent also reinforces Four Seasons' broader strategy of using its hotel restaurant network as a content engine for the yacht product — effectively monetizing Michelin recognition earned at land-based properties across a new luxury hospitality channel. With Four Seasons II slated to debut in 2028, the culinary programming infrastructure being built around Four Seasons I will likely serve as the operational template for the expanded fleet.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.