Hermès’ most Instagram-worthy dinner yet

It was game night with Hermès, as they invited guests to experience their theme for the year, ‘Let’s Play,’ via a magical dinner spectacle at Solaire.

A waiter dressed up as a chess piece put a plate of black-and-white scallops in front of me before turning at the sound of a gong and disappearing silently behind some curtains.

Was I dreaming, or watching a surreal episode of Twin Peaks?

No, I was one of the lucky 120 invited to Hermès’ Theme Dinner on Nov. 20 at the Grand Ballroom of Solaire Resort & Casino. The dinner’s theme was Hermès’ theme for 2018 — “Let’s Play!” — and play we did, in between bites of gorgeous food.

Every year, Hermès typically holds a major event or two to celebrate its valued clients and partners. Since there was no event last year, this year was doubly special — or quadruple-y special — as the legendary French house spent four times the amount it usually does to stage its dinner spectacle at Solaire.

One of the surprises of the night was a blast of confetti that elicited squeals of delight.

First, a team from Belgium had to be flown to the Philippines. Hermès tapped Belgian designer Charles Kaisin to stage the dinner; Kaisin is famous for the surrealist dinners he creates for top brands like Hermès, and these dinners involve dozens of costume changes, elaborate props and accouterments that have to be specially designed for the brand.

Then, Kaisin’s team had to train Solaire’s team. To achieve the desired effect, waiters of similar heights had to be chosen, as if they were a chorus line for a Broadway show, and trained in Kaisin’s tightly choreographed manner of service.

All the ingredients for the three-course meal had to be flown in as well, including Omi wagyu from Japan and truffles from Italy.

Play started as soon as guests arrived at the Grand Ballroom lobby. Hermès country manager for the Philippines Mario Katigbak, marketing and PR manager Angelina Legaspi, and Solaire director of communications Joy Wassmer welcomed VIPs like Heart Evangelista, Anton Huang and daughter Nikki, Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho, all of whom were outfitted in the evening’s designated black and white. (We later found out why the dress code was black and white.)

The fun and games began with the appetizers: dark chocolate-covered foie gras made to look like dominos, casino tokens that were actually Spanish anchovy Bavarois, and mahjong tiles made of white chocolate-covered salmon.

Merry-go-round: Waiters carrying neon signs on their bowlers serve the main course on rotating carousels. Note the guests' Hermes bags on the carpet.

Champagne wasn’t just Champagne: when you ordered a flute the waiters would ask you what your favorite color was, and proceed to tint your bubbly with droplets of food color.

Before I could get tipsy on purple Champagne we were invited into the ballroom, and it wasn’t just a straightforward migration to the tables; staff pointed us which directions to take, and we looped through a curtained path that gave us teasing glimpses into the dining room. 

When we finally rounded the last corner, though, nothing prepared me for the sight of a huge room bathed in Hermès orange, with two long communal tables laid out for 60 guests each. Instead of place cards our names had been stickered onto the backs of Philippe Starck Ghost chairs, and the tablecloth was designed like a chessboard, with actual chess pieces dotting the tablescape. No wonder we’d been asked to come in black and white.

Hoping I wasn’t a pawn in some elaborate game, I took my seat. Before long, the aforementioned parade of 60 waiters dressed as chess pieces started issuing from behind the curtains, bearing plates of Hokkaido scallops layered with smoked potatoes and caviar.

Next, dinner emcee Philippe Levieux asked us to unzip the tablecloth from one end to the other. We did, to reveal a white mat with a series of numbered dots on it. A childhood memory instantly kicked in: this looked like the connect-the-dots diagrams I loved to do as a kid!

Up: Balloons tied to Rubik’s-cube boxes cover our plates of dessert.

True enough, a server brought over a toy car with a tray on it full of markers, and I picked one as the car rolled down the length of the table to serve all the guests.

We all started connecting the dots closest to us, and when the illustration started to take shape, I thought that we were drawing a Hermès horse. The final product, however, was a graceful crane, a motif that has often appeared as a print on Hermès ties.

For the main course, intriguingly called “Carousel,” the 30 stewards who had been changing linen, flatware and glassware for the guests placed black rotating plate chargers in front of us. Then the lights faded to black, and we started seeing a procession of small neon signs floating in the air, forming playful instructions like “Blow three kisses,” “Come up with a secret,” and “Try to reach the stars.” It was the food servers again, clad in black and bowler hats with neon words atop them.

Once they were in place, the waiters put plates covered with colorful Hermès paper carousels on our rotating chargers, and, with the ding of the gong, pulled them off to reveal a marvelous plate of food: cubes of sous-vide Japanese Omi wagyu beef, rock lobster tempura, a porcini parcel, green asparagus chartreuse and Italian autumn truffles.

For the last, dessert course, the food servers came out holding plates with balloons tied to Rubik’s-cube boxes. Levieux requested us to untie the black ribbons anchoring the plate and, like a scene from Up, the balloons lifted the Rubik’s cubes and floated to the ceiling, revealing our dessert: a white-chocolate ball containing raspberries, gold leaf, mint soil, smoked vanilla, lemon cremeux, and bittersweet crumble.

Chess game: In a ballroom bathed in Hermès orange are communal tables designed like chessboards for 120 guests.

Over 35 of Solaire’s chefs were required to prepare this exquisite dinner of edible art, helmed by executive head chef Michael Dinges.

The final surprise was a blast of confetti from all the servers, which elicited squeals of delight from the guests.

Thanks to Hermès, the night was all about games, playfulness, and childlike wonder. For me, it had to be the most Instagram-worthy dinner of all time, an extraordinary memory to be filed with all my other unforgettable memories.

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The Hermès boutique is located in Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati.

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Follow me on Instagram @theresejamoragarceau.