Question: Can a slick restaurant management company with over 400 employees and outlets throughout Asia take over the food and beverage facilities in a four-century-old Macau hotel with 24 rooms and make a profit? Answer: It's possible.
Pousada de Sao Tiago is not your usual hotel in Macau. Its history dates back to the Portuguese invasion, when it was one of four fortresses defending the enclave against Chinese pirates and Dutch warships. As a hotel, it has retained many of the original artefacts, the old stone walls, beautifully sculpted rooms and an easygoing way of life.
But when Paul Hsu of Elite Concepts visited the Pousada some years ago, he was struck less by its charm than the misuse of its greatest facility.
'The gardens were more important than the main dining room upstairs. We decided that, if we could take over the facilities, we could change the whole concept of the place.' Obviously, this was a dicey business. When the Mandarin took over the Bela Vista some years ago, bureaucracy and lack of perspective meant it was years before the revamp was completed.
'We thought we might have government red tape,' recalls Xavier Pujol, Elite Concepts' project manager, 'because Pousada is a historical monument. But since we didn't tear down anything or erect any towers, our only problem was simply trying to open the restaurant up, working from the beginning.' While well-known designer Tony Chi was in charge of the interior, little of his handiwork is seen. The upstairs restaurant is now a glorified coffee shop, and Os Gatos - The Cat - is less an interior triumph than a triumph of space.
In fact, the whole concept of Os Gatos is in the spatial perspective rather than the decorative details. Aside from black-and-white photographs and a fine painting by Nuno Baretto, little stands out.
