First Nobu restaurant in Australia opens at crown Nobu, the world’s most recognised Japanese restaurant brand known for its innovative Japanese cuisine, is now open at Crown Melbourne. This is the first Nobu restaurant in Australia and the 19th Nobu restaurant in the world.
Established as a business partnership between celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Oscar-winning Actor Robert De Niro, Hollywood film producer Meir Teper and managing partner of Nobu restaurants, Richie Notar, it is set to present a spectacular restaurant experience offering both visual and culinary delight. The restaurants’ perennial popularity and devoted following are a tribute to Nobu Matsuhisa who creates his own spin on traditional Japanese cooking. Signature dishes such as Black Cod with Miso, Scallop Tiradito Nobu Style, New Style Sashimi and Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno which are available across all Nobu restaurants worldwide, will feature prominently in Nobu Melbourne’s restaurant menu.
Designed by the Rockwell Group, the restaurant displays natural materials that reflect chef Nobu’s origins in rural Japan, intermingled with modern design elements that are hallmark features of Nobu restaurants. Integral to the Nobu identity is the sense of intrigue and visual connections as one moves from space to space. Occupying two floors, the main dining area (lower level) seats more than 150 people and about 100 people in the bar / lounge (upper level).
ICMS Australasia has opened a Brisbane office to tap into the growth in business events in the sunshine state. ICMS Australasia managing director, Bryan Holliday, said they decided to open an office in Brisbane because the Queensland government is showing leadership by investing in new research and cultural institutions which will stimulate demand for innovative conferences. “Second, the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre is planning to dramatically extend and improve its facilities so that more business events will be able to be accommodated,” he said. To date five major events have already been confirmed for ICMS Australasia in Brisbane and Mr Holliday is confident that many more will be secured in the very near future.
Tamworth is on a winning streak with its quest to become a recognised conference, concert and events destination. Tamworth was recently announced as the winning bid to host the 2009 Local Government Association Conference which will take place in Tamworth in October 2009 and is expected to draw approximately 1000 delegates to the region. The last time this conference was held in Tamworth was 1988. The event was positioned as being held predominantly within the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), however with the new Australian Equine and Livestock Centre operational by this time, there could be opportunity to showcase Tamworth’s latest asset. In addition to this, several regional touring options will also be presented to delegates to showcase the Tamworth region pre-and-post conference.
IHG hosted a “lose yourself in Melbourne” famil for Sydney-based corporate meeting planners recently, showcasing IHG’s Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotels in the city. With partners including VirginBlue and Fosters Group, the planners were provided with an exciting snapshot of things to see and do in one of Australia’s most popular cities for meetings and events. While the trip’s focus was familiarising participants with Crowne Plaza Melbourne, Holiday Inn on Flinders Melbourne and Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport, the IHG team – led by business development director for meetings and events, Janelle Anderson – took the opportunity to also showcase Melbourne as a destination. Highlights included a five-course degustation dinner in the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Presidential Suite, a walking tour of the hidden laneways of Melbourne, an adrenalin rush on the glass observation deck of Eureka Towers, tours of the MCG and Carlton Brewhouse and the indulgent chocolate-making experience at Koko Black. Delegates were also given insights into the new convention centre development directly opposite Crowne Plaza Melbourne.
Staging Connections’ Melbourne office was destroyed by fire in November. The office was destroyed however the operations department and warehouse which stores the company’s event and audio-visual inventory was untouched by the fire and remains fully operational. A spokersperson for Staging Connections said all event services would be delivered on time and it was business as usual for Staging Connections. Office staff relocated to nearby premises and the restoration of communication services and systems was complete within 24 hours. The national disaster recovery plan was instigated and all office and IT systems lost in the fire were restored shortly after the blaze, which happened on a Sunday. The spokersperson stressed that the fire would not have any adverse impact on the delivery of upcoming events.
Sydney will take centre stage in the quest to combat climate change and develop a sustainable future when it hosts 1000 international experts for the first World Congress of the Renewable City in 2009. The four-day congress will confront the greatest challenges facing cities worldwide and present the latest innovations from leading specialists in green energy and sustainable urban development. The event is the brainchild of the respected Asia-Pacific chair of the World Council for Renewable Energy, Conjoint Professor Peter Droege of the University of Newcastle, and has been conceived with the help of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau. It will be preceded on March 5, 2008, by a preparatory event called Renewable City 2008, the Australian Summit on Sustainable Urban Development, Energy and Water. The Australian summit will bring together about 100 invited industry and government leaders from around the country. Professor Droege said both events would centre on the urban environment, the home of 85 per cent of Australians and more than half the world’s population. “We’ll focus squarely on urban solutions to the mounting fossil energy security risks we face and the associated threats of global warming,” Professor Droege said. “The built environment is the very setting in which our best aspirations and most hopeful innovations for overcoming climate change and other threats can be made tangible.”
Tiger Airways’ announcement that it had selected Newcastle Airport as its only NSW destination is great news for the local business events market, according to Newcastle Visitor & Convention Bureau convention manager, Ruth Appleby. Twice daily flights to Melbourne from Newcastle are scheduled to commence on January 8. This will increase the number of daily return services to Melbourne from seven to nine from January. Jetstar also recently announced an almost 50 per cent increase in its services in/out Newcastle from June 2008 which will add at least another daily Melbourne service and additional services to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. “This means that bringing your delegates to Newcastle has become a whole lot easier,” Ms Appleby said. “Newcastle Airport is already Australia’s fastest growing regional airport with annual passenger numbers expected to exceed the million mark for the year. As well as the direct services to Melbourne, there are up to nine daily return services to Sydney, eight to Brisbane, four to Canberra as well as services to the Gold Coast, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Norfolk Island.”
The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre was recently named Best Function / Convention Centre Caterer at the Australian Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence gala presentation event in Adelaide. This latest award brings to an impressive 36 the centre’s total number of catering awards and 98 industry awards overall. The centre has earned a worldwide reputation for its contemporary cuisine and restaurant style presentation, with its team of internationally trained chefs preparing an average of one million meals each year. Convention centre general manager, Robert O’Keeffe said this latest achievement in the national restaurant and catering arena was further testimony to the passion and innovation of the centre’s team of talented chefs. “This latest national recognition is ‘the icing on the cake’ of the recent successful launch of the centre’s new menus and new food presentation styles,” he said.
Queensland’s new premier Anna Bligh made a special guest appearance at the Novotel Brisbane recently, attending a cocktail party to promote MEET@Novotel to PCOs, corporate meeting planners and business travel agents. Novotel Brisbane’s cocktail function represented the final instalment of a hectic three city sales blitz that incorporated Sydney and Melbourne. The MEET@Novotel concept is said to have been well received since its launch at AIME in January, extending “six consistent brand commitments” including the promise of a detailed proposal returned within two hours of receiving an enquiry. Novotel says it provides Australia’s largest and most diverse network of meetings spaces to offer 26 key CBD and leisure destinations nationwide.
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