148 | theceomagazine.com
Just as the lobby features artworks from all over the
world, the hotel’s many restaurants boast culinary works
of art. NAMI offers authentic and traditional Japanese
cuisine and includes exquisite dashi-focused set lunches
by Chef Shigeo Akiba, a dashi master. At Shang Palace,
you’ll find traditional Cantonese cuisine, and Waterfall
Ristorante Italiano combines fresh seafood and
handmade pastas for classic Southern Italian cuisine.
The artist at the helm of Origin Grill & Bar is Sydney-
born chef Heidi Flanagan – the woman behind a carefully
curated menu that results in an exquisite dining
experience. From beautifully fresh raw tuna with
avocado and jalapeño cream served on crisp
vegetable-and-seed flatbread to the soft,
smoky, charred whole lobster with soy,
spring onions, ginger, and garlic, each
more-ish mouthful is testament to the
premium ingredients that she and her team
so carefully and cleverly select.
However, it’s Origin’s beef menu, with its
bespoke selection of grass- and grain-fed
Angus and wagyu cattle, that really sets this
restaurant apart. Choose the John Stone (grass-
fed, dry-aged 35 days) from Ireland for its exceptional
tenderness, or opt for the buttery texture of the Mayura
full-blood wagyu (600 days grain-fed) from South Australia’s
Limestone Coast. For something very different – and
exclusive to Origin – try the snow-aged full-blood wagyu
striploin from Niigata, Japan. The Yukimuro method, which
dates back 200 years, uses a traditional snow-covered
room to preserve and age the meat, allowing it to develop ayou’d be forgiven for thinking you’re in a tropical paradise –
not a mere two-kilometre walk or taxi ride from the bustling
shopping mecca of Orchard Road. But then, the Shangri-La
is full of surprises.
For instance, this is the first Shangri-La ever built. And
though it might be the hotel chain’s maiden property, there’s
nothing old or stuffy about this 47-year-old beauty. In fact,
the hotel’s Tower Wing, which houses 503 of its 792 rooms,
received a huge makeover last year, and the result is beautiful.
From three new restaurants to the revitalised club lounge,
the Shangri-La has rejuvenated every square inch. But it’s
the grand lobby that’s the true showpiece, or rather,
the place that houses some incredible
showpieces. There’s the magnificent nine-
metre-by-six-metre rock wall created by
Australian landscape designer Charlie
Albone. This stunning backdrop, which
took 700 hours to install, pays tribute to the
element of stone and features lush tropical
ferns, potted ficus trees, and 350 kilograms
of basalt rock flown in from Australia and
installed by a stonemason from Scotland.
Then there’s the whimsical sculpture, ‘Children
Dabbling in The Water’, by Korean artist Yi Hwan
Kwon. Symbolising Singapore’s multicultural society, this
work comprises six sculptures of children thoughtfully placed
around the lobby’s central infinity pool. The pièce de
résistance, though, is the incredible ceiling installation by
Japanese designer Hirotoshi Sawada. Called ‘Tree Canopy’,
it’s a shower of thousands of glinting and swaying metallic
leaves that pays tribute to the element of wind.
IT’S ELEGANT,
DISCREET AND
LUXURIOUS, AND
YOU QUICKLY
REALISE THIS ISN’T
YOUR ORDINARY
FIVE-STAR
HOTEL.Suite view from the Shangri-La.