Latest news with #TheRitzCarlton
The Star
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
German flavours for afternoon tea
SERVED only in five-star hotels and in Malaysia for the past 20 years, afternoon tea lovers would almost certainly have heard of this German luxury label. To see the array of Ronnefeldt teas and infusions that are available locally, head over to The Lobby Lounge at The Ritz Carlton, Kuala Lumpur. There are no less than 33 flavours. Among them, the observant will notice The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur Blend, which has been made exclusively for the hotel to pair with the salmon sandwiches in its afternoon tea sets. Described as having a smooth, creamy taste with a natural sweetness, the blend carries slight hints of lemongrass and jasmine. It has also been described as having a nice aroma with an alluring and 'addictive' quality. Jan-Berend Holzapfel, the tea label's owner, who was in Kuala Lumpur, introduced a few more flavours. Making its debut for the first time in Malaysia is the Colombia Especial and Cacao, which is a blend of organic Colombian black tea with cacao husk. Coming in with a rich fragrance of maple syrup and vanilla, Holzapfel said it was the red soil, rich with iron, that gave the tea its unique flavour. To pair with this Colombian blend is a dark chocolate tart with hazelnut praline that unleashes an earthy and nutty aroma from the tea. Before going on with the next four tastings, Holzapfel, 52, who inherited the business from his father, explained how it came to be recognised as a luxury tea label. 'For one, the teas that we buy are sourced from tea gardens that have been supplying Ronnefeldt for three generations. 'Secondly, only the youngest leaves from the best of season are used,' he said. 'And thirdly, the products have gone through rigorous testing for pesticides and organic standards to meet criteria set by the US, Australia and Japan, where the allowed pesticide residue is 1/10 million parts.' Holzapfel says to be a tea taster takes seven years of training. However, the ultimate criteria is in maintaining the continuation in taste, regardless of season and weather. 'For that, we have a team of tea tasters who do not smoke and drink to preserve their sensitive palates. 'Our oldest taster, who is 46, has 25 years of experience. 'And to be a tea taster takes seven years of training,' said Holzapfel. It was at this juncture, that the No. 1 Rainfall in Paralai, a flavoured black tea from South India was introduced. Infused with heather flowers, coriander seeds and strawberry pieces, it carries a heady fragrance of roses and the fruity notes of peach. A spinach quiche was chosen as the afternoon tea item of choice to go with it. Next was the No. 8 Clouds Over Baiyun Shan, which is a special blend to commemorate the tea label's 200th year anniversary. As its name implies, the blackberry flavoured green tea with its slight traces of mint and Chinese herbs, evokes the image of a mystic temple on a cloudy, flowery hill. As it is also slightly spicy to the palate, it was decided that a creamy mushroom and chicken sandwich would be paired. A raspberry mousse was chosen to pair with the No. 2 Sunrise Over Cederberg, a herbal infusion of rooibos and rosemary because of its prominent natural sweetness. Ronnefeldt teas for The Lobby Lounge afternoon tea set. Butter scones with raspberry jam and Devon clotted cream were paired with a fruit infusion of Tibetan goji berries and moringa, aptly called No.3 Winds of Tibet. It was divulged that the above fruit and herbal infusions are the most ideal companions for sweet items like mooncakes. The Lobby Lounge and Ronnefeldt are hosting an afternoon tea set promotion until June 30, from noon to 6pm. The price is RM160++ for two diners, which includes any one selection of these four blends – No.1 Rainfall in Paralai, No. 8 Clouds Over Baiyun Shan, No. 2 Sunrise Over Cederberg and No.3 Winds of Tibet. THE LOBBY LOUNGE, Level 1, The Ritz-Carlton, 168, Jalan Imbi, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 018-623 0036. Business hours: 11am-11pm, daily. This is the writer's personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
Khaleej Times
21-03-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Brunch with KT LUXE: Aakash Ohri, the chief business officer at DLF, on what super luxury real estate truly entails
At a time when work:life balance is an ideal to aspire to, one wonders if the C-suite ever disconnects. Turns out, it is a luxury even our leaders cannot always afford. That becomes increasingly evident as we engage in a conversation with Aakash Ohri, the chief business officer at DLF, at The Ritz Carlton, DIFC. Even though we are meeting over brunch, Ohri's appetite for work takes precedence over anything edible. He lives, and relives, every milestone that has catapulted DLF into India's top league of real estate developers. Mapping the journey of DLF is like mapping the journey of modern India itself. Established by Chaudhary Raghavendra Singh in 1946, the New Delhi-based real estate conglomerate has been instrumental in redefining the landscape of the Indian capital, and has in recent years pretty much defined what luxury living truly entails. In the 26 years that he has been part of DLF (he started with the golf business), Ohri himself has been a witness to, and a driver of, this change. In January, the company snagged record bookings in its $4 billion 'super luxury' home project, The Dahlias, in Gurgaon, as India's rich and famous clamoured to be the first to buy. Ask Ohri about the inspiration behind this bold business plan, and the dreamer in him comes to the fore. 