IT was the kind of party you didn’t want to end and as the food, the drinks and the entertainment went on and on, the thought of staying the night became an option. A rather nice one, too.

An honorary Latin American for the night, we were celebrating the launch of the Latin American Flavours Festival in the Hyatt’s subterranean Centenary Ballroom, which was akin to a Buenos Aires nightclub I remember.

With 13 embassies contributing to the festival, they were determined to make it a typical Latin American-style evening and succeeded admirably, especially as the guests wandered the room, watched the plate-up performed as part of the “theatre” created for the event, mixed and mingled and tried everything. The Mexican Hibiscus-Lemon Margarita was divine.    

Exceptional assistance came from executive chef Nitin Kumar to test all recipes and balance the flavours of each country with his culinary team.

The Latin American Flavours Festival runs until September 22 in the Promenade Café at the Hyatt.