Holiday Inn partners food artist Samantha Lee to encourage family-friendly fun dining

Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts recently partnered with food artist, Samantha Lee, to encourage family-friendly ‘fun dining’ using dishes from the brand’s new Kids Menu.

If you are not familiar with Samantha Lee, check out the beautiful food art creations on her Facebook and Instagram:

Samantha transformed five dishes from the nutritionally balanced new menu into kid-friendly works of art:

Can you recognise what is being depicted on each plate?

Using the theme of animal portraits, each artwork created by Samantha has been designed to engage kids and their parents, encouraging them to explore nutritious eating in a fun way.

Earlier in June, I attended a food art workshop held by Samantha at Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre together with my wife and son:

Speaking about her creations for Holiday Inn, Samantha Lee said: “I started off creating food art for my daughter to encourage her to be more adventurous with food, so a partnership with Holiday Inn to help inspire thousands of children and their parents, helping them discover new and exciting flavours is a cause that I knew I had to be a part of. Not only do we want kids to get excited about balanced eating, we want parents to see how to make food fun for their little ones.”

“It’s great that a brand is really getting behind proper eating for children and the food art that I’ve created as part of the Holiday Inn Kids Menu will take them on a cultural, as well as taste, adventure using some of the great Kids Menu recipes designed with Nutrition Australia.” She added.

Lee Lin Teo, Head of Brand Marketing, AMEA, IHG said: “Holiday Inn has always been about family – we were the first brand to launch a ‘Kids Stay & Eat Free’ programme – and we’re constantly looking for ways to improve the experience we offer to guests, and food is a big part of the travel experience. We created our new Kids Menu because we wanted to make sure families are making the most of their time together, with kids enjoying colourful and tasty dishes and with parents relaxed knowing that all the dishes have been created with nutrition at their core.”

“After such good feedback from our guests on the new Kids Menu dishes we thought that we could take it even further by turning them into works of art with the very talented Samantha Lee. We hope that parents and kids are inspired to explore food as a bonding experience, both with us at Holiday Inn hotels and resorts and when the holiday is over at home.” Lee added.

The dishes were pretty simple to plate. My wife and son were able to piece theirs together quickly:

I guess some parents need to plate their food this way in order to make dining fun for their kids to get them to eat their greens. For Rachel and I, we count ourselves lucky that Asher likes to eat vegetables and fruits. We generally do not have any problem with getting him to eat his greens and other healthy food. Nonetheless, the food art workshop is a good way to get him acquainted to food preparation as well as for family bonding. It is definitely a fun and meaningful way to get acquainted with the Holiday Inn Kids Menu.

Some of the dishes from the menu include Veggie Pitta Burger, Sushi Rolls, Spaghetti Bolognese, DIY Lettuce Cups and DIY Falafels. I particularly like the DIY Lettuce Cups which are easy-to-make and fun to customise for kids.

For dessert, kids can choose from favourites such as Apple Crumble, Fruit Popsicle and Banana Split, made with yoghurt instead of ice cream.

The new Kids Menu recently launched in Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts across Asia, Middle East and Africa. Created in partnership with Nutrition Australia, all the recipes are based on criteria developed by the organisation’s Accredited Practising Dietitians, ensuring that all the dishes are nutritionally-balanced and good for growing little ones.

The Holiday Inn Kids’ Menu is available in all Holiday Inn hotels and resorts across Asia, Middle East and Africa, including 23 Holiday Inn hotels and resorts in South East Asia such as Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium, Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa, Holiday Inn Resort Phuket and Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie.

Guests can book rooms and make the most of the ‘Kids Eat & Stay Free’* programme via the Holiday Inn website.

* ‘Kids Stay & Eat Free’: Kids 12 and under stay for free when they share the guestroom with an adult family member. Baby cot is complimentary. Maximum room occupancy per guestroom is limited to two adults and two kids. Kids 12 and under eat for free when they choose meals from the Kids Menu in the All Day Dining Restaurant. Kids must be accompanied by at least one adult who is registered as a hotel guest and must order at least one main course from the full priced menu. Limited to four kids per dining family per meal or two kids per parent per meal

** Each hotel’s Kids Menu will offer a mix of international and regional dishes, as well as a choice of low sugar desserts and drinks