I must admit, I rarely read press releases because I am normally on the ground asking questions, taking notes, snapping photos and forming my own opinions about a product, service or event (summary: my boss loves to torture me!). I only refer to the press releases for random facts, statistics and numbers which my brain is unable to contain after a few drinks. Having said that, yesterday I spent some time reading the releases that were provided to invited guests during the eatdrinkandmore.com launch at The Westin earlier this month… and I must say, everything was informative, well structured and artfully presented.
I love corporate premiums and this bag was loaded with them… bottle openers, fridge magnets… THE WORKS!
Eatdrinkandmore.com is as the name suggests and is pretty much self explanatory. It is Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ one-stop online portal that offers unique and refreshing food and beverage concepts… and more!
Anyway… as I read the releases, one part resonated with me, and I’d like to share it with restaurateurs… I hope you guys are paying attention! This is by Miguel Ko, Chairman and President of Starwood Asia Pacific. He says…
“Our mission has always been to listen to our customers and to stay ahead of the changing tastes, trends and needs of our customers. Working with various experts in the food and beverage industry including designers, chefs, food journalists and consultants has provided us with great insights into the creation of an outstanding food and beverage experience.”
Tastes, trends and needs are ever changing. We are now at a point whereby there is huge demand for accessibility on the Internet… whether it is to find your business address, look at some photos or just to book a table… people want to do it online! So the question is… are you content meeting your revenue targets or do you want to stay ahead of the curve? If it is the latter… great! theQguides.com wants to help!
Back to the launch…
Favola – the hottest, newest, most talked about Italian restaurant in town
The concept for the evening was great. We literally ate at five different *“branded outlets”. Le Méridien moved two of their restaurants (including Chefs) and put together makeshift-compact versions of Favola and Latest Recipe at The Westin. I was very impressed at how they managed to maintain the quality of food in such transitory conditions at The Westin. So anyway, we started off our nomadic food trail at Favola, worked our way up to Latest Recipe (which constructed in The Living Room) and continued to move on up to EEST. This was where Cheryl Lum, Director of Communications at Le Méridien and Martin B. Jones, VP, Food & Beverage (Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts) introduced and launched the eatdrinkandmore.com portal. My oooh my… I was blown away… eatdrinkandmore.com is a content behemoth! I am sure many humans were sacrificed on altars and office tables working late hours to build this feature rich portal. Kudos goes to Starwood for taking a bold step in this direction.
Latest Recipe features familiar and easy to eat contemporary food
The launch of the portal at EEST
After eatdrinkandmore.com was launched, we snacked a little more at EEST and then we were ushered to Prego for some authentic Italian fare… and soon after made our way to Qba where we I had countless gin and mojito popsicles… oooh oooh and pina colada paletas. Having these popsicles made it feel like I was in school again… but this time instead of being giddy over chicks, I was giddy from all the booze. *burp*
Getting tipsy at Prego… the quality of photos is proof of consumption
Final stop… in typical Frat Mustard style… I made it a point to get sloshed at Qba
All in all, it was a fantastic night. Great company, great food, fantastic drinks and fantastic hosts from both The Westin and Le Méridien. Special thanks goes out to Cheryl Lum who invited me… I am so honoured. Hahahaha. *errrhemmm* *clears throat* Sorry, private joke people. Anyway… Starwood has made the first move… I wonder how the other giant chains like Hilton and Marriott are going to react. Ball is in your court…
Note: *“Branded outlets” or branded lifestyle concepts are basically F&B outlets which can be found in other Starwood properties. E.g. Favola is also available in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Shanghai.
Hi,
Thank you for sharing your experience of the Launch with the readers of your blog. It is indeed a pleasure to know that you enjoyed the sights and taste we presented to you at The Westin.
We will keep you posted on updates of exciting events that are planned in the pipeline. Keep in touch.
Be well,
Li Ming
Director – Communications
The Westin Kuala Lumpur
excellent! here’s to the success of eat drink n more;)