SANGU STORIES, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands

Culinary Landscape with Dan Drebing

June 13, 2021 Host: Mark Hehir - General Manager Season 4 Episode 1
SANGU STORIES, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands
Culinary Landscape with Dan Drebing
Show Notes Transcript

Welcome to a new episode of Sangu Stories!

In this episode, we will be talking about the culinary landscape of the archipelago. We have here with us Dan Drebing, Director of Food and Beverage, to take us through our 7 restaurants and bars. Discover more on our Culinary Island, dining at Fari Marina Village and programming.

For any further information or assistance, please contact Aminath.Haadhee@ritzcarlton.com , Marketing Communications Manager.

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For more information about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, visit our website

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Mark Hehir:

Welcome to Sangu Stories. Today, we have our food beverage director, Dan Drebing to share one of the most anticipated topics: restaurants and beverages. The culinary scene at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives truly takes travellers around the world complemented by fresh and fine ingredients, curated in bespoke ambiences. Whether seeking an intimate setting under the stars or laughter-filled long table of lunches, where stories come alive. We have restaurants and bars located on our Culinary Island, Grand Sunset Beach and our Fari Marina from Southern Italian to Cantonese cuisine with Michelin star collaborations. How exciting is that? I'll let Dan take us through the culinary landscape of the resort. Welcome Dan. Nice to have you here. Finally, after a few months in a long journey to the Maldives here, we are, uh, live here in the Island.

Dan Drebing:

Thank you very much, Mark. It's such a pleasure to be here and, you know, after so many months looking at renderings and drawings, and really now looking at it, feeling, you know, feeling the restaurants is really a such a different moment. And thank you very much for having me. It really is a pleasure.

Mark Hehir:

No, it's certainly the most exciting part of the, of the whole journey now where we see the restaurants coming alive. We see the furniture coming in place. We were able to do an amazing journey yesterday, getting our license to operate the resort. So it was very exciting to actually see the first dishes being cooked in La Locanda, which we'll talk about in the moment, which was very nice. Wasn't it?

Dan Drebing:

It was a very completing day, I think, for an F&B Director to see his product come to life and see the chefs in the kitchen and see the service going. It has been really good to see that. And now we're just very excited to be able to welcome guest.

Mark Hehir:

Definitely. So it's seven restaurants and bars located on the Culinary Island, which in itself is quite unique and really well placed between both our North and South Island for our customers to easily get to and, uh, and enjoy these moments. Uh, Grand Sunset Beach and Fari Marina is the framing of those as well. We have, uh, outlets in, in the, in both of them, which are fabulous from Southern Italian to Cantonese cuisine and the Michelin star collaboration, which we'll learn a bit about as well. Uh, it's so exciting, Dan, uh, we're very, you know, we're sort of, can't wait for it to happen

Dan Drebing:

And I can't wait for everybody to really see it and taste the flavours. Um, Chef and I have an international approach to our offerings, but really embracing the true Maldivian flavors as well. Um, and our approach in general to the F&B concepts was really having a minimalistic approach. We wanted to make sure we have a beautiful menu created in such a way that there is still a lot of interaction that will happen with the mixologist or with the chefs. We believe that our approach to personalisation will only come once. Our guests really has a one-on-one interaction with our Ladies and Gentlemen.

Mark Hehir:

Um, yes, I think that's the, you know, really bringing The Ritz-Carlton alive and bringing the brand alive is actually our people. And that's that interaction and connection, which we are definitely excited about. Dan, take us through. And that's why I want to talk about today is taking us through the culinary landscape. There's so much to talk about. Um, so, you know, firstly, you know, tell us about the landscape in The Ritz-Carlton Maldives and then the Fari Marina opportunity. And so the whole Fari archipelago co uh, when it's completed, there's going to be amazing. Yeah,

Dan Drebing:

Totally. Um, as you said earlier, we're going to be having seven restaurants and bars. If I can start, one of the biggest unique thing we have on this island really is our Culinary Island, where you will find an, an array of international cuisine. We'll start it off with a Locanda for us. It's really is more about the journey and the perfect place to start it off as every day at La Locanda, which really is this beautiful, inspired Southern entire Southern Italian restaurant is where we will, where we will be serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The journey really will start in the morning at La Locanda at this beautiful over-water restaurant inspired from our Southern part of Italy, where in the morning, the Espresso Bar really takes that scene because it's that first place where the guests will be welcomed. We have a beautiful, um, we have a beautiful partnership with Lavazza where they'll be doing well. We will be doing different types of coffee every morning and having different offerings for the guests.

