Press Releases

Left Bank Captures Santé Magazine and Wine Spectator Awards for 2004 Plus AAA’s Four Diamond Rating

November 19, 2004
For Immediate Release
Allie Schatz
Public Relations Director
Phone: (336) 721-1610, ext. 109
Email: allie.schatz@garagebranding.com

Duck, NC--2004 has proven to be a big year for The Left Bank restaurant at The Sanderling. In August, the elegant waterside restaurant at the luxurious oceanside retreat located just outside of Duck, North Carolina, was selected as the recipient of major awards from two of the most respected magazines in the culinary world, as well as receiving the coveted AAA’s Four Diamond Rating.

The Four Diamond awards are given annually by AAA to qualified hotels and restaurants in North America. More than 1,300 properties nationally earn the AAA Four Diamond ratings after full-time specially trained inspectors conduct anonymous overnight stays or dine incognito. An affiliate of the American Automobile Association, AAA Carolinas was founded in 1922 as a not-for-profit organization that now serves more than 1.3 million members with travel, automobile and insurance and services and is an advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.

Santé, the Magazine for Restaurant Professionals honored The Left Bank with the 2004 Grand Award in Culinary Hospitality for excellence in wine and spirits cooking, naming the restaurant “Culinary Hospitality Restaurant of the Year.” The restaurant also received a Regional Spirits Hospitality Award for a hotel/resort bar demonstrating excellence in spirits hospitality. In addition, Wine Spectator magazine honored The Left Bank with its Award of Excellence for 2004.

Santé magazine is a premier, professional culinary magazine, which provides food, beverage and business management information to members of the restaurant industry. The Santé Restaurant Awards program is the only nationwide, peer-judged restaurant and hospitality program in North America. A panel of top professional judges evaluates applications and selects winners based on a variety of criteria, including management philosophy, staff training, service, list selections, recipe and menu development, creativity and innovation, promotional activities and special events. Thus, it is a great honor for the intimate 60-seat restaurant on the Outer Banks to be selected for such prestigious awards.

The elegant, waterfront restaurant offers guests breathtaking views of the Currituck Sound as they enjoy French-inspired, contemporary American cuisine. The Left Bank, which draws inspiration for its name from both The Left Bank of Paris, France and its geographical position on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, focuses on three-, five- and seven-course wave-stopping meals complimented by a carefully selected collection of fine wines. Mouth-watering menu choices range from Slow Roasted Scottish Salmon with sauté of artichokes, fennel and olives, artichoke puree and meyerlemon sauce to Prime Filet Mignon with pepper and thyme spaetzle, porcini and morel mushrooms sautéed swiss chard sauce perigord.

The intimate dining room features an exhibition kitchen, custom cherry millwork, and a display of museum-quality porcelain Doughty birds. The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday until November 2004, with reservations recommended three days in advance. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-701-4111 ext. 133 (before 4 p.m.) or 252-261-8419 (after 4 p.m.) or via e-mail at theleftbank@thesanderling.com. Restaurant attire is “resort classy” for ladies; collared shirt, slacks and covered footwear (jackets optional) for men.

The Sanderling is listed as one of Travel + Leisure magazine’s 500 best hotels in the world for 2003 and 2004 and has been listed on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List for seven consecutive years. The resort was ranked 20th out of the top 30 North American resorts in the Conde Nast Traveler's November 2001 Top 100 Best in the World Reader's Choice Awards issue. The property has been recognized seven years in a row by Wine Spectator with the Award of Excellence for its selection of wine programs that promote food and wine enjoyment. Additionally, The Sanderling received Santé magazine's “Certificate of Achievement” in 2002 and 2003 for high quality standards in cooking, restaurant wine, and spirits hospitality. In 2004 the Left Bank captured Santé’s “Grand Award for Culinary Hospitality Restaurant of the Year”.

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