(Photo: The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi)

Reporter: We are glad to have here Mr. Anthony Slewka, Director of Sales & Marketing for the Metropole, who will tell us more about the new mooncakes.

Anthony: Thanks for having me. This year is very special, the year of COVID-19, and a situation that none of us have ever seen before, so we decided to link our moon cake theme with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporter: The mooncakes, created by Metropole’s chefs, have a variety of distinctive flavors, ranging from traditional favorites to creative modern interpretations. What new flavors are you offering this year?

Anthony: We have 6 flavors, four of the flavors are the same as we had last year. We have two new ones, durian and lotus. Besides that we have coconut mixed with lotus, and traditional mixed cakes. We also have the very popular caramel.

Reporter: The basic flavors are still available, including black sesame and coconut, green bean, pumpkin seed and salted egg which are the traditional flavors of Vietnam’s mid-autumn day. Apart from the distinctive flavors to discover, I am very impressed with the eye-catching designs of the mooncake boxes which feature the hotel exterior as well as scenes such as home delivery and staff wearing masks. Could you  share the story behind that with us?

Anthony: We have three images which are the façade of the hotel, the other boxes have four different images, one of these is the airplane from London which is representative of the flight. As you know two flights came from London in early March. There were some guests that were infected, later one or two of them tested positive for COVID-19, so we had to quarantine a few people in the rooms for a period of time, and it’s our real experience of the pandemic. We have the chef preparing a meal with a mask on, we also have a home delivery image. The stories are linked together.

Reporter: And I realize each box contains a colorful poster in it. Does it have any special meaning?

Anthony: We do have posters in the box. It’s similar to what we call a propaganda poster which are common in Vietnam. It’s in bright colors, with different people from different departments in their uniforms. We have chefs, housekeeping, engineering, and gardening in their uniforms. All are saluting the medical community in Vietnam. They have done such an amazing job protecting the people and controlling the spread of the disease. So, that’s why we decided to link everything to our heroes who are the medical workers and to donate some money to hospitals to do research or those who need it.

Reporter: Thank you very much, Anthony, for the interesting story behind the special mooncakes Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi is offering this year!

For every box of mooncakes purchased, Metropole Hanoi will donate 50,000 VND to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for researching purposes and to support those who are in need.

The mooncakes taste the best with Vietnamese tea. Enjoy the flavors of durian, lotus, green bean and salted egg that will melt in your mouth.