Hot on the heels of the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre’s menu launch last week, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) and Cairns Convention Centre have debuted their new food and beverage offerings.
BCEC has called fresh local produce ‘the main ingredient and undisputed hero’ of their new menus. BCEC’s produce comes from the Scenic Rim, the Lockyer Valley and beyond, as well as from producers on Brisbane’s city fringe, with urban agriculture on the rise.
“Devising the menu was a genuine collaborative effort drawing on the talent and different experiences and cultural backgrounds of our team of chefs, bringing it altogether, catering for all tastes with a variety of offerings,” said BCEC’s executive chef, Matthew Arnold.
Feeding delegates at the capital city convention centre is big business. In June alone, the venue served 50,000 attendees across 98 events.
“BCEC is at the forefront of the events industry and a major contributor to the economy and the community, investing $7.6 million in direct local food and beverage spend during the 2023/24 period,” said BCEC’s general manager, Kym Guesdon.
“The centre remains committed to supporting local businesses and showcasing Queensland produce at centre events, offering clients and guests an authentic taste of Queensland cuisine.”
Further north, local produce is also the star, with Cairns Convention Centre making use of its relationships with local producers in Far North Queensland to deliver a menu inspired by the Great Barrier Reef and the World Heritage-listed rainforest, for which Cairns is the gateway.
“We wanted to create a menu that was inspired by our natural assets and pairs different ingredients giving our guests a unique culinary experience with distinct flavour combinations,” said Cairns Convention Centre executive chef, David Hart.
“We are very fortunate to be surrounded by an abundance of seafood and an incredible vast array of produce on the Atherton Tablelands, including dairy products, vegetables, micro-herbs, rainforest fruit, coffee plantations, chocolate and tropical fruit plus many more.
“We have been able to create a menu that will cater for all types of events, from international conferences to boardroom meetings, large scale banquet dinners to workshops, all the while giving guests a taste of Tropical North Queensland,” he said.
Items on the new menu include prawns with shredded cucumber, red papaya with kaffir lime and coconut dressing, sumac seared yellow fin tuna with mango salsa and fresh micro cress and tropical granola parfait with Coyo coconut yoghurt and seasonal tropical fruit.
The venue has also added local beverage producers to their offering with tropical gins and rum and whiskey from Wolf Lane and Mt Uncle Distillery.
“Not only are we extremely fortunate to have so much incredible fresh produce on our doorstep, but we have also been able to develop relationships with the local producers that have enabled us to work together on creating new menu items with unique ingredients that will excite our clients,” said the centre’s culinary services director, Ben Boudard.
