Inside Michelle Yeoh’s Dinner at Her Awards-Seasons “Oasis,” the New Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills
Even the Super Bowl wasn’t going to keep this crowd away from celebrating Michelle Yeoh and her historic Oscar nomination as the first Asian woman with a nod in the best actress category.
On Sunday night — while the last quarter of the big game was still being played — around 100 guests arrived at the new Mandarin Oriental Residences in Beverly Hills for a dinner in honor of the Everything Everywhere All at Once star.
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Hosted by project developer Michael Shvo, chef Daniel Boulud and Mandarin Oriental, the night began with a cocktail party, where a large-screen TV had the game on.
One guest, Angela Bassett, told The Hollywood Reporter she had caught Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance before heading over to fete her fellow Oscar nominee Yeoh (with whom she starred in the 2021 film Gunpowder Milkshake). Said Bassett of Rihanna (who is nominated for an Oscar for her Black Panther: Wakanda Forever tune “Lift Me Up”), “I thought it was phenomenal. It was elegant. It was sophisticated. It was just her, by herself, squashing any and all questions about anything that she’s up to or wants to do. She is all that.”
As hors d’oeuvres including saffron arancini and tuna tartare were passed, guests — including Henry and Liv Lo Golding, director Destin Daniel Cretton, Everything Everywhere co-director Daniel Kwan, co-star Stephanie Hsu and producer Jonathan Wang, Sandra Oh, Lisa Ling and Ken Jeong — mingled and were able to see the Kansas City Chiefs clinch the Super Bowl LVII title.
After drinks, guests – who also included lawyer Ken Ziffren, celebrity tattoo artist Dr. Woo, Rob and Crystal Kung Minkoff, Liane and Richard Weintraub, Hing Wa Lee luxury retailer David Lee, producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Jon Landau and Lauren Selig, directors Michael Mann, Oliver Stone, Mike Figgis and Alex Kurtzman and photographer Jean Pigozzi — headed to one of the property’s large penthouses (which includes a private six-car garage) for a dinner at four long tables.
Chef Boulud — who later this year will open a restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Residences Beverly Hills — personally cooked the meal, which included an avocado salad with green goddess dressing and a brook trout “with a lot of wonderful vegetables from the market this morning,” said the chef.
Shvo, founder of the luxury development and investment firm SHVO, welcomed the assembled with a toast to Yeoh, who has a long association with Mandarin Oriental and is the first and longest-running celebrity to appear in the hospitality brand’s famous “I’m a Fan” campaigns. Said Shvo, “We’re here to celebrate this amazing woman, this iconic woman — thank you for being our guest here at Mandarin … and if there’s a problem, you know where to find me.”
Shvo’s toast nodded to the fact that Yeoh is staying at the residences throughout awards season while she’s in Los Angeles. Speaking with THR during the dinner on the penthouse’s private terrace, the star said that the 54-apartment Mandarin Oriental Residences property is her “home away from home” as she is currently shuttling between L.A. and London, where she is currently filming Jon M. Chu’s two-part Wicked movie.
Yeoh — who was wearing an outfit that included a skirt by Shiatzy Chen and a Schiaparelli belt — talked further about her connection to Mandarin Oriental, her upcoming projects and if she’s decided yet on what she’ll wear to the Oscars.
How did you first connect with Mandarin Oriental and star in their campaigns?
When I was in Hong Kong — Patrick Lichfield was the photographer. And David Tang of Shanghai Tang, a very dear friend who has passed, called me and said, “Michelle, we have to do this together.” And since then this relationship has always been ongoing. In Hong Kong, the original Mandarin Oriental was always a place that we would go and have tea and just sit there. We actually were there almost every day. It was our hang out. This relationship is like family.
Do you have a favorite Mandarin property?
In London, I’m at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, right where the park is. And at the [residence] in L.A. — when you come here right away, you are at home. With all that is happening with the Oscars and with all the leading up to it, it’s like being everywhere, everything all at once. I am very grateful to have a base here. Michael [Shvo] and Mandarin have made my whole journey much easier. My favorite place is the gym and the pool. I love to be safe and quiet and sometimes you need a little bit of space away from the crowd so that you can just breathe. This has been like my little oasis.
Tonight’s dinner also feels like a celebration of inclusion and representation for the Asian community in Hollywood. What is the feeling like in the room tonight?
Look at Sandra [Oh]. Look at Stephanie [Hsu]. We all support each other because we are collaborators. Filmmakers are collaborators. You can’t do this on your own. You need to be able to work with each other and for each other. It’s been really, really exciting to see so many more roles and stories for the Asian community, not just in front of the camera but also behind the camera. So it’s very satisfying. I think we all want to be seen. We all want to be given the same opportunities. And hopefully next time, no one will say, ‘Oh, what is it like to be the Asian doing this?’ Give the roles to people who can do it.
You have Destin Daniel Cretton’s upcoming series American Born Chinese hitting Disney+ later this year. How did that come about?
We met doing Shang-Chi together and then when he was going to do American Born Chinese, he texted me and said, ‘Michelle, would you think of…?’ And I’m like, ‘Destin, for you, I’m there.’
Have you decided yet on what you are going to wear to the Oscars?
It’s an emotional choice. We all love these amazing designers and there are so many amazing designers and there are so many of them out there, and they have always been so supportive of you, that somebody will be so disappointed in me because I didn’t choose them. At the end of the day, I’ll just have to be nominated more.
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