Representatives of the Mandarin Oriental chain were in Rio recently. Anyone who follows us knows how much we are fans and frequent guests of hotelsso of course we had to participate in the roadshow from them.
We were dinner at one of the best restaurants in Riothe famous chef Roberta Sudbrack, in the Botanical Garden, at the invitation of the network MO. It was a table with few journalists, a general representative of the group MO and another representative of New York Mandarin Oriental, hotel We’ve stayed and loved it. It is super well located, in Columbus Circle and has a breathtaking view, both from the rooms and the lobby.
The restaurant Asiansin addition to great food, it has beautiful decoration, so much so that it is considered one of the best in NY.
But dinner at Roberta wasn’t far behind. In addition to being very well served by fast and friendly staff, the menu was impeccable. The traditional cheese bread was mouth-watering and the smoked eggplant ravioli with bread and parsley was very light and very tasty. The dessert, appropriately named “Divine and Wonderful”, also caught the attention of everyone at the table, with rapadura skin, acidified white chocolate, raspberry and licuri.
The menu pairing was done remotely, by one of the 23 master sommeliers in the world, Laura Williamson, from Asians, after an intense exchange of emails directly from NY with the sommelier Roberta Sudbrack. Needless to say, it worked out really well!
The next day, we went for breakfast at the Laguiole restaurant, at MAM – run by the competent chef Elia Schramm – with more directors from the Mandarin. This time, our meeting with the network was different, as our collaborator, Helen Pomposelli, in addition to participating in the brunch, was invited to teach a workshop on creating fans, an iconic symbol of the Hotels Mandarin Oriental for all guests.
During the event, some professionals spoke to the guests, such as Danilo Huss, associate director of sales for the newest Mandarin Oriental Marrakech – that we are dying to know.
The dear Brazilian Carla Goke, (who we met in Singapore, when we stayed at the MO from there), is now senior sales manager at Mandarin Oriental London – other hotel stunning property and very well located – and told a little about the property, built in a historic building Knightsbridgeand facing Hyde Park.
While everyone was talking about their respective hotelsthe fans were presented on PowerPoint, making everyone very excited about the workshop.
The fan creation workshop, which took place in the same space as the brunch, meant that the accessory ceased to be a mere utilitarian instrument or prop, and became a true work of art. Colorful feathers, metallic fabrics, sequins, trimmings and a lot of creativity were applied to wooden fans, inspired by the network’s fans Hotels Mandarin Oriental, which are usually presented in ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and even scented woods. From the simplest to the most sophisticated, with Brazilian, country or oriental styles, the result was the celebration of a historic meeting of the network Mandarinof which we are unconditional fans.
In addition to the properties mentioned, we have stayed at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas, San Francisco – which is now part of the Lowes brand, Washington DC, and in Miami, in USA. Already Europa, great memories of MO Geneve, of Barcelona, which is incredible, of Paris, on the sophisticated Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. We even have a very recent post about lunch at the hotel, at the Camélia restaurant.
And I couldn’t help but remember the group’s iconic hotels in Asia: Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and Hong Kong, which started the brand more than 50 years ago. The Landmark, also in Hong Kong, is a charming hotel, smaller but very classy.
In total, our editor Renata Araújo has already stayed in 14 Mandarin Oriental hotels around the world and can’t wait to increase this number.
By Renata Araujo and Helen Pomposelli
Photos: Renata Araujo, Helen Pomposelli and Disclosure
Read more:
The luxury of the Hotel Mandarin Oriental Geneva
Mandarin New York – one of the best hotels in the city
Mandarin Oriental from Cingapura
The sophisticated bar at Mandarin Oriental Miami
