Dinner and a show (a magic one)

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The Alchemy of the Sea

The Enchanted Shell

IF YOU’VE EVER harbored fantasies of performing magic, perhaps the Grand Hyatt Manila’s The Magic Table is for you.

In September, the hotel announced the arrival of The Magic Table, a performance conjured up with the video company 2Spicy Entertainment GmbH (the same one which concocted another dining experience, Le Petit Chef) and America’s Got Talent finalists Thommy Ten and Amélie van Tass, the magicians and mentalists better known as The Clairvoyants. Grand Hyatt Manila’s Food And Beverage Director Mark Hagan said during one such performance on Jan. 16 that it is one of several Hyatt hotel in Asia to have the experience, counting Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, and we were one step ahead of Kuala Lumpur (the project was launched in Germany in autumn last year).

We won’t discuss all of the magic tricks the guests at the Jan. 16 dinner performed at the table (as guided by the voices and images of The Clairvoyants), but we’ll discuss at length about the dishes served to pair with the magic tricks. The first course was called A Spell of the Forest, a forest and porcini mushroom pâté with hazelnut soil, fig, lemon, pistachio, and Manuka honey. This was a little log stuffed with mushrooms, served under a mushroom (creating the illusion of one intact): this tasted pleasantly earthy, and the illusion intensified the taste and smell, as if it were just picked outside.

The second dish was called the Enchanted Shell, featuring butter-poached Hokkaido scallop with herb crust, sun-dried tomato and crustacean bisque; the rich taste of the sun-dried tomato provided a contrast to the delicate scallop.

The projections above the table then played a short film about escape artist Harry Houdini, and to rescue him from underwater, locked boxes were provided, and clues were flashed on the table to get the numerical code to unlock the boxes. The boxes contained a mother-of-pearl spoon with which to consume the next course, The Alchemy of the Sea, featuring a brandade of crab meat, codfish, sake-marinated salmon roe, and avocado (in place of the usual potato). Subtle (maybe a bit too subtle), but wonderfully creamy, the salmon roe provided a touch of luxury.

For the next trick, a zoetrope showed different types of magicians, and we had to do a counting game to figure out what kind we were. This was accompanied by The Order of Fire — Mulwarra tenderloin beef Wellington with bone marrow and café de Paris butter jus. Cozy and hefty, the crust was lined with mushroom, ham, and cheese in three separate layers, appearing almost magical. Our companion at the table, an official at Hyatt, also pointed out another magic trick: the plates were made from recycled broken china and glass from the hotel.

Another card and counting game signaled the end of the dinner with dessert, which was a chocolate and hazelnut sphere with espresso, chocolate brownie, cherry sorbet, and bourbon sac. We were initially served black bowls filled with black chocolate, but a server poured piping-hot chocolate over it, melting the black chocolate and allowing the pieces to fall into the real dessert underneath it. As someone who might have gotten blasé over performance dinners over the year, the dessert made us clap.

This is the second dinner-video experience being offered at the Grand Hyatt Manila, the first one being Le Petit Chef downstairs. Comparing the two, we’d say that The Magic Table is more interactive. “You can hear the audience is really engaged,” said Mr. Hagan in an interview with BusinessWorld. “I can hear you shouting.”

Asked if there’s any danger of one superseding the other, he said, “You tell me.”

“The two of them are very different, as you can see,” he said of the dinner-shows. We note that the animations in Le Petit Chef might be more appropriate for children, though The Magic Table has an advantage of being engaging for both adults and their tots, of every age. Mr. Hagan added that due to the nature of the video flashed at Le Petit Chef, the first course is always made with one ingredient (in this showing, it’s tomato). “This gave the chef a little bit more freedom,” he noted about The Magic Show. “Make it as magical as possible; make it an experience,” was the brief, he noted. He added, “The two of them deserve a place in Manila.”

The Grand Hyatt Manila is fast becoming a destination not only for dining, but dining with a little bit of a show: “If you’re looking for an experience in Manila, I don’t really think there’s anything like this,” he said (though we might argue that their buffet at The Grand Kitchen might fill the gap left by the defunct Sofitel’s much lamented Spiral). “It is the way of dining, I believe in the future. A little less formal — all these little plates of food and 20-course tasting menus. Here, you’re with your friends, and you have a glass of wine, and enjoy things.”

Prices for The Magic Table range from P4,000 for a children’s set menu, P7,500 for the vegetarian menu, P8,500 for the regular menu, and P9,500 for a deluxe version (the main course will have foie gras and truffle on top of it). The Magic Table has 40 seats per show and runs for approximately two hours, with the option to book the 6 or 8:30 p.m. seatings. Tables are arranged in groups of four or eight, and smart casual attire is required. — Joseph L. Garcia