The famed Mandarin Oriental Bangkok produces 18,000 macaroons a week, according to General Manager Amanda Hyndman. “The hotel already has four Mandarin Oriental boutiques in top Bangkok locations, and a fifth is planned,” she said. “Here, in the hotel, there is a kiosk in the lobby. Since our 60-strong baking team introduced them in 2011, they are a hotel signature.”
Fully, 3,150 eggs are needed each week, just for macaroons. Yolks go to ice cream and Hollandaise, and other sauces. Egg whites are blended with sugar and ground almonds for the macaroon’s cases. One of the 60-strong baking team pipes the mix on to 3.4-centimetre circles drawn on greaseproof paper. Trays are baked for four minutes and cooled before a filling is added. Some then have gold dust flecked on top. Among the flavors is an Elvis Presley, with peanut butter and raspberry jelly.
This is a 396-room hotel that thinks big numbers. There are 1,300 employees, sorry, colleagues, of whom eight are florists. All have access, in free moments, to sleep zones as well as an Internet café, and the last winner of the annual 10-kilometre charity run, which raised $50,000, was a 51 year old in 44 minutes.
“With our incredible heritage we have to be the best at whatever we do and continue raising the bar and we are thrilled to be Thailand’s only Forbes Five Star,” said Hyndman, a Brit who moved to Bangkok after running Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C.
Constant evolution is essential at this 1876-vintage icon. The Authors’ and Garden Wings re-open in December with 14 new suites (much to the relief of loyal diners, the rooftop La Normandie restaurant will be mostly unchanged, still classic French).
Until 1961 the hotel had no bar. Today, the Bamboo Bar, next to La Casa Del Habano cigar lounge, looks as if it has been here at least since Pierce Brosnan tasted his first Thaijito, the Mekhong rum-based cocktail that is favorite also of another former James Bond, Sean Connery. But you can, of course, order a Negroni, and the accompanying caramel macaroon is held on a right-sized silver shelf that hooks over the side of the glass.