It’s a trifecta of glamorous new openings this month and Aucklanders are in for a treat with music, roof-top views and re-imagined food on offer.
On Friday night, SkyCity's Flare opened to a mass of A-Listers and VIPs. The expansive new, casually elegant bar and live music venue in theheart of its Auckland casino, combines the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas with a down-to-earth local vibe.
For its Vegas-style live entertainment, the opening night had a breakthrough performance by 20-year-old Samoan singer/songwriter Denzel, and a 90-minute set by fabulous country-soul singer-songwriter star Tami Neilson, who is a finalist and a performer at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
This ties in nicely, as SkyCity announced it was the official accommodation and hospitality partner of this year's 2020 AMAs. Many of the finalists and performers will stay at the Grand when the awards take place at Spark Arena on November 15.
To develop its music soul, the new star on the casino's rigging will feature a broad range of live music, including acoustic/solo pop, soul/funk, jazz and RnB every Thursday to Sunday night. On Wednesdays it will be a cauldron for upcoming talent, creating an opportunity for emerging artists from MAINZ and the University of Auckland to perform and develop relationships in the music industry.
Down the road at the Auckland Viaduct, A-List chef Sean Connolly is directing food and beverage at the highly-anticipated addition to the hotel scene, the new QT hotel, which opens this month.
The QT is famous for its quirky take on style, as much as it is for its rooftop bars, and this one promises to be THE place to be - six floors up, with panoramic views across the harbour and the superyachts that call the marina home.
A room at the QT.
Connolly has stamped his mark on the rooftop bar and also the hotel's restaurant, Esther. His menu is inspired by the sea and his travels chasing food of the sun, using flavours and spices from Sicily and Southern France to Morocco.
Across the water at Prince's Wharf, one of Auckland's most iconic restaurants, Euro, has been reinvented with a brand-new fit-out and approach to a dining experience that meets the evolving tastes of the city.
The restaurant, which was once named in travel bible Conde Nast is keeping the name, but has undergone a complete rebrand and will reopen on Thursday with a more relaxed, but equally as stylish offering.
Founder Richard Sigley, who helped launch the restaurant more than 20 years ago and has led it ever since, is embracing the reinvention of what he calls his first-born.
Paula and Richard Sigley have refreshed Euro.
The menu has been transformed from the classics to an array of modern delights, by former MKR NZ judge Gareth Stewart, who is still at the helm as executive chef.
The waterfront restaurant is sparkling with its new, more comfortable but chic interiors led by Sigley's wife Paula. Expect lots of flavour, visually and on the palate, and a bar still big enough to people-spot the A-Listers who are bound to enjoy the renaissance.
