The Maldives is one of those destinations where it’s easy to settle into a routine of doing very little. Wake up to the ocean, swim, eat, perhaps take a nap, then watch the sun go down.
At The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, however, there was considerably more on the agenda during my four-night stay. As part of the third edition of Marriott International’s Luxury Dining Series, the island became the setting for a succession of meals, drinks, and experiences built around this year's theme, “Across The Table”.
The resort itself is on Vommuli Island in Dhaalu Atoll, reached by seaplane from Malé. There are 77 villas spread across garden, beach, and overwater accommodations, with the Indian Ocean providing a backdrop of unforgettable shades of blue.
For the first two nights, I stayed in the Beach Villa with Pool. At 182 sq m, it is considerably more spacious than the name might suggest, with a private pool and direct access to the beach. It was an easy introduction to island life, where mornings typically began with a walk along the seashore before breakfast, while the pool and shaded outdoor space offered little reason to go anywhere else in the afternoons.
For the second half of the stay, I moved to a spacious Overwater Villa, which sits above the lagoon with its own pool and private terrace facing the Indian Ocean. The change was subtle, but significant. From the beach villa, the sea was something to walk towards; from the overwater villa, it was immediately below and around me, while the sound of the water became part of the room.
However, it was the programme of experiences that made the stay special. The first full day began early with big-game fishing followed by a sandbank culinary experience, where Chef Takato Kitano of The St. Regis Osaka prepared a sushi and sashimi feast using the fish we caught.
Later, as the sun began to set, we made our way to The Whale Bar for a spirited social experience with Brian Gonzales, Beverage Manager at The St. Regis Bangkok. Here, Gonzalez presented four cocktails created for the evening, using contemporary techniques and an assortment of Thai flavours that complimented the tropical setting.
For dinner, we made our way to Orientale, where Chef Chan Chung Shing of Yan Ting at The St. Regis Singapore joined Chef Abdo of The St. Regis Maldives for a four-hands dinner. The open-air setting and the darkness surrounding the island made it feel quite different from dining in a city restaurant, while the menu brought together elevated Cantonese cooking and pan-Asian influences.
(Related: The St. Regis Singapore – New chapter at a grand address)
After breakfast the following morning, there came an invitation to adopt a coral with Reefscapers Maldives – an environmental conservation organisation specialising in coral restoration, marine reserch, and education. The hands-on experience provided us with a better understanding of the marine environment surrounding the private island, as well as an opportunity to take part in the resort’s ongoing conservation efforts.
This was then followed by a breathing yoga session with Chef Emmanuel Stroobant at The Library, which introduced another dimension to the Luxury Dining Series. Rather than treating food purely as something to consume, the session explored the relationship between breath, mindfulness, and nourishment.
This led naturally into a hands-on experience back at ALBA with Chef Stroobant and Chef Ahmet Ozucucu, where a small group of us gathered for a vegan cooking demonstration. With just a handful of guests, it felt like a gathering of food-loving friends, which allowed both chefs to candidly talk through their approach to ingredients and technique.
(Related: Emmanuel Stroobant on 25 years of Saint Pierre)
By evening, the focus was over at Cargo, where Master Chef Taj Mohammed Sha of The St. Regis Mumbai presented a menu inspired by the flavours of the Indian Ocean, bringing Indian culinary traditions together with Maldivian ingredients. Brian Gonzalez returned with cocktail pairings designed around the same ideas, creating a dinner that moved between spice, local produce, and drinks.
The final evening brought everything together with a sunset cruise aboard the Norma luxury yacht, accompanied by Mediterranean canapés, and a final sabrage. Dinner then became a journey of its own, moving between several of the resort's dining venues. The Dine Around experience began at The Whale Bar with an amuse-bouche and cocktails, continued to Decanter for an aperitif and wine-paired appetiser, then moved to T.Pan for the entrée and main course with sake pairings, before ending at Orientale with dessert and Japanese whisky.
It was an appropriate conclusion to a programme that had deliberately avoided keeping food in one place. Across the four days, meals became reasons to explore the island, meet people, as well as experience different culinary perspectives. The chefs came from Singapore, India, Japan, and the Maldives, while the flavours moved between Cantonese, Indian, Mediterranean, and pan-Asian influences.
And then there was the spectacle of simply being in the Maldives. Between meals and scheduled activities, there were long stretches of time when the best thing to do was nothing at all. The Beach Villa gave indulged me with a stretch of powdery sand at my doorstep, while the Overwater Villa gave me that quintessential Maldives experience. What’s more, the resort's signature butler service was there throughout, but the island had its own special way of instructing me to slow down.
The Luxury Dining Series may have been built around the idea of gathering “Across The Table”, but its most memorable moments were not necessarily limited to what was served. They came from the conversations around the table, the special settings where each meal took place, and the way food became a starting point for discovering another part of the island.
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