Prevue July/August 2013 - (Page 6)

editor’s letter PUMP UP THE VOLUME on your next corporate or group meeting. Blue Man Group’s unique style is a great way to inspire, energize, motivate and entertain. No one brings a meeting to life like Blue Man Group. NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO LAS VEGAS ORLANDO 1.800.BLUEMAN BLUEMAN.COM At Starwood Hotels’ annual “Rendezvous” buyer/supplier event in May, hosted by the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, one session included a panel discussion moderated by Jean-Luc Barone, Starwood’s vp of global food & beverage. He was speaking with the chefs from W New Orleans French Quarter and the W’s in London, Singapore and Santiago. They all said the future of F&B events are more social and local. “People want to learn more about the food they’re eating and where it comes from—they want to dig deeper,” summed up Barone. “Kitchens are coming out into the restaurants, it’s a more interactive experience, more social, so we’re seeing a lot of grazing, for instance.” Another example of that is Sheraton’s brandwide Social Hour where groups can meet in the lobby to try both well known and more esoteric wines, all of them rated 90 or above by Wine Spectator. It’s well designed to create movement around the room and get people talking. Park Hyatt Hotels’ Masters of Food & Wine Series celebrates local culture with programs involving regional wine/beer makers, farmers and chefs. This summer, Park Hyatt opened the Series up for corporate groups. If you take the Armenian cooking class in Moscow, let us know. As we do every year for our annual F&B issue, we highlight a ton of innovative dining/drinking experiences around the world. I’m always amazed by the variety of food that our writers come up with, from the kayar katti yerachi kola urnudai (fennel-ﬂavored lamb meat dumplings) at Taj Coromandel hotel in Chennai, to the chocolate Coca-Cola cake at The Mansion on Forsyth Park in Savannah. In our “Planner’s Pick” story, I spoke with Sherrie Chelini, VP, Incentives Division with Par Avion Meetings & Incentives in Los Angeles. She organized a program in Auckland where couples paired up to dine with locals in their homes. “It’s like being in touch with the true culture, I mean, it was just phenomenal,” said Chelini. There’s so much creativity everywhere these days revolving around F&B. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is turning the traditional buffet on its head with a new lavish ﬁne-dining event. The Epicurean Hotel opens in Tampa this fall, speciﬁcally designed for foodies. And in South Africa, DMC owner Margi Biggs brought the international StreetSmart program to her country, where restaurants work with local NGOs to assist homeless children. You can’t get much more local and social than that. Greg Oates / greg@worthit.com 6 | prevue magazine 06-07_Letter.indd 6 7/3/13 12:14 PM http://www.BLUEMAN.COM http://www.BLUEMAN.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue July/August 2013

Planner's Pick: New Zealand
Fresh Meets: Autograph Collection
Bureau Buzz: Monterey County
Good Business: South Africa
sea Shores: Small Ship cruising
The Local Kitchen
Special Section: Caribbean
Dominican Republic
On Location: Hilton/LXR, Puerto Rico
On Location: The Broadmoor
The South, Florida & Las Vegas
Singapore
On Location: Starwood Resorts, San Diego
On Location: Travaasa Austin
On Location: Moon Palace Cancun
On Location: IRF Cancun
Check Out: Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana

Prevue July/August 2013