'When the chairman thought of this way back in 2007, it was a big, big struggle to get good hospitality professionals to move from hotels to real estate in 2008,' he recalls. Instead of outsourcing its hospitality services to companies, like the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton, DLF developed this expertise in-house within its hospitality vertical over a period of two decades, by onboarding some of the finest hospitality professionals from world's leading hotels and airlines, including India's Oberoi. Luxury real estate also lends itself to a larger-than-life vision, which translates into exclusive experiences that contribute to a fabulous lifestyle. The devil is in the details. From getting the right staff to having the right facilities, the canvas only gets broader. Ohri cites the example of the pastry shop at The Camellias, DLF's famed super luxury residences in Gurgaon and a predecessor to The Dahlias, where they flew down a choux pastry chef from Paris, who'd been trained by the best in the business, for a bakery that's aptly called Choux. 'It was not easy for us to get people from hospitality brands for a residential business. So, we had to work really hard initially to get them. This is how you create experience.' In that sense, The Dahlias and The Camellias have pretty much set the narrative on luxury living. But then India exists in contrasts, and more often than not, the West is too happy to paint the country in one hue. Ohri, who is yet to indulge, is most passionate when he is debunking these simplistic perceptions. 'I have been all over the world, and heard what people said about India,' he says. 'So, you have to come and see what we have done. It is a matter of pride for every Indian to have a place in which not many people can be. Every country has that one real estate icon: for Dubai, it's the Burj Khalifa; the US has its Beverly Hills, Manhattan has Central Park area, and London has Hyde Park. Today, The Camellias is that beacon of real estate for India, and the global real estate industry is enamoured with it.' Sample this: the residents across the project, which will total 429 luxury homes in nine towers, have access to facilities such as a health club, spa, infinity pool, clubhouse, bowling alley, a chef on call and laundry facilities, meeting rooms and a business centre, among many other services, available at its 160,000 square feet clubhouse. 'With a starting price of INR 1,40,000 per square feet (Dh6,000), The Camellias features 14 duplex penthouses, each ranging from 13,000 to 16,000 square feet,' he says. While Ohri admits that luxury is bespoke and means different things to different people, there is unanimity on The Camellias community being the 'billionaires' club of India', inhabited by the crème de la crème of the Indian society. As a result, it has also become what Ohri says is the 'biggest networking residential hub of the world'. The rush to buy in the 17-acre development was also the first time that the sales value achieved in a single project has crossed INR 100 billion ($1.16 billion) in one quarter, according to data from analytics firm CRE Matrix. With an average price of $8 million per unit, the sky is now the limit for India's super rich. Ohri notes that the trend of affluent Indians buying luxury houses picked up pace after the pandemic, as home buyers, unfazed by high borrowing costs, kept lapping up bigger, more amenities-laden houses. 'The pandemic taught us one thing: life is finite, so live it up,' Ohri says. 'If you have it and can afford it, go for it. A lot of people who had money didn't have the courage to spend it but here's what happened for real estate — after the first wave, we were boxed in. Wherever we were boxed in, we realised we needed bigger homes, that extra room, a bigger balcony, everyone was on everyone's toes. Even those who had larger homes, invested in more homes.' The rush to buy in the 17-acre development was also the first time that the sales value achieved in a single project crossed INR 100 billion ($1.16 billion) in one quarter. With an average price of $8 million per unit, the sky is now the limit for India's super rich" As was seen in other economies, holidays and car upgrades became less of a priority after Covid, with real estate becoming the number one on the list, the effects of which are sustaining today. 'People used to invest in hill and beach properties just for the sake of it, but post-Covid, people said if we have to move to Goa, our lifestyle won't change. We need to be at par with what we have right here in Delhi,' adds Ohri. The profile of the buyer, he says, has also changed. Today, 28-35-year-olds are looking at buying homes where it was once 35-plus. 'They're aspirational and work hard to get the best, and will not compromise,' he says, adding that 20 per cent of the owners of the newest development are unicorns, 'and think about the potential of that 20 per cent'. As a result of these monumental leaps, DLF has also become one of the largest employers of hospitality professionals in the country. 'By choice, these hoteliers leave and today, they have an alternate career. They can go back to hospitality and do even better. There have been general managers who have gone back to their alma maters and had promotions,' he says. And it is these teams, Ohri says, that must take the credit for the success of the brand's courageous steps — everyone from the housekeeping staff to the gardener and the 24-hour maintenance teams. 'Luxury is a process,' he says. 'Whether it's a watchmaker, a leather worker, it's about the work done every day.'
