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Furnishings & DecorAbsolutely San-sational
The Sandton Sun is looking sprightly. And it’s not just because it is teeming with Fifa officials and fans. It’s because, after more than 25 years, its sixth-floor public area has had a long-overdue, knock-’em-dead, R90m revamp that brings it right up to date, with an interactive display kitchen and the first cheese room in an SA hotel among its winning elements.
What it terms its San “gastronomic emporium” — spacious, elegant and world-class, yet distinctly South African in feel — has replaced the tired bar, restaurants and underused terrace that link the hotel to Sandton City’s shops. And the Southern Sun’s flagship hotel now has everything going for it to become an exciting new space for people to meet, drink and eat, be they a hotel guest, shopper, businessman or fun seeker.
Making sure the San complex delivers on its promise will be a tough task, acknowledges GM Peter Davidson. But so far things are looking up for a hotel launched by Sol Kerzner in 1984.
Even on the icy evening our party visited, there were soccaholics partying around fantastic boma-style open fires on the new-look terrace. The less-intrepid were hugging the San bar, lounge and library, complete not only with old and new books and magazines but also TVs.
Taking advantage of natural light during the day, the design is strikingly contemporary, with hundreds of characteristically SA photographs, printed on aluminum, ringing the area. Plenty of warm and sexy red and natural elements — wood, sandstone, water and fire — create an earthy atmosphere; and mosaic pillars uphold the local flavour of the space.
Dining experiences are provided by two new restaurants — San and Vin mmx (see box). San, a café-style restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, prepared with fresh, seasonal and local produce. With Davidson, I enjoyed a lunch of Welsh rarebit — cheesey toast with a kick — and rocket and radicchio salad (R28) and something new to SA tables, sea bass, topped with marinated scallops on beetroot mash and Chinese greens (R105). A far cry indeed from the old fashioned buffet at previous all-purpose Ferns restaurant.
The cheese room alongside Vin mmx has three fridges to store 18 different cheeses, each locally sourced and overseen by a “cheese sommelier”, who will package them according to their particular requirements.
And for those on the trot, there is the San market, a grab-’n-go retail space selling “just out of the oven” pastries, sandwiches and biscuits, as well as take away coffees, teas and smoothies. This, says, Davidson, “took off instantly and is a hit”.
Sandton Sun executive chef Garth Shnier, who was at the helm of the project, clearly aims to attract foodies from far and wide. He also wants to ensure sustainability — from sourcing and delivery to kitchen practices.
“I travelled extensively to find the freshest, seasonal produce for the restaurants and found 11 small, privately owned farms within a 100km radius of the hotel,” he says. “Through contacts in the industry, we have discovered an underprivileged school in Cape Town to make an exclusive and beautiful range of crockery and glassware that is 100% recycled. Even our drinking water is going to be bottled at the hotel to avoid any contamination.”
Says Davidson: “We’ve come full circle since we opened, and our mission as we take the Sandton Sun into the future is to not only entrench it as the meeting-place in Sandton — its pulse, if you like — but to start heading towards a sustainable future that gives back to the environment.”
He adds that regulars have given the new sixth floor a resounding thumbs-up. Now it’s all up to him, Shnier and staff.
Tel: (011) 780-5000
Go to: www.southernsun.com
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