Echo Entertainment’s Destination Brisbane consortium has heavy hitter Chase Kojima on board. Source: News Corp Australia
BRISBANE’S casino war is heating up, with both proponents pitting their celebrity chefs against each other in a bid to put their plan on the map and raise the city’s culinary profile.
And now it appears British degustation master Heston Blumenthal could soon enter the race to transform Brisbane’s food scene.
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The Courier-Mail understands Crown/Greenland is working to try to bring Blumenthal – whose Crown Melbourne Fat Duck restaurant is due to open in February – to Brisbane.
Meanwhile, Echo Entertainment’s Destination Brisbane Consortium has enlisted Chase Kojima, Luke Nguyen and Adriano Zumbo to take on Crown’s Neil Perry and Guillaume Brahimi.
Echo says it will open 50 bars and restaurants, with Crown expected to settle on a similar number.
Internationally renowned Heston Blumenthal is moving his Fat Duck to Crown Casino in Melbourne for six months next year.
Crown has also exclusively revealed to The Courier-Mail that its planned offerings include Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa’s Nobu Restaurant, Neil Perry’s Rockpool Bar and Grill, Brahimi’s Bistro Guillaume, and a Cantonese restaurant.
A traditional Italian restaurant and large gastropub are also planned, along with a “George Street Cafe Area”. An international food market with a patisserie, ramen noodles, burger bar, Indian food, sandwich bar and Chinese food has also been proposed.
Brahimi said he was “extremely excited” to tackle the challenge of raising Brisbane’s dining profile.
“Queensland has some of the world’s best produce and the seafood is unparalleled,” he said.
“Queen’s Wharf will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase Brisbane and work closely with local Queensland chefs to build a globally iconic restaurant scene.”
Greenland Crown Architectural Fly-through 1:42
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A fly-through of Greenland Crown's proposed entertainment precinct and Waterfall Bridge from South Bank.
- Courier Mail
- 22 Dec 2014
- News/QLD
Echo also has several other high-profile chefs attached to its proposal in addition to Kojima, Nguyen and Zumbo, including Teage Ezard and Scott Pickett.
“I am very excited to have now opened Kiyomi on the Gold Coast and getting to know some of the local Queensland produce,” Kojima said.
“I have a couple of exciting new concepts I would love to bring to Brisbane.”
The Destination consortium also plans to place a heavy emphasis on street food markets and “pop-up” food displays along the riverside, featuring a mix of Queensland produce and big-name chefs.
Echo head of partnerships Michael Hodgson said “culinary tourism” was much bigger than many realised, saying food often took priority over beaches, wildlife and even, natural beauty.
Casino Bids: Fly-through of Destination Brisbane proposal 0:55
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The proposal by Destination Brisbane, which includes Echo Entertainment, the Far East Consortium and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, features a stunning curved building and sky deck over William St reminiscent of the architectural feats of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
- Courier Mail
- 22 Dec 2014
- News/QLD
“We’ve got a huge opportunity through Queen’s Wharf to actually try to raise the profile of the state’s position in food more widely,” he said.
Originally published as Mealing and dealing for casino rivals
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