Mandarin Oriental, New York's MO Lounge Relaunches Under Returning Chef Toni Robertson

Mandarin Oriental, New York's MO Lounge occupies one of the better vantage points in the city, its 35th-floor perch looking directly over Central Park, and its recent relaunch came with a genuinely full-circle story behind it. The venue's culinary enhancements are now led by new Food and Beverage Director and Executive Chef Toni Robertson, who was the hotel's original Executive Chef when it opened in 2004.

Robertson left New York a year after the opening to become Executive Chef of Mandarin Oriental, Singapore, a post she held through 2017. Her return to New York after seven years away, now overseeing all of the hotel's food and beverage program including MO Lounge, gives the relaunch a continuity that a newly hired outside chef simply couldn't offer.

For guests who remember the hotel's early years, Robertson's return closes a loop that spans more than two decades of the brand's history in New York. For newer guests, it means MO Lounge's Central Park views now come with a kitchen led by someone who helped define what Mandarin Oriental, New York's dining program was meant to be in the first place.

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