CLOSER DINING invited people from the arts, the business sector and the government to sit down over a sumptuous private dinner at the Mandarin Oriental, Macau to discuss the local creative industries and future possible collaborations
CLOSER DINING is a series of events, which aims to gather artists, business professionals and government officials in a formal dinner setting to help promote and develop local creative industries.
“As an arts and lifestyle magazine, Macau CLOSER thought it would be good to create a new networking event where entrepreneurs, creative people and also government officials could meet and eventually, we hope, generate new projects in Macau”, explained Hélder Beja, Editor-in-Chief of Macau CLOSER magazine. “The idea is to have this event every three months, always at a different fine dining venue, with interesting guests not only from Macau but from Hong Kong too”.
On the evening of November 25, the inaugural edition of CLOSER DINING was held at the impressive Vida Rica Restaurant and Bar, presenting an exquisite five-course banquet, beautifully prepared by Executive Chef Dominique Bugnand.
General Manager of the Mandarin Oriental, Macau, Martin Schnider, explained that the hotel has long been associated with art and culture.
“In the past five years since we opened, we have tried to be different from the other hotels, by partnering with art and cultural related activities. When we sell Macau, we sell it as a cultural destination,” he said. “Macau needs to promote its art and culture more, to create awareness and give people a reason to come to Macau, other than gaming. It is a healthy and long term growth strategy”.
All the guests on the night agreed that Macau has the potential to develop a budding creative scene.
“The creative industries are slightly beyond inception now and are starting to grow a little bit. We are trying to create opportunities,” stated Helena Senna Fernandes, Director of Macau Government Tourist Office.
“There are a lot of artists in Macau doing a lot of different things already, and although both the government and private institutions are helping, it will take time,” noted Ana Paula Cleto, Director of the Orient Foundation.
Everyone also agreed that the government does provide assistance and incentives for the cultural industries to develop, however it cannot achieve results on its own; the cultural sector also has to take the initiative.
“Being an artist, I think it [the government] is quite good. I think it is helping, but I also think that on the other hand we [artists] have to be quite proactive. We have to meet them half way,” shared Alice Kok, Director of Art For All.
James Chu, Director of the recently opened Macau Design Centre agreed.
“Artists have to work hard to believe they can be professionals and not just amateurs. The government can’t do everything for them, they should aim bigger”.
On CLOSER DINER as a networking event, the guests were very positive of the outcome and eager for upcoming events.
“It was a fantastic initiative, exchanging ideas over a gourmet dinner was perfect,” concluded renowned local architect and artist Carlos Marreiros.
Other distinguished guests at the dinner included Wanda Wong, Assistant General Manager – Executive Office at ICBC (Macau); Martin Fu, General Manager of One Central; Anita Ao, Director of Business Development for Macpro Gallery; Ada Chio Director Of Marketing Communications for Mandarin Oriental, Macau; and Ricardo Pinto, Publisher of Macau CLOSER.
Chef Dominique
Bugnand’s Artistic Feast
Vida Rica Bar and Restaurant at Mandarin Oriental, Macau hosted the inaugural CLOSER DINING event last month, with an artistically-inspired five-course menu created by Executive Chef Dominique Bugnand.
“The menu was all about art, mixing food and art, as Macau CLOSER magazine is very arts oriented,” explained Chef Dominque.
Each dish told a unique and individual story, taking guests on a journey through the five courses. The first course was the Karesansui rock garden. Resembling a Japanese Zen rock garden, this dish included duck foie gras terrine coated with cacao butter served with sweet corn puree and spiced duck skin powder.
For the second course, Chef Bugnand created a crepes consommé with an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter’s Tea Party feel, featuring a wild mushrooms consommé with crepes and celeriac, and a big red and white mushroom to garnish.
This was followed by a dish playfully called ‘Who comes first, the chicken or the egg’ with a white truffle infused golden egg in the net and fresh white truffle shavings.
Next guests enjoyed a trip to the seaside with a red prawn from Madagascar, presented on a picture frame, and complemented with ‘coral’ made of squid ink and ‘sand’ made from lobster oil.
The fourth course was mouth-watering charcoaled lamb loin with stone potatoes and a vegetable checker board.
Finally, dessert was the planet Saturn, inspired by the French saying “la tête dans le ciel”, meaning ‘artists have their heads in the sky’. The planet was made of delicious white chocolate and filled with caramelized apple with vanilla, green apple sherbert and cider espuma and galactic sparkle.
Each course was carefully paired with selected fine wines from Portugal, Italy, Austria and Germany.
