MANDARIN ORIENTAL’S ‘FOLIAGE’ VOTED ‘HOTEL RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2000’

Foliage, the spectacular new restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London has been voted the ‘Hotel Restaurant of the Year 2000’ by Hotel & Restaurant Magazine at the Restauranteur’s Restaurant of the Year Awards held in London this month.

A mere five months after opening, Foliage was proclaimed winner in the hotel restaurant category, beating well-established restaurants such as Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and The Connaught.

As the only award voted by the restaurant industry for the restaurant industry, it acknowledges that Foliage is now one of the country’s most outstanding restaurants. Offering exquisite food and fine service, these qualities have also been recognised by some of the United Kingdom’s most respected food critics in recent months.

Designed by Adam Tihany, as part of the hotel’s recent renovation, Foliage’s interiors have been created to highlight the stunning views of Hyde Park and the unique position of the hotel. By night, glass panels in the walls containing 24,000 silk leaves light up to reflect a variety of colours or lights depending on the season, re-creating the park inside for the evening diners.

Executive chef David Nicholls, winner of many coveted international awards and Head Chef, Hywell Jones, have revitalised the dining experience at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park by creating mouth-watering dishes such as ravioli of scallops and langoustines, saddle of lamb with green olive crust, roast cod with sweet red and yellow pepper compote and a delicious hot Cuban chocolate fondant with whisky ice cream and caramel craquelin. A three-course lunch is priced at £23.00 (two-courses is just £19.00) and dinner costs £32.50. An extensive a la carte menu and wine list are also available.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is the award-winning owner and operator of some of the world’s finest hotels. The Group operates luxury hotels in key leisure and business destinations, with two hotels under development, one in Miami, Florida (opening late 2000) and the other in New York (opening late 2003). In total, Mandarin Oriental employs almost 9,000 staff in three continents with 10 hotels in Asia, seven in the Americas and four in Europe.