Mandarin Oriental
Mandarin Oriental is embarking on two openings in Milan and Marrakech under the watchful gaze of Christoph Mares – but as well as keeping hotel operations on track, this foodie flags how important gourmet experiences are for guests too author: April Hutchinson
the throes of hosting Milan Expo until October 31. It’s the second time Milan has hosted the exposition, the first having been in 1906, but the hotel scene probably looks a lot different these days and by July, it will be joined by a Mandarin Oriental. As the group’s hotels tend to do, it will have
The right ingredients I
f ever there was a time to open a hotel in Milan, it’s got to be 2015. Already a global fashion capital, the Italian city is in
an enviable location, next to the famed opera house, La Scala, and plenty of other attractions besides. Forged by Italian designer Antonio Citterio out of four elegant 19th-century buildings, the hotel is now home to 104 rooms and suites, and the usual eclectic choice of restaurants. Michelin-starred chef Antonio Guida, formerly of Il Pellicano in Tuscany, has been lured as executive chef and highlights will include fine dining restaurant, Seta. Under his impressive title of executive
vice-president, operations director, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India and with 20 years experience in luxury hospitality under his belt, it falls to Christoph Mares to keep things on track across the region. He is also responsible for overseeing global food and beverage operations – and therefore spends a great deal of time with F&B group director David Nicholls. Both are based in the group’s London office and Nicholls’ experience in the world of food spans 30 years; prior to joining Mandarin Oriental, he was a chef at Buckingham Palace and the youngest chef in the UK to be awarded a Michelin star. As chief marketing officer Michael Hobson
says: “As a chef himself, David knows all the best ones in the world as friends and they have a great deal of respect for each other; he can talk with them on their level, which I think has always been important for us in securing talented chefs for our hotels.”
Pushing the envelope Some of those Nicholls has helped attract to Mandarin include world culinary talent such as Daniel Boulud, Thierry Marx and Heston Blumenthal. It’s over lunch at Blumenthal’s restaurant Dinner at the Hyde Park hotel in London that Mares says: “A lot of the joy also comes in seeking out new and up and coming
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TTGLUXURY.COM SUMMER 2015 BUSINESS OF TRAVEL
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