Café Paradiso: A breath of fresh air at the departure lounge

Café Paradiso: A breath of fresh air at the departure lounge

20-January-2016



Guests touring the café
The departure lounge of the Seychelles International Airport has now a new eating area – the Café Paradiso.
Managed by Skychef Servair, the café was officially opened yesterday by Georgia Van Heyste, the daughter of Skychef’s founder, the late Panos Papakokkinos.
The Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St Ange and Bishop French Chang-Him were also present for this event.
“The launch of Café Paradiso has been timed to coincide with the efforts of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) to renovate and upgrade the departure lounge. As a proud member of the airport community and long-term partner of SCAA, the company was delighted to be given the opportunity to create a new snack bar worthy of the five-star service expected by the tourists that visit Seychelles. Café Paradiso is an attractive island-style snack bar that focuses on offering customers a memorable last taste of Seychelles before they fly home. In line with the slogan that happy customers are more likely to return, Café Paradiso hopes that people’s ‘Last Taste of Paradise’ will encourage them to come back to our beautiful islands,” said Neville Morel, chief executive of Skychef Servair.
Minister St Ange congratulated the whole team for their effort in upgrading the departure lounge and noted that “there was a void and we needed a person with tenacity to come up with a breath of fresh air at the departure lounge. Seychelles airport is moving forward to provide what our guests want and we are happy Café Paradiso will provide something that looks, feels, and tastes Seychelles before our guests leave our island. We will now be able to give a final memory to the tourists reminding them they were in paradise for some days”.
He also talked about Mr Papakokkinos whom he referred to as somebody who had Seychelles at heart.
“Mr Panos wanted to see Seychelles move forward and today I think he must be very happy to see his daughter fulfilling his dream. Tourism is not only hotels and beaches, they are also impressed with the facilities at the airport,” he concluded.
The contemporary island-style décor of Café Paradiso harmoniously combines the use of white washed wood, colourful panels and local dark woods. Attractive menu boards and a large image of Anse Source d’Argent add to its glamour. Brightly lit and using the latest refrigeration equipment from Europe, this new snack bar creates a welcoming environment for its customers. The design of CaféParadiso was a close cooperation between two childhood friends, Georgia Van Heyste and Paris Searles, a successful local architect. The stylish logo and branding was designed by Federico Lang from Maven, another of Georgia’s childhood friends.
What is different from the cafeteria outside the airport? “A lot of effort was also put in preparing superior food with a tropical twist. The menu includes items like local banana chips, smoked fish baguettes and salads, fresh tropical juices and passion fruit mousses,” said Mr Morel.
The shareholders of Skychef Servair continue to invest heavily in the business in order to ensure that the company reaches new heights. Café Paradiso is part of this investment programme. Later this year, the company also plans to launch a Skychef shop where local people will be able to buy quality food produced by the company’s chefs.
Just to go back in history, the name of Café Paradiso is a reference to the start of Skychef and a tribute to its founder, Mr Papakokkinos, who was a successful businessman and an accomplished diplomat. He also had a true sense of adventure and desire to see the world. It was this adventure that brought him to Seychelles. He arrived on the island by ship from East Africa before the first jet aircraft even landed on Mahé in July 1971. He rented a small house at the airport, which was aptly called Paradiso, where he started the airline catering operations. To celebrate these pioneering times, Skychef Servair created Café Paradiso.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=248154

New restaurant brings ‘a breath of fresh air’

12-February-2016

Carambole is the name of a new restaurant, bar and lounge that has opened its doors at the same location where the former Konoba used to be.
The restaurant is a family owned business led by Aron Rose, with brother Jacky Ndjaye as manager and sister Chanella Rose as marketing manager.
During the restaurant’s soft opening last Friday afternoon, Mr Rose said the objective was not to have a venue packed with 600 people where they can barely move around but rather to have a crowd that can have fun, eat and drink until midnight then continue their evening at the various nightclubs around the island.
“I think this is what was missing in Seychelles, an entire new concept of service and music which brings a breath of fresh air,” he said.
Congratulating Mr Rose and his siblings, the Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St Ange said the Seychellois will be happy to see a new attraction that comes to compete with the existing brands.
He noted that attractions such as Carambole and the recently launched Turquoise horse trail at Barbarons are great attractions for the locals and tourists alike.
Carambole comprises three main parts – the garden, the lounge and the VIP area.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=248384

New restaurant brings ‘a breath of fresh air’

12-February-2016

Carambole is the name of a new restaurant, bar and lounge that has opened its doors at the same location where the former Konoba used to be.
The restaurant is a family owned business led by Aron Rose, with brother Jacky Ndjaye as manager and sister Chanella Rose as marketing manager.
During the restaurant’s soft opening last Friday afternoon, Mr Rose said the objective was not to have a venue packed with 600 people where they can barely move around but rather to have a crowd that can have fun, eat and drink until midnight then continue their evening at the various nightclubs around the island.
“I think this is what was missing in Seychelles, an entire new concept of service and music which brings a breath of fresh air,” he said.
Congratulating Mr Rose and his siblings, the Minister for Tourism and Culture Alain St Ange said the Seychellois will be happy to see a new attraction that comes to compete with the existing brands.
He noted that attractions such as Carambole and the recently launched Turquoise horse trail at Barbarons are great attractions for the locals and tourists alike.
Carambole comprises three main parts – the garden, the lounge and the VIP area.

http://www.nation.sc/article.html?id=248384