Mandarin Oriental Welcomes the “G20″ of the Chef World to Hong Kong

Have Obama’s favorite food cooked for you by his personal chef!

Just when you thought fine dining was getting too political, the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong is assembling 25 chefs who cook for the world’s premiers, presidents and monarchs and, luckily for us, is inviting you to join them!

So, for those of you who have ever wanted to feel like the Her Majesty the Queen or Presient Sarkozy at dinner time, now’s your chance by joining this one of a kind event from August 17 – 21st only at the hotel’s ballroom.

Each table of eight will be hosted by one chef, affording guests an unmissable opportunity to learn the ins and outs of life as a chef to the world’s most influential leaders. Tickets for the dinner at The Connaught Room are priced at HK$12,000 + 10% per table of eight for a six-course dinner including wine.

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Berry Bros. and Rudd Host Exclusive Hong Kong Wine Tasting Event

BBR introduces 12 Winemakers to Hong Kong to showcase over 100 wines.

Berry Bros. and Rudd, Hong Kong’s leading wine and spirits merchant, hosted an exclusive tasting to showcase wines from some of the world’s most exciting and acclaimed wine producers.

BBR brought 12 wine producers to Hong Kong especially to showcase their wines to more than 400 guests, including members of the trade and their direct customers. At The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, guests got to enjoy over 100 wines from the world’s greatest wine regions.

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Choosing Wine at a Restaurant with Pierre Legrandois

Tips on choosing wine and making an impression at a business lunch.

painting by Mark Keller

Pierre Legrandois, Chief Sommelier at the Mandarin Oriental give us some pointers on how to  navigate the wine list at restaurants. When you are taking your clients out for a business dinner and its up to you to order the wine, Pierre suggests the following:

1. Choose a wine according to the food of your guests. It shows you are paying attention, thoughtful and want to ensure an enjoyable experience.
2. When in doubt, 0pt for classic wines like Burgundy white like Montrachet &Meursault or a red Bordeaux.
3. Know the French Vintages: 1982, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003
4. Ask for a recommendation without mentioning your budget out right.

A good way to handle this is to mention to the sommelier that you like a certain kind of wine. For example, do you have Chateaux “this vintage” for “X price,” if you can you please recommend something similar?  Another way is to mention you would like a wine similar to “X” and point to the price on the wine list to your sommelier.  Its a gesture most sommelier understands.

Ordering Wine at Lunch – Pierre Legrandois

Lunch time wine.

Pierre Legrandois, Chief Sommalier at the Mandarin Oriental give us some pointers on how to enjoy wine during lunch. Many people don’t order wine during lunch for fear of the after effects when they still have to be at the office.  Pierre has some tips on how you can enjoy wine during lunch.

The trick is to order lower alcohol content wine from countries like Germany and Eastern Europe where most of the lower alcohol content variety of wine are made. Not all wine have the same alcohol content so choose the variety with less alcohol content if you don’t want to be impaired at your meeting after.   For whites, go for Sauvignon Blanc and Reisling and for red, choose Pinor Noir or Niebbiolo. For example a Reisling normally contain 7-11% alcohol while alcohol level in Chardonay is usually 12-14%.

So now you know, go ahead enjoy some wine during your business lunch, it might make it a little more amicable, just a little.