Taste The Difference

Why Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi is the country’s gastronomy hotspot

If you think the Maldives’ finest attractions all come courtesy of Mother Nature’s fair hand, the sublime Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi will serve you food for thought. In fact, there are eleven good reasons why this celebrated slice of private island is less about the crystal clear ocean and cotton-soft sand (though they remain soul-stirring) and more about the outstanding restaurants and bars (eleven in all) that have made it somewhat of a gourmand’s paradise.

The height of sophisticated dining, Terra takes top billing (no mean feat when Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi is also home to the country’s only Zuma). Its unique setting — in the treetops, where seven circular bamboo pods accommodate couples and look out to the moonlit ocean — is spectacular, but so too is the food. A multi-course menu comprised of some of the finest ingredients on earth (wagyu from Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture, widely considered to breed the holy grail of beef; Alba white truffle when in season) is artfully presented and paired with premium wines (plucked from racks at The Rock, the resort’s stunning stone cellar, that doubles up as a 12-seat restaurant for exclusive wine dinners) and signature Krug Champagne, selected by the Maldives’ first Krug Ambassador. Exceptional. Additionally, Terra routinely welcomes Michelin-starred chefs from across the globe for exclusive residencies. The hugely talented Grégoire Berger, from Dubai’s Ossiano, the latest visitor. Berger’s residency culminated in a memorable six-hands dinner (alongside two other Michelin-starred chefs) at The Ledge by Dave Pynt, the resort’s other main draw card. Pynt is the man behind Burnt Ends, the multi award-winning Singapore restaurant that’s an annual fixture on the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The joys of this modern Australian barbecue concept transfer effortlessly to the Maldives, and it treats meat with a certain reverence. So much so that the humble hamburger here is simply without equal, elevated to an art form.

Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi plucks many of the ingredients for its stellar restaurants from the resort’s own garden, and Glow — a toes-in-the-sand, garden-totable concept — utilises the best of it in a wonderful, ingredient-rich menu backed by biodynamic, sustainable, and natural wines. It’s Peking duck that’s the star of the show at Li Long, where it’s roasted in the Maldives’s first classic woodfired oven and carved tableside. Snag a table on the ocean-facing terrace and leave it to your waiter to select the choice picks from a menu of outstanding Modern Chinese dishes. For a taste of home – in a setting reminiscent of an old Arabian village –Yasmeen is a wonderfully atmospheric spot where Saj bread is baked in a traditional oven and the charcoalgrilled seafood is exceptional. While for a taste of the familiar, the Indian Ocean’s first Zuma is a match for any of its other international outposts, though nowhere compares to its setting here, perched atop the iridescent ocean. Just like nowhere in the Maldives can match Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi when it comes to gastronomy.

Chanel’s Fall-Winter 2023/24 Haute

Couture show was staged aside the Seine, the collection that trotted down the cobbled runway every bit as Parisian, capturing the very essence of Frenchness. In the weeks leading up to the show, the Chanel haute couture ateliers make the final tweaks to pieces that, in many cases, have taken hundreds of hours to craft as they pass through multiple hands for signature embellishments, such as flowers, exquisitely embroidered in sequins. AIR took an exclusive look behind the scenes when the models were invited in for their final fittings.