Forget traditional banquet dinners, here are some innovative ideas to whet your appetite – from a home-cooked dinner to a tiny animated chef dancing on your plate.
AUSTRALIA
Showtime Event Group
Trying to please the masses at a large-scale event no longer needs to be a daunting task, thanks to this inventive idea. Showtime Event Group (SEG) is in the midst of creating a special experience app designed to resolve problems where sometimes food options may be excellent but customers can’t find what they’re looking for, or they miss out on unique experiences because they simply weren’t aware of their existence.
Delegates can receive the app in advance of an event and curate their own experience, for example selecting their choice of food or making time to sit and learn from a craft cheese or winemaker stationed in a corner.
Sweet or savoury? Meat or vegetable? Spice or mild? The options promise exciting possibilities where delegates can say goodbye to missed opportunities because the signage wasn’t visible enough.
Great for: Large-scale events
Capacity: 500 to 5,000 pax
Contact: events@seg.melbourne
HONG KONG
M Yachts
Clink glasses and sample canapes during a get-together while cruising along Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbour, or savour a five-course dinner while sealing that corporate deal.
M Yachts’ private charters are exclusive and offer complete privacy and personalisation, allowing for an intimate time onboard. Each luxury cruiser also comes with a team of highly trained service staff and chef.
Itineraries can be created by the company, or planned by the client. For instance, should the afternoon be balmy, a sumptuous seafood spread can be arranged on a bimini-covered sundeck. Event planners can also arrange for a picnic on an idyllic beach accessible only by boat.
Great for: Entertaining VIP clients, product launch parties, cocktail events, and corporate sit-down dinners
Capacity: Depending on the type and size of yacht chartered, it can comfortably accommodate between two to 40 pax. For larger parties, multiple yachts can be anchored together for a unique dining experience out at sea.
Contact: anita@myachts.team
INDONESIA
Nirvana Roemah Air
This F&B experience in Lombok has set tables floating on water, around five to 10 metres away from the beach. Participants pick up their food and drinks, regardless of whether it’s snacks or a barbecued lunch, and bring it to the floating table to nosh on while standing in the cool water.
They can then work off the lunch by going swimming, canoeing, or snorkelling just a few metres away from the “dining area”. Not only do guests enjoy their lunch break in a different way, event planners also do not have to worry about a post-lunch coma.
Event planners can also build a CSR element into this lunch event by combining it with a coral planting activity.
Great for: Post-meeting lunch, or part of a teambuilding activity
Capacity: 20 to 150 pax
Contact: info@lombokandbeyond.com
MALAYSIA
Elements Kuala Lumpur
Le Petit Chef – also known as The World’s Smallest Chef – is an innovative dining experience featuring a small, animated chef. The animation is projected onto diners’ plates with 3D project mapping technology, and proceeds to “cook” their dishes in front of their eyes. Guests will be treated to a delicious meal and a captivating show filled with sight and sound.
The menu is designed by Michelin-star chef, Jeff Ramsey, who is the youngest chef to be awarded by Michelin when he was serving at the Tapas Molecular Bar at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Tokyo.
Event planners can choose a four- or five-course meal. Corporate buyouts of the experience are possible with advance notice.
While Elements Kuala Lumpur is offering Le Petit Chef until the end of 2019, it is looking to extend this to 2020.
Great for: Off-site dinners for board of directors; VIP conference speakers; incentive groups; client dinners
Capacity: No more than 36 people per session. There are three 1.5-hour sessions from Mondays to Saturdays (18.00, 20.00 and 22.00). On Sundays, there is an additional session at 15.00.
Contact: info@elements.my
SINGAPORE
Soulful Grains
Soulful Grains, hosted by Rita Danani – a marketing professional by day and cook by night – in a 1970s semi-detached house in the Telok Kurau neighbourhood is an experience offered through cultural food experience company Noshtrekker.
The dishes that Danani serves up are influenced by Indian and Malay flavours, and she provides a wellness and sustainability twist on local favourites. Diners can expect freshly home-baked bread enhanced with turmeric and curry leaves, as well as a healthier version of nasi goreng (fried rice).
Everything that comes from her kitchen is made from scratch, while all the ingredients she uses are sourced and grown by social enterprises in the region (such as Indonesia and Thailand), with speciality in plant-based foods, herbs and spices.
Great for: Incentives; intimate dinners for overseas VIPs; and groups interested in social enterprise, CSR, and wellness
Capacity: Four to eight pax
Contact: reservations@noshtrekker.com
THAILAND
Gong Coffee
This three-hour-long coffee workshop in Ranong is a fascinating experience for groups who are interested in coffee beans grown in Thailand.
A coffee master will be on hand to teach guests the entire process of how a cup of joe is created, from the hand-roasting to grinding and brewing. The coffee master will also make a cup of high-quality java to suit each person’s preference.
In addition to the coffee experience, the workshop venue is also on the same compound as Gong’s Resort, a guesthouse which offers lodging and great local food. Lunch before or after the workshop can be arranged on-site.
Great for: Incentives; groups interested in the coffee-making process and social enterprise
Capacity: One to 50 pax, but the smaller the group the better
Contact: guru@blackricetravel.com
