Holiday Inn Sandton opens Gauteng's only Indonesian restaurant
The Holiday Inn Sandton boasts many firsts – including the only Indonesian restaurant in Gauteng, spectacularly situated on the hotel's roof, 9 floors up, and launched to the public in April 2009.
Opened in October last year having been developed from scratch, the Holiday Inn Sandton is the first of the Intercontinental Hotel Group's (IHG) new-generation international Holiday Inns to be established in South Africa following the withdrawal of the Holiday Inn brand from this country three years ago.
The Holiday Inn Sandton's new restaurant, 123 on Rivonia, adds to the ultra-sleek glamour of the hotel's décor with ceiling-to-floor glass windows and glass-panelled balconies offering unparalleled views over Sandton and Johannesburg.
Less than three weeks old, the restaurant is already fully booked most operating nights of the week (closed Sunday and Mondays) because 123 on Rivonia is in the capable hands of Holiday Inn Sandton's general manger, Martin Fowler, who was appointed two months ago.
"I was a guest at the hotel during a conference and fell in love with the space that was not yet trading. The Hospitality Property Fund (HPF), which owns the hotel and wanted to do more to exploit the room's extraordinary setting, asked me to open the restaurant and, in the process, create an entirely new dining experience for the public."
Fowler believes that hotel restaurants should be run by restaurateurs rather than hoteliers. "There's a tangible difference in ambience between a hotel dining room, of which we have a great one on the ground floor to provide breakfast and lunch, and a restaurant. So we've employed the necessary restaurant specialists."
Décor and facilities also distinguish the ordinary from the exceptional, and no effort was spared in making diners feel that they were in a special place.
Following the 123 theme of the restaurant, which was named for the address of the hotel on Rivonia Road, the restaurant contains three bars. The already well-known and opulent Skye Bar is served by an external lift with running lights that have become a Sandton icon. The dark wood, oval wine bar offers 123 different wines by the glass. And the Shooter, Cigar, and Cognac bar offers a luxurious start and end to a meal.
The 123 theme is carried through all aspects of the restaurant, including serving trays and swizzle sticks. While the trays glow blue, the swizzle sticks change colour from blue to amber and green depending on the area in which the drinks are served.
123 on Rivonia’s nine waitrons, all specially recruited and trained for the restaurant, are classically groomed and dressed in sumptuous Indonesian-style outfits.
The restaurant serves a traditional Indonesian Rijsttafel – a lavish meal consisting of as many as 40 side dishes served in small portions and accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways. The side dishes include egg rolls, sambals, satay, fish, fruit, vegetables, pickles, and nuts. An Indonesian a la carte menu is also available.
"123 on Rivonia is proving to be a home away from home for globe trotters who are looking for the kind of multi-cultural experience in a breathtaking setting that they have become accustomed to in great hotels around the world," Fowler says. "At the same time, it’s giving local residents a glamorous opportunity to sample exotic cuisine on their own doorsteps and at a price point that gives them exceptional value for money."
"So, 123 on Rivonia tops off the Holiday Inn Sandton in many more ways than one."