Dubai's first Gulf News Ideal Home Exhibition opened its doors Wednesday at the Dubai Airport Expo, running through until Saturday 17 December. Presenting everything you can imagine to create your own ideal home here in the UAE, visitors will find inspiration from over 100 exhibitors along with a cast of interiors, gardens and culinary superstars.
The show's format is a first for the UAE combining a colourful exhibition with entertaining theatre provided by celebrities from famous reality TV shows. With the support of the BBC, the organisers of the Gulf News Ideal Home Show, Messe Frankfurt, have secured the talents of some of the world's best TV chefs and designers. These include celebrity chefs Antony Worrall Thompson, Lesley Waters and Sanjeev Kapoor , along with interior designer Linda Barker and garden guru Diarmuid Gavin.
One of the major highlights of the whole event will be two theatres, one dedicated to design under the theme of the “Inspiring Ideas Theatre” and the other dedicated to food, the “Taste Temptation Theatre”.
With the support of the chefs from Grosvenor House Hotel, Dubai's newest five-star hotel – and location of some of the city’s finest new restaurants - , the Taste Temptation Theatre will stage an action packed programme of cooking demonstrations, signature dishes, contests and presentations. Featuring daily appearances by two of BBC Food’s finest chefs, Antony Worrall Thompson and Lesley Waters, international flavour will be added by master chef Sanjeev Kapoor. The whole process is supported by Showtime, exclusive broadcasters of the BBC Food channel in the Middle East.
The talented team from Grosvenor House will take part in a special cooking competition, pitting their culinary skills against the clock and each other. Executive Chef Patrick Lannes, Buddha Bar’s Spencer Lee Black and Executive Pastry Chef Philippe Kotzy are opening up proceedings with a 3-course dinner presentation. Gary Robinson, Chef Patron of the hotel’s flagship restaurant Mezzanine is competing against Novotel’s Marcus Gregs for the first BBC Food Cooking Challenge, to be judged by Lesley Waters.
On the interior design side, the Inspiring Ideas Theatre offers similar entertainment led by Linda Barker. Ms Barker achieved fame through the highly successful BBC series “Changing Rooms”, regularly featured on BBC Prime. She has subsequently appeared in numerous TV programmes and has published many books, some of which she'll be signing at the Ideal Home Exhibition. On stage Ms Barker will present her ideas on the latest design trends for homes talking about textures, colours and materials.
Diarmuid Gavin will also hold court on the Inspiring Ideas Theatre. He is recognised as one of the most talented and charismatic garden designers on television. His innovative and sometimes controversial work made “Home Front in the Garden” one of the most popular gardening programmes on television. With numerous TV appearances, awards and books, Diarmuid will talk about his experiences and how these might be applied here in the Gulf. He is also the inspiration behind a specially created garden at the show, an innovation by BBC Prime and their Middle East broadcaster, Orbit.
Local talent is another key feature of the Ideal Home Exhibition, including a host of Dubai based experts such as Paul Bishop. Paul has received international acclaim for much of his work including some of the best bars and restaurants in town, such as Cin Cin and the Exchange Grill at the Fairmont Hotel.
The Ideal Home Exhibition wouldn't be complete without opportunity to see all the latest gadgets, furnishings and homewares. Major name exhibitors include Bosch Siemens, Falaknaz Habitat, Jacuzzi ME, Sherwood’s Property Consultants, Marina Home Interiors and The Specialists.
The exhibition is divided into 7 specialist zones, each one reflecting part of an Ideal Home; the Interior Design Zone, the Kitchen To Table Zone, the Garden Zone, the Arts & Crafts Zone, the Carpet & Rug Zone, the Property Zone and the Tech Zone. Predictably the latter offers a view on how our Ideal Homes of tomorrow will look and work, featuring amazing voice and internet control systems from e-Home Automation.
A large number of exhibitors at the show will be hosting fantastic competitions with some spectacular prizes. Jacuzzi are giving visitors the chance of winning one of 2 spa holidays to Thailand, Jacky’s will be running a scratch and win competition, as well as entry into a raffle draw, for visitors who buy one of their products during the exhibition. Visitors at the Tavola stand will be entered into a daily grand draw to win one of their marvellous hamper prizes, and House of the World will be auctioning off one of their paintings, and donating the proceeds to charity.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