Mark Hehir:

So that's, uh, uh, Dan that's, that's a really nice way to, to describe it because I can imagine we were walking down and seeing the ocean in the background and smelling the coffee. And there's that first moment where it comes alive. Right.

Dan Drebing:

Very true, very true Mark. And in this breakfast scene, as well as where we really want to showcase different kinds of, of, um, different types of breakfast varieties, where it's more about an interactive buffet, really, and our goal is to create your mini buffet on top of your table, whether it fits, um, from the bakery. So it really is about creating a mini buffet on your table. Mark. Imagine if you come into, um, imagining yourself into breakfast in the morning and you can choose directly what you would like to have with the, with the possible, with the endless possibility of, um, from bakeries to cold cuts, to beautiful salmon in the morning, but not only that, we also have a great variety of healthy items that will be featured as well, which we're super excited about. And not only that a wide range of healthy juice boosters that you can create[inaudible] by our mixologists in the morning.

Mark Hehir:

I just love walking through and looking out to the ocean with the grass and having those choices to sit as well. I mean, you can sit in three beautiful location,

Dan Drebing:

La Locanda has that. And that is the most beautiful thing of it because really is about the setting of the restaurant. The over-water, the over-water dining area really provides you that sense of calm and chill in the morning. And then you also have another area where you have the bum where you can be on the grass underneath the palm trees, beautiful space of start off your morning.

Mark Hehir:

Lovely, lovely. And then through the day, where do you go next?

Dan Drebing:

So you can definitely follow that just right in front where you will be greeted at Eau Bar. Today is as its name Eau Bar really, um, takes a homage for the water, because as you enter and you have this beautiful infinity pool edge, that really is just marries together with the Indian Ocean. And it's just a very elegant, sophisticated place to be almost actually an adults only space. If I can, if I can describe it as such, um, over here, the indulging really comes from beautiful Shuck Oysters. We have a great plan for caviar, but not only that really, um, it also the beverage menu that will also feature a vast selection of champagne will really be a place to be during the daytime, but more so during sunset times.

Mark Hehir:

Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. So it's, it's got to, it's got two parts, right? I really feel the daytime is probably a bit more casual around the pool and enjoying light bites and, and that casual, uh, and then going into afternoon tea, which is one of our features there, right?

Dan Drebing:

So afternoon teae is going to be one of the daily highlights, as well as you know, we're going to be doing a very nice representation of the Maldivian Hedhikas. Maldivian Hedhikas are this afternoon bites that we all love to gather around around on, and really we'll feature your typical Maldivian flavours from dry tuna to grated coconut and

Mark Hehir:

Yeah, one of my favourites and we did in a previous podcast, we did with Chef Jameel and getting really inspired about those Hedhikas, shorteats thing is to me a great moment. And then, then you, and then you peel away, but then that bar comes alive at night and reinvents itself again.

Dan Drebing:

This bar really will have, and the bar we really have a, more of a theater kind of style, where it really goes from the day to night, knowing it really changes the scene from this casual environment throughout the day. But then you transition into more of this traditional Hedhikas for your afternoon tea. And then later on at night where it really becomes this very elegant, sophisticated place where you can have your pre-dinner, but also your, um, we also see this place as the place to be, to finish off your night with a perfect cocktail or a nice glass of whiskey, perhaps, but just really a very nice serene place to end up your day.

