Take out and Delishvery: The ‘new normal’ for restos at RWM 2.0 • PhilSTAR Life

RWM also stands for “Returning With More:” (first row) Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City GM Elpidio “Boy” Beloso Jr., Resorts World Manila corporate communications director Joee Guilas and Hotel Okura Manila GM Jan Marshall; (second row) Hilton Manila GM Simon McGrath, Sheraton Manila Hotel GM Anna Vergara and Resorts World Manila COO Stephen Reilly; (third row) Marriott Hotel Manila cluster GM Bruce Winton and Savoy Hotel Manila and Belmont Hotel Manila area GM Avinash Menon.

As containment measures are slowly being eased and economic activities are being reactivated, Resorts World Manila (RWM), the country’s only integrated resort with the most number of hotels in one property, is “returning with more” while adapting to the “new normal.”

In a virtual press conference held recently, RWM chief operating officer Stephen Reilly announced that Resorts World Manila 2.0 is now in place.

“The first thing we did was changed our mindset. As a group and as a cluster, we try not to resist, but embrace and prepare for the new normal,” explained Reilly. “RWM 2.0 is an entirely new landscape, a new way of doing things and living our lives here in the property — ensuring a very safe environment for all our employees, guests and patrons.”

RWM’s chief operating officer gathered the general managers of its partner hotels — Bruce Winton of Marriott Hotel Manila, Avinash Menon of Savoy Hotel Manila and Belmont Hotel Manila, Jan Marshall of Okura Manila, Anna Vergara of Sheraton Manila, Simon McGrath

of Hilton Manila, and Elpidio Beloso Jr. of Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City — to also share the stringent SOPs on safety and sanitation and the innovative ways and services they’re implementing in their respective hotels to assure their customers and guests of a safer and comfortable stay.

Delicious food delivered to your home

In compliance with the Department of Trade and Industry’s updated guidelines for dining establishments, most restaurants in RWM and hotels are now in full swing.

While dining in restaurants are now allowed — while maintaining strict social-distancing guidelines — majority still prefer takeout and food delivery.

In keeping the interest of the public in mind, RWM has found ways to let diners still enjoy a taste of the property’s best-selling dishes — think Casa Buenas’ Grilled Iberico Pork Jowl, Victoria Harbor Cafe’s Stewed Beef Brisket and Tendon Noodles Soup, Happy 9’s Crispy Pork Belly and Silk Road’s Curry Laksa — without having to leave their homes.

These four restaurants are now extending their world-class dining experience right to your homes or offices through RWM’s own delivery service called Delishvery, which stands for “delicious dishes delivered.”

“The food delivery concept is nothing new,” said Reilly. “At RWM, we’re giving it a personal touch. Our customers are assured the every food item that leaves our kitchen is freshly cooked, packed by us, sanitized and handled with TLC.”

To place orders, call 790-8885 or SMS 0917-8788856.

Other dining outlets of RWM-based hotels also offer pickup and delivery services.

Safe eats
Belmont Hotel Manila and Savoy Manila, homegrown brands of Megaworld Hotels, have been gearing up and embracing the new reality of the hospitality industry through its world-class health and safety campaign for its guests.

Dubbed “#SafeStay… We Care,” the program is a collaboration with its longtime partner in sanitation, Diversey Philippines, to assure guests a safe stay with its stringent health measures.

The campaign has five components — Safe Welcome, Safe Space, Safe Team, Safe Eats and Safe Sleep — to ensure guests’ welfare from arrival to departure.

“Focusing on the Safe Eats aspect, we recently launched two new F&B services — B On the Go by Cafe Belmont and Out of the Box by Savoy Cafe — to bring hotel-quality gourmet eats within the comforts of one’s home. However, we branded it innovatively in order to adapt to the grab-and-go market and showcase the casual side of fine dining,” enthused Avinash Menon, Savoy and Belmont area general manager.

The menu consists of curated meal sets from the bestselling items of both hotels’ all-day dining restaurants.

“An innovative platform we’ve implemented is the Chat Bot food app,” explained Menon. “With just a click through both hotels’ FB accounts, guests can browse the menus and directly order from Facebook Messenger.”

Orders can be picked up at the hotel or delivered, either by the staff or hotels’ partner delivery service providers.

“Our gourmet service delivery also caters to attendees and participants of virtual meetings through the Virtual Meets, Gourmet Eats,” added Menon.

Manila Marriott Hotel is bringing authentic Cantonese dishes using the finest and freshest ingredients to your home straight from Chef Hung’s Kitchen.

Meat lovers aren’t left out as they can now cook their own steak with Cru Steakhouse Delights. Choose from Cape Grim Tasmania Grass-fed (250g for P2,500; 350g for P2,700), US-Certified Angus Beef Prime (250g for P3,100; 350g P3,500) and Australian Rib Eye Wagyu MBS+9 (350g for P5,300). It is served with two ready-to-eat sides and one sauce of your choice: black pepper sauce, forest mushroom sauce or red wine sauce.

Cru also offers ready-to-eat Cru Grill Steaks. There’s US-Certified Angus Beef Prime Rib Steak (900g) for P6,300 which is good for four persons; and Cape Grim Tenderloin Center Cut (P500g) for P3,700 (good for two persons).

Also check out the hearty and delish offerings at Marriott Café and Gourmet Express.

The soon-to-open Hotel Okura recently developed its takeout service, Okura at Home.

“Our Japanese chef and team have designed a wonderful menu of exquisite Japanese dishes for takeout,” said Hotel Okura Manila general manager Jan Marshall. “We also offer bento boxes.”

Sheraton Manila has also activated the takeout and delivery offerings of S Kitchen and Oori To Go, the hotel’s two major dining outlets.

“For delivery, we focus on some of the dishes that we know gained a lot of traction prior to the lockdown,” explained Anna Vergara, Sheraton Hotel general manager. “There’s the bibimbap selection from Oori, western and Filipino dishes from S Kitchen, and our plant-based (vegan) dishes.”

S Kitchen and Oori have resumed operations as well.

“Social distancing (30-percent occupancy) is properly observed in both restaurants,” added Vergara. “The barbecue section is also open, but strictly by reservation.”

Safe stay

In line with RWM 2.0’s vision, all hotels at RWM are rolling out their respective enhanced health and sanitation standards to safeguard staff and guests and help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The improved safety measures being introduced include the Marriott Global Hotel Cleanliness Program for Manila Marriott and Sheraton Manila; Hilton’s CleanStay, Intercontinental Hotel Group’s Guidelines for COVID-19 Prevention for HIEx Manila; and Hotel Okura’s Japanese-style and sustainable sanitation protocols, while Megaworld Hotels’s Savoy Hotel Manila and Belmont Hotel Manila have the Stay Safe programs. These efforts are in collaboration with the world’s most-trusted hygiene and sanitation brands — Lysol, Ecolab and Diversey.

“At Resorts World Manila, we’ve put in place all the safety protocols necessary in order for us to operate under the so-called ‘new normal.’ And we’re excited to move forward,” added Reilly.