Location 2010
The Grand Lisboa Hotel
Macau, China
Dr Stanley Ho, Managing Director of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau recently hosted the official opening ceremony for the Grand Lisboa, SJM’s new flagship leisure and entertainment attraction.
The spacious, contemporary Chinese style Grand Lisboa Casino – located adjacent to SJM’s Casino Lisboa, with its 35 year heritage in Macau - is set to become a new top attraction for Macau visitors and residents alike with its bold, elegant architectural design and rich array of entertainment facilities.
Featuring nine floors of leisure adventures, the Grand Lisboa offers five floors of gaming with over 240 tables where guests can enjoy a variety of games including Baccarat, Caribbean Poker, Blackjack, and Macau’s unique Fan Tan. Furthermore, the venue will open with more than 480 slot machines located throughout the casino, and has SJM’s first virtual Sic Bo and Baccarat games. For guests looking for alternative pursuits, there is a live Sports Bar on the 2nd Floor, which offers the chance to bet on live sporting fixtures including football and horse racing, plus a stage with free live musical performances throughout the day.
Food lovers and wine connoisseurs can explore a wide variety of international cuisine to suit all tastes and budgets through any of the Grand Lisboa’s six restaurants. Most notably, Grand Lisboa’s Don Alfonso 1890, which offers not only fine Italian dining created by chef Alfonso Iaccarino, one of the highest ranking Michelin-starred chefs from Southern Italy, but it also boasts one of the best wine cellars in Asia, sharing its cellar with Casino Lisboa’s Robuchon a Galera, holder of Wine Spectators Grand Award for the last two consecutive years.
The interior décor was designed by Khuan Chew. The portfolio of Ms Chew includes Dubai’s world famous Burj Al Arab and the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. It combines an eclectic fusion of modern and traditional Chinese design to create a light and relaxing environment in the main gaming arena. It incorporates contemporary luxury reflected in the use of thousands of crystals adorning the ceiling throughout the venue, a fountain, the Urn, in the Grand Lisboa lobby which sparkles with 580,000 Swarovski crystals and gold plated leaves, and large decorative crystal balls. This complements the traditional opulence of the deep tread carpets and elegant soft furnishings. It also features a themed Treasure Trove section on the lower level gaming area with a range of slot machines as well as gaming tables.
The distinct and iconic architectural design for the Grand Lisboa was inspired by the lotus symbol of Macau combined with the flamboyancy of headdress plumes of Brazilian dancers and the exquisite intrigue of a Fabergé egg. At night, the base is a kaleidoscope of colours thanks to 1.2 million light emitting diodes (LEDs) on its surface.The Grand Lisboa is one of Macau’s tallest buildings with 52 storeys. In phase two, it will open a 430 room hotel.
“Grand Lisboa will offer our guests a truly memorable and unique experience. Stylistically, a daring and contemporary entertainment attraction, it remains true to our history and heritage within the Macau market, while reflecting the progressive direction of the organisation,” explained Dr Stanley Ho.
Franco’s first established in 1946 has been serving the community and visitors to St James’s from early morning to late at night, for over 60 years. Some say it was one of the first Italian restaurants in London.
Ownership changed in 2005 when the Hambro Family along with Jason Phillips purchased the restaurant. After a full refurbishment Franco’s was returned to its former glory.
Open all day, the personality of the restaurant evolves from a quietly and gently efficient breakfast venue to a sharp and charged lunch atmosphere, to elegance and romance in the evening.
The lunch and dinner menus highlight carefully prepared traditional and more modern Italian dishes and the relaxed and friendly service ensures there is always somebody to greet you with a smile.
The international wine list concentrates on the many different wine producing regions of Italy. International wines are also present but have an Italian twist as where possible these wines have been sourced with Italy in mind selecting those with grapes indigenous to Italy.
Our chef Stefano Turconi has been with us for 2 ½ years, having been the sous chef before. He has added flair and imagination to an already established menu.
LA PERGOLA - ROMA
The best Rome hotel restaurant, if not in Italy, La Pergola is much more than just a famous menu. Its three-Michelin stars -- the only Rome restaurant to be accorded such an honour -- attest to the excellence of its cuisine. A wine cellar with over 53,000 bottles, a water menu with 29 choices, olive oils and vintage balsamic vinegars from the best producers in Italy, and the finest ingredients to be sourced in the Mediterranean -- all attest tothe pursuit of culinary excellence.
But like everything at the Rome Cavalieri, it is also about ambience, about style. Your table is laid with vermeil plates and cutlery. All around are some of the hotel’s most charming art treasures – fine paintings, a rare Aubusson tapestry, Sèvres porcelain, 18th century bronze candelabra, precious imperial furniture and a wonderful collection of hand-blown glass by Emile Gallé. At the centre of the room is an imposing 17th century Celadron vase, adorned each day with a spectacular floral composition created by the hotel's master florist. Adjoining La Pergola is our exclusive Cigar Lounge where you can savour a great cigar with a vintage liqueur while enjoying our fine collection of orientalist paintings.
But nothing influences the character of an evening at La Pergola so much as Rome itself. Beyond the panoramic windows the Eternal City is spread beneath you. On summer evenings, out on the candlelit terrace, the city shimmers like stars fallen to earth. The dome of St Peter's seems close enough to touch. In such a setting, with such a menu, La Pergola is one of the world's greatest dining experiences.
In the last decade the major Italian gastronomic guides such as L'Espresso, Gambero Rosso, Bibenda have consistently voted La Pergola the "Best Restaurant of Rome" and one of the best in Italy. Since November 2005 the Michelin Guide has honoured La Pergola with 3 stars and 5 forks, symbol of exceptional cuisine and "worth a special journey".
Heinz Beck
Executive Chef at La Pergola since 1994, Heinz Beck is the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding achievement throughout a long and prestigious career. The menu at La Pergola is his greatest achievement to date - innovative and exciting while maintaining a respect for culinary tradition and remembering that great cooking is about fresh ingredients handled with sensitivity and passion. I want,’ Beck says, to transmit emotions through a balance of aromas, flavours and colours.’ Like the Rome Cavalieri and La Pergola, Heinz is very much a part of Roman culture and society. In 2000 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Foyer of Artists Award, an International Award from La Sapienza University of Rome, the first time the award had been given to a chef.
The Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf Astoria
Overlooking the panorama that has inspired visitors for centuries is Rome's most prestigious address – the Waldorf Astoria Collection’s Rome Cavalieri hotel. Though only minutes from the city's great monuments, the Rome Cavalieri has the tranquillity of an oasis. Enclosed in fifteen acres of lush Mediterranean parklands, this luxury hotel in Rome is a calm retreat in the heart of the Eternal City, an elegant refuge where time slows and hearts quicken.
The first hotel in Europe to be part of the exclusive Waldorf Astoria Collection, the Rome Cavalieri hotel is more than just a 5-star property. It’s the pre-eminent luxury hotel in Rome, with an art collection that outshines many museums, a Grand Spa that would be the envy of a prestige health resort, and standards of luxury that set it apart from other Rome hotels. The Rome Cavalieri brings new meaning to notions of Italian style, and new purpose to the fine art of exclusive hospitality.