Mark Hehir:

Chocolate tasting platter really is exciting. I want to be part of that tasting as well. And, you know, we're just, uh, we're discussing champagne a few days ago with our head sommelier. And I think we're, we've got some exciting news to talk about with our, and that'll be in a future podcast about our wine selection and that journey because it is especially with our champagne house for the resorts. Fantastic news. So stay tuned on that one. So take us around the, uh, the rest of the other culinary choices. There's so much on offer.

Dan Drebing:

So right next to Eau Bar, we have this beautiful Japanese restaurant called IWAU and just to touch base on the name, because I think it's, it really represents what we were going to be doing there, but really talks about celebration, IWAU in Japanese means to celebrate. And that's what we want to do. And dining underneath that stars were really just enliven that, um, beautiful teppanyaki menu that we've got, uh, that we've got prepared for everybody, and really is, um, chef Jameel's creation bring into life, which is going to be the most, um, which is really the highlight of this. Um, not only that we have a great selection of, um, sushi and sashimis with a lot of local products that we want to incorporate. As you know, we have great quality of reef fishes over here, Maldivian lobsters. So a lot of things that's going to be blended into this beautiful cuisine.

Mark Hehir:

So take us down to, uh, some of the other choices

Dan Drebing:

Wonderful beside from that, we also have Beach Shack located our South Island, perfect place for me. Um, perfect place to be during the daytime. You have a great opportunity to have long lunches. I really, it really reminds me of being back in the Mediterranean, where we can long, where you can enjoy long lunches, great places to a great place to be with the friends and family drinking roséwines a whole afternoon, and just really having your feet in the sand. I think that really will give you that Maldivian feeling. No one is really in the location itself, having this beautiful, um, the beautiful view of the water, the music behind you. We have a great lineup of entry team and plan for this place. And just that beautiful moment of being in the Maldives. This is where it will come to life.

Mark Hehir:

Yeah. So then, uh, around the Island itself, there's lots of opportunities to have some amazing dinners, whether it's a couple or a family or celebration, tell us.

Dan Drebing:

And that is what that is. Some private dining experience for us really is going to be one of our biggest highlight out. We are so blessed to have such a great locations around the island that we can do private dinners for couples, but more so for families. We have a great idea of, we have a great set up prepared for families that would like to go out for a picnic and we can do private events with them, whether it, if it's daytime or nighttime. And this is something that we're really looking forward to do.

Mark Hehir:

Wonderful. Wonderful. And so, uh, before we go too far away from there on the culinary, I want to talk a bit more about the Summer Pavilion.

Dan Drebing:

Well, last but not least, uh, one of the biggest highlights that we have over here at the, um, at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives is our Summer Pavilion, this beautiful over-water lantern inspired restaurant. This restaurant will be featuring tapas-style dining with authentic Cantonese cuisine, something that we feel very, very passionate about. And we feel so lucky to collaborate with Summer Pavilion, that's coming from The Ritz-Carlton, Millennial Singapore, which year after year, as you know, they've won Michelin star and something that is very dear to us to make sure that w e, we, we, we really highlight t o all of our guests.

Mark Hehir:

Yeah, tremendous. And then you take a small Dhoni, uh, over the waters, uh, down to the Fari Village Marina, which is located on the island as Patina our sister Island. And, uh, it's only about eight minutes. And, uh, and you get the chance to ride over there probably daily down

Dan Drebing:

On a daily basis. We'll be there on a daily basis. Yes. And it's such an exciting moment for us because in the Maldives is not very common for people to travel between islands. We will have two beautiful restaurants. One would be our Lebanese inspired Arabesque. Um, you should see it inside. It has this beautiful patterns, this vivid red colors of textiles around it. The sunken seats really reminds you of that Bedouin style of dining.

Mark Hehir:

Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful. And then featuring another flavour combination, there are inspired from India, stunning three cauldron like Tandoors which is great. And then on, and beside that, you've got another unit unique, uh, element for Maldives I think

Dan Drebing:

It's going to be a very fun restaurant, a very fun food trailer that we have over there called Tum Tum. Um, this for me is one of my favorites, especially because of the cuisine serving, um, Southern Southeast Asian delicacies, um, Bao buns to crispy salads and something very, very casual and just fun.

