Dine to the Nines

Classic fine dining in Manila is alive and well at the Tivoli

By Teodoro Y. Montelibano

Dining in high style at the Tivoli

My recent visit to the Tivoli, that mecca of fine dining in the metropolis at the second floor of the Mandarin Oriental Manila, was like seeing an old friend who’s all made-up and looking new.

And what a look it now sports! Bright and light, because of the extensive use of glass in the restaurant and the disappearance of the heavy curtains that used to shield the place from outside light. Newly painted walls have also given it a pervading sense of freshness. “My mandate was to finish everything in one month,” said Sonia Santiago-Olivares, on whose shoulders lay the task of giving the Tivoli its new look. “The restaurant was closed on August 1 and we had to finish everything by the end of the month.” Except for a few finishing touches, the restaurant looked ready to open its doors and show off its fresh new look when I dropped by a few days before its relaunch.

Touch of Elegance

I noticed that the wall that used to separate the Roxas Room from the rest of the restaurant had been replaced by glass walls. The room, which doubles as the Tivoli’s smoking room, has drapes, but these will be drawn only when a private party is going on inside. Hanging on the wall was a beautiful painting done in acrylic that Olivares said is the first of seven paintings by a local artist commissioned by the hotel especially for the new Tivoli. “The paintings will be a play on sunrises and sunsets,” she informed.

Peter Fischer from The Bellagio in Las Vegas demonstrates the art of tableside cooking as he prepares crepes suzette

There are quite a number of new touches put together by Olivares that contribute to the Tivoli’s sleek, casually elegant new image, but what particularly grabs your attention is the partition around the middle part of the restaurant. There, a long table has been set in the middle and flanking its sides are floor-to-ceiling wine racks completely made of glass.

You would think that the Mandarin spent huge sums to buy new furniture for the restaurant, but Olivares revealed that all the chairs, for instance, are the same ones that have been used at the Tivoli since it first opened. “The paint used to be white and the chairs were upholstered in gold Thai silk,” said David Thomas, the Mandarin's executive assistant manager for food and beverage. “Mrs. Olivares had the chairs stripped of their white paint, allowing the natural wood to come out, and these were refinished with a honey-beige varnish that approximates the color of the wood. Also, the old upholstery was discarded.” Now upholstered in a smart beige and black fabric, the chairs contribute to the totally chic new appearance of the restaurant.

Back to Fine Dining

The restaurant’s elegant new look includes floor-to-ceiling wine racks completely made of glass

The overall look may be stunning, but ultimately, it is just the backdrop for the real star of the show at the restaurant—the Tivoli’s famed cuisine. Thomas gave a background of what the Mandarin had in mind when the hotel decided to refurbish the Tivoli. “We saw that there seemed to be a shift away from fine dining to more casual, cheaper dining, so we wanted to create a difference by going the other way from the trend. We wanted to go back to fine dining the way it used to be and the way that it should be, the way that people remember it to be but could no longer find anywhere in town,” he said.

Well, fine dining is heartily alive and well again in Manila, particularly with the revival of classic tableside cooking at the Tivoli.

Helmut Gaisberger, the Mandarin Oriental Manila's general manager said, “Tableside preparations are a feast for the senses, as these are veritable displays of showmanship by waiters whose skills have been honed through rigid training.” While the Tivoli was closed for renovation, its wait staff was trained in the intricacies of tableside dining by Peter Fischer from The Bellagio in Las Vegas.

The Tivoli’s muscatelle-infused poached pear mille-feuille tart

I was able to get a preview of the menu a few days before the formal relaunch of the restaurant. The menu was comprised mainly of such classic French dishes as tournedos Rossini (beef short loin paired with truffles and foie gras and with a Madeira sauce), a scrumptious cream of spinach with smoked salmon crostini, a small to-die-for serving of pan-fried fillet of sea bass, scampi Pernod, and a big bowl of crushed ice on which were placed poached clams, shrimps, lobster, mussels, and oysters for everyone to share around the table.

The main entrées were prepared beside our table on a trolley, as were the desserts that capped the feast—muscatelle-infused poached pear mille-feuille tart, crepes suzette, and marbled mint and bittersweet chocolate cheesecake.

That feast proved that fine dining unlike any other has indeed found a home in the metropolis. And that home could only be at the Tivoli.

For reservations and further information regarding the Tivoli, call (632) 750-8888