Every December, the art world congregates in South Florida for two jam-packed weeks of cultural and aesthetic indulgence, during which a veritable Who’s Who roster takes over Miami. On December 7, many of them could be found onboard the 300-foot (95-metre) superyacht KISMET for the third Four Seasons Pop Down, the event concept specifically designed to offer guests an immersive brand experience beyond the walls of hotels and resorts. Sixteen Four Seasons mixologists and chefs hand-selected from around the globe ensured that those in attendance were well-cared-for, while Questlove, ensconced in a second-floor DJ booth, provided the soundtrack.
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Ethereal florals greeted Pop Down guests at Island Gardens Marina, where KISMET was docked.
The seven-storey superyacht KISMET provided the perfect venue.
From left: Executive Pastry Chef Chris Ford (Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel), Le Sirenuse Miami Chef de Cuisine Antonio Mermolia (Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club), Head Bartender Valentino Longo (Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club) and Executive Pastry Chef Angel Betancourt (The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort) kicked off the evening with a toast.
Head Mixologist Karen Arceyuth (Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo) serves up her signature libation.
Questlove provided the musical stylings for the evening from KISMET’s second floor.
Chef de Cuisine Antonio Mermolia of Le Sirenuse Miami (Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club) adds a finishing touch.
Transportive Sips
Exquisitely crafted cocktails and culinary delights are a Four Seasons hallmark, and Pop Down Miami was no exception. Wherever you went on the seven-storey KISMET (the personal vessel of Four Seasons Hotel Toronto owner Shahid Khan), offerings abounded. And their credentials were impeccable: Participants for each Pop Down are selected out of more than 100 submissions from across the Four Seasons global portfolio. A few of the evening’s master mixologists included Fatima León of
Four Seasons Hotel Mexico City, Keith Motsi of Four Seasons Hotel Beijing and Ashish Sharma of Four Seasons Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
The colours, the people and the cocktails were inspiring for me. – Fatima León
León shook up the complex and tropical Surrealismo, a crowd-pleaser made with tequila, guava and cotton candy, topped with a butterfly confection. “The experience of being in Miami for Pop Down was amazing,” León says. “The colours, the people and the cocktails were inspiring for me” – so much so that she’ll be revamping the menu at her own Fifty Mils bar, and adding her creation, next year.
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Guests were invited to create custom fragrances with Atelier Cologne.
Michelin-starred Chef Daniel Boulud served caviar, crab and lobster gelée.
Head Bartender Keith Motsi of Four Seasons Hotel Beijing created a pineapple-infused cocktail.
Head Bartender Valentino Longo of Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club charms the crowd.
Guests mingled with Four Seasons masters of craft, including Executive Pastry Chef Chris Ford of the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel.
Michelin-Starred Eats
Michelin-starred chefs Daniel Boulud, of Café Boulud and d|bar at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, and Mauro Colagreco of the newly reimagined Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach showcased their mutual talents in the form of caviar, crab and lobster gelée; egg cups stuffed with truffle, mushroom and foie gras bavarois; and a warm mushroom tart with Parmesan and black truffles. Speaking of Florie’s, his new post just up the coast in Palm Beach, Colagreco compared it to Mirazur, his lauded oceanfront restaurant in Menton, France. “It’s an amazing project, a very beautiful oceanfront resort, so there’s lots in common,” he says. “We have a pizza oven, a tandoori, a yakitori – many methods of cooking with fire.”
Artful Immersion
On KISMET’s lower deck – also known as the spa level, complete with barbershop, sauna, pedicure station and hair salon – the sensorial experience continued as guests, surrounded by citrus trees, were invited to create customized perfumes from French fragrance house Atelier Cologne. Also on board: two-storey video walls displaying time-lapse images of the artistic process of Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal, whose digital paintings are featured in
Four Seasons: The Art of Hospitality, a new coffee-table book from Assouline.
And that wasn’t the only artwork on view. At Island Gardens Marina, where the superyacht was docked for the occasion, attendees were greeted by Glass Horizon, the latest Skynet installation from artist Patrick Shearn and studio Poetic Kinetics. The sculpture, 35 feet (11 metres) high, was constructed using rope, monofilament net and approximately 67,000 holographic Mylar streamers, spanning 10,800 square feet (1,003 square metres). No invitation was needed to take in its iridescent charms, on display throughout the weekend.
Next up? In early 2019, the global series moves to Hong Kong. Watch this space for more.
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