IN THE NEWS

Former Mirbeau Inn chef plans angelic menu at Seneca Falls hotel

by Toni Guidice / The Post-Standard
February 20, 2009

Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard
Edward Moro stands in the bar-lobby area of the Clarence Hotel in Seneca Falls. He will be the chef when it opens in June. Moro was the executive chef at Mirbeau Inn and Spa in Skaneateles. Moro said he plans to offer affordable food with bold and subtle flavors.

Seneca Falls, NY -- The executive director of food and beverage at the new Hotel Clarence in downtown Seneca Falls is Edward Moro -- the executive chef at Mirbeau Inn and Spa in Skaneateles for the past nine years.

"He is one of the top chefs in the country," said Joachim Ohlin, the director of hospitality at the new hotel scheduled to open in June.

Moro started in January so he could be involved "from the ground up."

The hotel and restaurant will provide a high level food and beverage experience, said co-owner Jake McKenna, but at a reasonable rate that can be enjoyed by everyone.

"We want to make sure that pricewise we are catering to the locals," Ohlin said.

They want the type of restaurant and bar where people come in "again and again and again," Moro said.

Moro said he worked in California's Napa Valley and in the Oregon wine country before coming to the Finger Lakes. He said he was attracted to the New York wine region and wants to emphasize local food and wine in the Hotel Clarence.

His contemporary American cuisine will including grilled and smoked foods, he said.

He hopes to put together an annual festival of Finger Lakes food and wine at the new hotel.

"This is where I plan to live for the rest of my life," Moro said.

It's a great area to raise kids, he said, and it has wonderful food and wine. The Hotel Clarence will be "another feather in the cap of this area," he said.