The inaugural AccorHotels Food & Wine Festival blew into town and gave us a taste of the diverse offerings within the largest hospitality group in Singapore.
There certainly were dining and party venues galore. The AccorHotels network includes Raffles Hotel, Fairmont Singapore, So Sofitel Singapore, Sofitel Singapore City Centre, Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa, Swissôtel Stamford Singapore, Swissôtel Merchant Court, Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy, Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay, Novotel & Mercure Stevens Road (opening Oct), Mercure Singapore Bugis, ibis Styles Macpherson, ibis on Bencoolen and ibis Novena.
After a swanky VIP launch at Bar Rogue, Swissôtel Stamford, the nine-day festivities kicked off with pool parties at five hotels.
The one was at SO Sofitel felt really cosy and exclusive. It's a lush oasis right in the heart of the CBD, and kicking back here at the pool is an extra luxurious feeling.
There was marvellous food - grilled sausages, satay, cous cous and mutton rendang just to name a few.
Auchentosan hosted a drink bar as well. This is the super refreshing Ye Olde Soda Sour - perfect for the scorching hot weather.
All throughout the festival, the hotels prepared signature dishes in affordably priced set menus, starting from S$15++. I am quite sure Michelin-starred JAAN was all sold out for these but there are gems from the various other restaurants too.
What I really enjoyed were the workshops and masterclasses.
I hosted some readers at the Peranakan cuisine workshop at Ellenborough Market, Swissôtel Merchant Court. This cuisine is notoriously laborious and requires so many ingredients and patience to get right, so a workshop is really valuable as a session where you can see how it's done and ask questions.
Executive Chef Louis Tay and Sous Chef Lok Jun Wah gave enlightening tips and live demonstrations on how to prepare Itek Tim (Salted Vegetables and Duck Soup), Tau Yu Chicken (Dark Soy Sauce Chicken), Ikan Asam Pedas (Spicy Tamarind Fish), and Sambal Bendi (Okra with Sambal paste).
The best part was being able to try the food. And what a feast this was! I love how colourful everything was.
Chef Louis also generously treated us to the stunning durian pengat that's been the the no.1 hall of fame dish at Ellenborough Market.
Photo with the talented chefs! By the way, Chef Louis Tay is also the one who took home gold for Singapore in the Culinary Olympics 2016.
After that we adjourned to Anti:dote at Fairmont Singapore, where award-winning bartender Bannie Kang gave us a hands-on session on making a couple of cocktails.
The cocktail masterclass was aptly small and cosy, allowing not just questions but experiential depth. It was really fun and casual, so we could all really just dive in.
I really liked this one with Sage and Jackfruit. What a unique but refreshing combination!
The AccorHotels Food & Wine Festival culminated in a super-charged Sunday brunch!
All the hotels each showcased their dish of pride. And there were plenty of drinks to be had at the pool, plus spa massages and entertainment for the kids!
Here's a quick video on the events I attended. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for next year! Raffles Hotel will be fully open after a thorough renovation; I’m sure it will be the jewel in the AccorHotels collection!
This post is brought to you by AccorHotels. First photo and set menu photo courtesy of Accor. Final two photos courtesy of Karen Chang.
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