Ole, Ole, Soleil!

It’s a wonderful treat when all the heavy-hitters of Malaysia’s corporate world get fêted by what is, without doubt, Kuala Lumpur’s culinary dream team. With the menu, wines and service all taken care of by Ghent-born chef Evert Onderbeke, sommelier extraordinaire Yuhei Teraoka and restaurant manager Azwan Effandie, guests of The Peak who turned up at Soleil Restaurant for a recent instalment of its CEO Dinner Series could effortlessly sit down to great company and scintillating conversation amidst the relaxed ambience of its first-level private dining floor. Welcomed effusively by the night’s co-host, Dato’ Seri Abdul Azim Zabidi, and his gracious wife, Datin Seri Raihan Abdul Rahman, it was a veritable coming-together of friends, new and old. Although ‘talking shop’ proved to be the order of the night, guests saved part of their energy to applaud the chef and his team once dinner was done, displaying, without doubt, that Soleil deserved every bit of its award by Time Out KL for Best European Restaurant 2014. Would Soleil’s prowess in food, drink and discretion then herald the beginnings of a shift from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya when it comes to power-dining? Looking at the assembly around us, we think it’s already in full swing.