Hemingway’s, long a featured restaurant at Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, is closed and will be replaced by a new restaurant concept from television chef Richard Blais. The name of the restaurant has not been disclosed, however, it will have a tropical concept. The resort has announced a job fair for positions at the new venue for Tues., Oct, 12, so it would seem that an opening is imminent.

Blais was the first winner of Bravo’s Top Chef All-Stars and will be a co-star of the upcoming Fox cooking competition Next Level Chef with Gordon Ramsay. He currently owns Juniper & Ivy in San Diego and the unfortunately named Crack Shack, with three locations in Southern California. He also developed a restaurant called Ember & Rye that opened recently at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. He consults and develops concepts through his company, Trail Blais.

Blais headshotThose who have seen the menu for the new restaurant said it may feature such dishes as coconut & caviar; aji tuna tostone with mango; lambshank braised in ginger beer; red snapper; and beef Wellington. The new restaurant will also bring Sunday brunch back to the Hyatt Regency, something that has been missing since La Coquina closed nine years ago.

Nothing about the design or decor will change, according to Paul Joseph, general manager for the Hyatt Regency. The restaurant had just been remodeled in 2019, shortly before its forced closure.

Hemingway’s (known for a time as Hemingways), was one of the area’s most durable restaurants and operated for 34 years before the pandemic forced its closing. It was located apart from the main high-rise hotel in a building that brought to mind a Key West house, overlooking the resort’s pool. The cuisine, too, with “Papa’s favorite dishes,” was Key West inspired, though for some reason the most recent description of the restaurant on the Hyatt Regency’s website said that it featured an Alaskan-style Key lime pie, whatever that is.