I love a good map and a creative table so thanks to Paola for spotting this Maldives map table at Crossroads.
Best of the Maldives: Upcycled Table – Amilla
Furniture can be just as artistic as paintings and sculpture. It is sort of a living, functional sculpture which makes experiencing it all the richer. My favourite art is those pieces with a story as enchanting as its aesthetics. Like Amilla’s upcycled dining table in their Mystique Garden. The resort hosts chef’s garden meals there. The table itself has been made out of reclaimed wood from the island’s previous jetty. So you are dining in the middle of the island, eating produce from all around you, sitting on part of the island’s history.
Best of the Maldives: Tree Centerpiece – Vakkaru
I’ve often described the Maldives as that iconic plot of sand in the middle of the ocean with a palm tree on it. At Vakkaru, you can dine at your very own homage to this icon at its banquet table at its Isoletta restaurant complete with its very own arboreal canopy (thanks Paola).
Best of the Maldives: Topological Table – Kanuhura / Kandima
Today’s “Best Of” is sort of a “half” have-seen. Like the one in the 12th edition of “Haven’t Seen Yet” (#2) with the ocean inspired table at both Kandima and Kanuhura resorts. I call it “half seen” because while the style is precisely what I thought ideal for a Maldives resort, my fantasy is one constructed based on the actual topology of the island (and its underwater house reef).
Best of the Maldives: Swing Table – Constance Moofushi
Swinging meals on the beach swaying with the ocean breeze at Constance Moofushi.
Best of the Maldives: Glass Coffee Table – Safari Island
The favorite, even iconic, holes in the boards in the Maldives are the infamous glass floors of the water villas. But, Safari Island has lifted this feature with its indoor glass table. Sure beats a coffee table boo of underwater photography to instead sit down and gaze at the real thing. It’s a nice twist so that you can linger, perhaps over a cuppa or a cocktail to real savour this special view instead of staring down at your feet.
Best of the Maldives: Garden Table – Kanuhura
A number of resorts bring the produce of their garden directly to your table and some sit your table in the garden itself, but now at Kanuhura the garden actually joins you at the table. Don’t worry about having someone pass the water as the table includes is very own embedded water feature passing right through it.
Best of the Maldives: Glass Table – Six Senses Laamu
Glass floors have become a signature design feature in Maldives water villas, but Six Senses Laamu has literally raised the concept to a new level. Their Lagoon Water Villa has transparent portal into the colourful lagoon below, but by making it a table, it’s easier to sit down and enjoy the spectacle with a tropical cocktail.
Today’s post has triggered the addition of a new category tag of the best “Tables” in the blog.
Best of the Maldives: Chef’s Table – Kandooma
For those who like to get close to the cooking in action, but without actually getting their hands dirty, the ‘Chef’s Table’ is an intimate way to savour the smells and action of a vibrant kitchen operation. Increasingly, top restaurants are exposing their kitchens rather than sequestering them out in some back room separated from diners with some swinging doors made for comedy collisions. Now, expansive set-up counters expose the chopping, a stirring and flame-fired cooking a short glance away from your table.
Kandooma has an actual proper Chef’s Table set in the kitchen itself. It’s not just a front-row, court-side seat, but the whole ambience of the meal changes. You are less of a spectator and more of a participant (but without the hustling and dirty work). The chef’s come over and chat and sometimes show or share something they are working on.
I didn’t get to do the Chef’s Table during our visit, but I did have the treat of one at Gordon Ramsay’s at Claridges Hotel a few years back and it was a whole different dining experience. Kandooma can seat up to 14 and like most chef’s table, the menu is quite customised to your particular interests.
Best of the Maldives: Top Table – Soneva Fushi
No collection of tree top vistas would be complete without one of the first, Soneva Fushi’s ‘Fresh in the Garden’ restaurant. Sort of Sun Island ‘Zero’ on steroids. And in the open air. Instead of a canopy of tropical plants, you get a canopy of sparkling stars. And if any provoke your curiosity in particular, the Soneva Fushi observatory is conveniently attached by an elevated walkway.
