Paseo Uno: Fashionable, trendy, chic dining

Paseo Uno, the Mandarin Oriental’s newest all-day dining restaurant, is just like the Philippines. It has a Spanish-sounding name, Asian-inspired interiors, an international menu, plus, just like the archipelago, it’s surrounded by water.

"The concept of the design is flowing water," reveals the Mandarin’s general manager Helmut Gaisberger, who was intimately involved in the redesign of what used to be the Brasserie. He chose the Spin Design group, a Japanese firm responsible for many trendy, chic restaurants all over Asia, of which the most famous was Mezza9 at the Hyatt in Singapore.

"But, Mezza9 doesn’t look like this," Gaisberger is quick to point out. "We never want to forget that this is the Philippines. So, we will have paneling with backlit capiz in these columns. Plus, if you look at the color of the granite on the walls, it is the same color as the traditional Filipino house," alluding to the traditional bahay na bato.

Each corner of the new restaurant has a richly detailed feel. One corner is lined with antique-looking capiz wood shutters, reminiscent of Vigan houses. Another corner has squares of fabric, set diagonally into wood panels. Yet another corner has glass cabinets shaped like arches, very much like church windows. A fourth corner is ultra-modern, very much like a Japanese house.

The Mandarin Oriental Manila group met with Spin Design’s Yasuhiro Koichi for six months, and the design was clear. Gaisberger reveals, "I told them that I wanted it to be a restaurant unlike any already existing in Manila. He went around Manila to check out the other new restaurants. I said that I wanted it chic, trendy, sexy."

A tall order. The restaurant was in construction for about seven months, and if you used to eat at the old Brasserie, there is not a trace of it left.

Water, Water Everywhere

As water was the primary motif, waterfalls and ponds have been integrated into every corner to evoke calmness and serenity. A pond was incorporated into the hotel’s façade, and, in the lobby, a tall waterfall welcomes you. Translucent glass alludes to the transparency of water, and as glass is like solid water, it is used throughout the restaurant space, letting light in.

When I walked into the restaurant, I felt as if I were entering a science fiction movie. Long, sleek glass tubes filled with light form a graceful arch at the entrance; "a curtain of light" is how one of the other diners described it.

The clean, sleek lines indeed make Paseo Uno feel like a calm oasis in the hurly-burly of the urban desert. Mandarin public relations manager Charisse Chuidian says, "When I was talking to the designer, he said that he hopes that the design of the restaurant will induce people to dress up. At first, I couldn’t understand what he meant, but when I saw the place I understood at once."

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard Chuidian describe it this way, since when I first dined at Paseo Uno I thought it would just be perfect for a fashion shoot. The juxtaposition of textures and the way each corner of the restaurant has its own mood and its own set of design details add up to a sensuous, and yes, chic dining space. So, one wants to rise to the occasion by being as casually elegant as the restaurant. I’ve heard of many design objectives – architects and designers often want to create a mood or a feeling. This is the first time I’ve heard that the desire to be sartorially challenged lay behind a design scheme.

Dinner Theater

"This is a deluxe kind of buffet. We know that Filipinos like buffets, but we wanted to serve buffets as they have never been served," says Gaisberger.

The concept of Asian food stalls was an inspiration, but they wanted to redefine that. Mandarin food and beverage manager David J Thomas clarifies, "With the traditional buffet, with the large chafing dishes, at some point, the food dries out and you get crusty corners. Here, we have bought new chafing dishes that are shallow, and the heat comes from steam, so the food doesn’t dry out. The dish acts like a kind of convection oven."

In addition, as the dishes are shallow, the chefs are constantly cooking and replenishing the buffet, so food is always fresh and hot. It’s all done a la minute, cooked right before the diners.

Thomas adds, "It’s a much more labor-intensive operation, so we had to hire more staff."

So demanding is this new kind of setup – they call it cooking as theater – that right on the very first day of operations, two of his newly-hired staff quit and never came back.

For the cold appetizers and hors d’oeuvres, specially designed glass platters fit right into the wood counters, so as not to disrupt the sleek lines of the place.

Among Manila hotels, the Mandarin has always been more of a discreet dowager. Nevertheless, it’s a fine line between discreet and dowdy.

Gaisberger says, "We have to be vibrant and dynamic. In many of the newer Mandarin hotels, the look has become trendier." It was he who thought of the restaurant’s name. "Most hotel outlets are café something or other. We definitely didn’t want that."

Chuidian says, "It’s called Paseo because we are on Paseo de Roxas. So, it’s for easy recall."

Gaisberger adds: "Adding Uno just makes it sound sexy, different, trendy. And that’s exactly what it is."

So when you come on over to Paseo Uno, bring out your newest Habitual jeans and Juicy Couture hoodie. You’ll feel right at home.