While the city may have outstanding venues, it’s the extra measures Hong Kong hotels are taking to present memorable events that are making a difference. Here are some recent highlights.
AFRICAN FEAST
Pacific Cigar Company chose an adventurous theme for its 80-person event at The Mira’s Whisk Bar. Organiser Silvio Berge used animal prints, light torches, giant African masks and shields to evoke the Masai Mara animal reserve in Kenya for the “Dream of Africa” theme. Models, dancers and drummers wearing costumes complete with face and skin painting greeted guests.
Berge recruited Singapore chef Justin Quek to design the menu. “I wanted to create a menu that was really about Africa. The ethnic diversity, the wildlife, the raw, untamed landscape,” he says. “Using a hint of ingredients such as smoked crocodile and also ostrich heightens the flavours of the African continent. Herbs, spices and condiments evoking traditional Moroccan cuisine such as harissa, mint and Kenyan coffee also reflected the geographical and tribal medley that is Africa.”
Some dishes included soup shooters like roasted corn and tomato, and smoked crocodile essence with mushroom cigar. The main course was ostrich stew with root vegetables and roasted yam. The hotel also created a special cocktail based on the theme called “African Rumble” that was a combination of Baileys, Tia Maria, Kahlua, chocolate schnapps and milk.
The dining tables were decked out with leopard-print tablecloths, while bowls and plates were black. Centrepieces were tea lights in small glasses that were hung on stalks of bamboo. Throughout the evening drummers and dancers performed, and there was also a drumming competition held between the guests, which they enjoyed participating in.
WILD DININGThe ballroom of Grand Hyatt Hong Kong was decked out in a jungle theme for a chamber of commerce event in June. Guests walked through the dimly lit entrance, with leaves wrapped around the pillars. The jungle theme continued into the ballroom where table settings had creative floral displays that seemed to sprout from the centre of the table. The artful decorations were done by contracted designers who left no area of the round tables untouched in terms of colour and design.
Meanwhile the hotel’s F&B team used the jungle theme for culinary inspiration while adding their own Asian touch, explains Vivian Wan, Grand Hyatt’s director of conventions and events. Each dish was decorated with either banana leaves or coconut shells and pineapples.
The starters were raw marinated Amazonas swordfish with lime and sugar cane, blue swimming crab tartare with chilli and sweet melon, and grilled green curry prawns with mango and coriander salsa. Thai coconut chicken soup, tom ka gai, was served in a coconut shell with chicken satay.
After a palate cleanser of passionfruit sorbet, the mains were braised rendang beef cheek with crunchy macadamia nuts, steamed cod in sour pepper and papaya sauce with wok-fried rice in lotus leaves and stir-fried morning glory with soy bean paste. The evening was rounded off with peppered pineapple and vanilla ice-cream with cookie crisps.
COOKING COMPETITIONA hands-on event held at Kowloon Shangri-La featured a teambuilding exercise in early May. An American company had 40 of its staff take part in an Iron Chef competition at the hotel.
As Grace Kwok, director of events management at Kowloon Shangri-La explains, participants were divided into five teams. Each was assigned a chef who was only allowed to instruct them on what to do. The teams had to prepare one appetizer and one main course each, which were then judged by the executive chef.
He scored the teams on food hygiene, how well they completed the assignment, how well they worked together as a team, food presentation and the taste.
The teams were clearly differentiated by the colour of their aprons and matching hats, and action in the kitchen was lively and at times tense due to the pressures involved in the competition.
In the end the winners received prizes and delegates were then led to a function room where they were treated to a proper dinner similar to the dishes they themselves had prepared earlier.