Germany - 1
Taj celebrated its entry into Germany with a great party, 23 September, arranged by the hotel's own commercial director. 400 were expected, the 460 who turned up included the trio of lovelies, above. The event started at 5:30pm with short speeches at 7, and the bar was closed at 4 the following morning because some had to get ready for breakfast. Bombay Brasserie looked back to normal by 7 a.m.
This was an occasion for Frankfurters to show a variety of clothing. There were very casual long trousers on some guys. There were also black ties and full evening dresses on their ladies. The kitchen, led by Nilesh Tangwal, coped marvellously. What had been billed as Indian fare in fact included two men shucking Gillardeau oysters for hours on end, buffet tables of carved lamb legs, and more beluga than it's possible to imagine, and open bars throughout. It was a jolly good occasion. There was a man from the Dominican Republic hand-rolling cigars and offering to all and sundry - a henna station had to be cancelled for fear of damaging hotel's bed linens. A versatile group with singer helped.
It's always doubtful whether an opening party is needed. One advisor to Taj commented that most of the people who should know about the hotel had already seen it in the three months since it opened. Someone else said firmly that this was the opportunity to show that Bombay Brasserie's food is the best Indian in a town which has Indian a-plenty already. And a clever social media production involved influencers and others doing lightning presentations that would subsequently be used for a long time…
