Hotelier edition 14 | Page 18

HOT | News Catering to Hanoi’s Evolving Palate locations: the Temple of Literature, the Hanoi Opera House and the National Museum. Outfits such as Audi, Chevron, Samsung, Nokia, the British Embassy and Destination Asia have all called on Marcel Isaak's expertise to create menus for their most distinguished occasions. “You don’t get ahead by copying what works,” says Isaak. “Like anything else, there’s an evolution of taste that’s peculiar to a given place and a given time, and more than anywhere else in Hanoi, the Press Club has its pulse on those trends.” HANOI, Vietnam – “Bicycles,” says Kurt Walter, the Press Club’s general manager. “When we opened in 1997, many of our guests arrived by bicycle. Today, we’re helping to park Bentleys.” The bridge between the Press Club’s debut in 1997 and its 16th year today is the distance between modernity and another age entirely. Hanoi has developed at lighting speed over the past decade, and with new influences come new tastes. Designed to mirror the elegant, atmospheric haunts of 1920s Vietnam, the 86-seat Press Club Restaurant has managed to keep pace with the capital’s rapidly evolving palate. Led by Marcel Isaak, a classically trained Swiss chef and author of the Periplus book ‘The Food of Vietnam’, the Press Club’s culinary team has been called on to cater the city’s most prestigious events; while its three handsome banquet rooms, 200-square-metre ballroom and breezy rooftop terrace are considered the place to host stylish get-togethers and events in Hanoi. The Press Club’s member wine evenings, weekly networking nights, and a once-a-month ‘Friday on the Terrace’ party have become expat institutions in Hanoi, with more and more Vietnamese joining the mix every year. In late 2012, the Press Club launched ChampagneFriday Jazz, a weekend-welcoming event with live music, free canapés and two-for-one drinks including champagne. A decade after its debut, the Press Club underwent an extensive refurbishment. Its meetings facilities were freshened from top-totoe, with new carpets, new paint, new fabrics, new fixtures and leather upholstery. In September, the ground-floor lobby will undergo a full sprucing up in step with the venue’s vision for 2013. The Press Club won “Best International Restaurant” from the Vietnam Economic Times for six consecutive years, and was recently called out as ‘One of Asia’s Finest Restaurants’ by the Miele Guide in its 2011/2012 edition. For more information on the Press Club’s promotional meeting and conference offers for the second half of 2013, visit www.hanoipressclub.com. Planners from the Press Club have organized bespoke private events from 6 to 500 people staged in some of Hanoi's most recognizable HOT | Notes INDONESIA CHALLENGES INDONESIA CHALLENGE • The Global Competitiveness Report ranked Indonesia 90th among 139 countries due to poor state of various aspects of its infrastructures. • Poor infrastructure conditions are the main factor preventing Indonesia’s economy from growing at its potential rate of 7 - 8%. • The National Development Planning Board (“Bappenas”) has stated that around USD143 billion (or 3% of GDP) will be needed for infrastructure development in 2010-2014 in order to meet the country’s economic growth target of 6% - 7% per annum from 2010 - 2014. • Of this amount, the Government budget can only cover around 35% (or USD50 billion) of the total required infrastructure investment, leaving around 65% (or USD93 billion) of the investment expected to come from the non-Government sector. • More than half of Indonesia’s population is urban INDONESIAN CITIES ARE CHANGING FAST • The new breed of progressive leaders in many cities in Indonesia is encouraging • The less than perfect Law 26/2007 on Spatial Planning • The need of improved urban design capacity to create new, modern Indonesia