Mark Hehir:

I think it's unique and, uh, amazing to see the first ever Airstream van arrived in the Maldives and parked on the side of the beach there, but it's a, and that's a stunning piece in itself. Uh, but yeah, this combination of casual eating and dining, uh, is something special and right throughout the Fari Village, as we know, we've got some great other chef collaborations with Patinas team. And, and I think that whole journey around the pool area and that other offering for our customers to be able to go over, eat and dine and also know that they can charge back and it's all connected. The systems are connected. It's very much about the experiences and no hassles.

Dan Drebing:

And I think that is where the Fari islands really come together. Right. Because that's basically the main hub where all three resorts can come really come to and really see this Fari Island come to life.

Mark Hehir:

Yeah. We just got a vision of the James Turrell light installation there, which has been a, in itself, a feat of construction engineering and inspiration from the James Turrell, uh, you know, collection of amazing pieces of art. This unique piece really allows light to travel through a structure and highlight day and night. And I'm really interested to see how that piece of art also connects up to all the other experiences. So our guests really have so much to see so much to experience so much to do. And then while you're eating, you must, uh, we must talk a bit more about drinking. So tell us a bit more about the beverage programe Dan.

Dan Drebing:

No, that's wonderful. And I think what we have done here really is to extract the essence of each outlet's concept, making sure that we deliver something unique to our guests and make a statement with it with our beverage programme, we've really taken it up a notch with local flavours and embracing our local flavours here in the Maldives and creating five unique cocktails around that. So at IWAU, it'll take a play on using uncommon ingredients in cocktails, such as Katsuobushi, seaweed or even soy sauce. Imagine that, and for Beach Shack really is more about drawing that Mediterranean summer feeling and with conscious focus on low ABV cocktails to keep guest enjoying long hours hearing sharing plates and at Summer Pavilion, we will feature three subtly infuse cocktails perfect for our Cantonese dishes.

Mark Hehir:

Beautiful. Can't wait for the tasting today. We got to taste the some great teas. Tell us a bit more about that.

Dan Drebing:

So we are going to be partnering with a, uh, with a company from Singapore where we will be, we will be used, we will be using Gifel for all our loose tea at the Japanese and where we will be using Gifel for Summer Pavilion and IWAU restaurant, beautiful selection of, uh, Chinese team and blooming tea as well. And at the Japanese restaurant, it will be more, it will be more focused on Matcha and green tea.

Mark Hehir:

Right? Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful. So, uh, you know, and there's lots more to come around the beverage and, and as we expand on the Sakes and the champagnes and, and these things, uh, should we move into talking about the entertainment

Dan Drebing:

Entertainment for me is something very, very enclosed and I really want to make, and I, and we feel that music needs to be the music for us is really more about an enhancement of the senses. And with this, we have a great lineup of DJs that we would like to bring throughout the months, but also live bands. And as we go forward to the festive season, really bringing in those bigger names, but on a daily basis, really more about you using acoustic sounds across the places, whether, if it's a sunset at, uh, IWAU or some, some private sessions that you will have at the Beach Shack,

Mark Hehir:

Beautiful, beautiful. So that's a great taste and insight t o what we've got planned down. And as, as y ou a re now building out the team, I've got some incredible experienced, u h, individuals from different parts of the world. I t's a really w ell b alanced cuisine, but it's also a balanced team from, from Europe. And we've got some great ex R itz-Carlton Ladies and Gentlemen, as well as local, u h, indigenous people really infusing the connectivity and, u h, of the service and how it meets our c ustomer's expectations. So I'm excited. U h, I look forward to the next steps. We've got 53 days to go for opening and that's counting down very fast. Isn't it Dan?

Dan Drebing:

It's here. It's here. We're very excited to be opening very, very soon.

Mark Hehir:

Well, thanks for your time today. I guess you've got to get back to work and do other things, but the conversation for today was really important to share that our customers and colleagues are like, so thank you.

Dan Drebing:

Thank you very much.

Speaker 3:

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. Join me next time. When we discover more about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.