Apart from anything else that Singapore had to offer, Girlahead spent quite a few of her waking hours eating and drinking. There was a trip to Grand Hyatt to see what had replaced the upper floor Mezza9, which ran so successfully from 1998, but it was too labor-intensive to become eternal.
A bit of background. Grand Hyatt Singapore has been going as such since 1998. Before that, it had 28 years as Hyatt Regency. It was opened in 1970 by the memorable ‘B.C.’, Bernd Chorengel, who went on to be President of Hyatt when he was only 40. Today, the 699-key property on Scotts Road is run by a Bordeaux boy, Edouard Demptos (above). The Mezza9 space is now two portions of Le Pristine French-Italian finer dining dinner only. The two rooms are separated by an enormous kitchen, mostly black, and the cooks wear black. But the hotel does have a restaurant that seemingly lasts forever, the basement level Pete's Place, 1973 and a great for-ever vibe. Named for Peter di Tullio, who set up the international side of Hyatt, the ambience is arguably more authentic than other Italian restaurants in town. It does look as though it's been there since Nonna, grandmother days. Parts of the walls are bare brick. The ceilings are low and painted black.
For a circular Italian buffet that appears to encompass the world it’s so large, Girlahead headed to Basilico in Conrad Orchard. It’s now 12 years old and as popular as ever. Part of the reason for this success is it's a big open circle display. People nip in and start at any point and go either clockwise or anti-clockwise and the proportions are big enough not to worry. Don’t miss ‘pizza three’ bread, Luca Beccalli’s just-made focaccia with a crusty dough topping. Of course any hotel restaurant is considerably helped when the GM is a foodie, as is the case here: breaking proverbial bread with Thomas Hoeborn – and his wife Annie – is always special.
As a change from helping herself at buffets it was a delight to be served a quick lunch with Andras Biro, GM Capitol Kempinski, before he showed off his new Jazz Club, launched 16 October, with 80 covers, almost a full house – best-sellers from day one include truffle fries, Taittinger. There was also a visit to a wedding set-up in Singapore’s gorgeous Capitol Theatre, commissioned and financed in 1929 by Mirza Mohamed Ali Namazie, a Persian businessman, who was inspired by New York’s Roxy Theatre. It’s a tremendous asset to the hotel, which manages it (which other properties have integral history-but-restored working theatres? Only Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Palace, a Belmond jewel, springs immediately to mind).
And finally, an – admittedly cautiously – riotous dinner at Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapore's 347-key inside-out hotel. It soars up through 23 floors with four terraces, four sky terraces: Forest, Beach, Garden, and Cloud, interconnected across the layers, with a 130-person Pacific Club lounge as part of Garden. Mosella, a Mediterranean restaurant overlooking Forest, has a marvellous menu, everything from pizzas to sharing nibbles to full-scale Florentine steaks. Big open kitchen, variety of seating types, the whole space broken up. Pan Pacific’s seriously extroverted COO Craig Bond held court, ably supported by another Aussie, hotel GM Jason Leung, and PPHG’s top communicator Jastina Balen. Great product, great fun – and yes, Singapore works.
