Ideal for ideas

Friday, Dec 16, 2005

by Kelly Crane Staff Reporter

The first ever Gulf News Ideal Home Show has been hailed a huge success by all involved.

The event, which was held from December 15-17, showcased famous faces from the UK television screen including Diarmuid Gavin, a gardening guru and Linda Barker of Changing Room fame ? a home make-over programme popular in the UK.

People of all ages visited the show at the Dubai Airport Expo.

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 staged an action-packed programme of cooking demonstrations, signature dishes, contests and presentations.

Daily shows

Featuring daily appearances by two of BBC Food?s finest chefs, Antony Worrell Thompson and Lesley Waters, international flavour was added by master chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

The talented team from Grosvenor House battled it out 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 opened up the proceedings with a three-course dinner presentation. Gary Robinson, chef patron of the hotel?s flagship restaurant Mezzanine competed against Novotel?s Marcus Gregs for the first BBC Food Cooking Challenge, which was then judged by Lesley Waters. And the crowds loved every minute of it.

On the interior design side, the Inspiring Ideas Theatre offered similar entertainment led by Linda Barker, who achieved fame through the highly successful BBC series Changing Rooms, which is also regularly featured on BBC Prime.

She has subsequently appeared in numerous TV programmes and has published many books, some of which she could be spotted signing at the show.

Diarmuid Gavin held his own crowd in 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 talked about his experiences and how they might be applied here in the Gulf.

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 Dubai.

The Ideal Home Exhibition would not have been complete without an opportunity to see all the latest gadgets, furnishings and homeware.

Exhibitors

Major name exhibitors included Bosch Siemens, Falaknaz Habitat, Jacuzzi ME, Sherwood?s Property Consultants, Marina Home Interiors and The Specialists.

The exhibition was divided into seven 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 offered 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 hosted fantastic competitions with some spectacular prizes.

Running at the Airport Expo until today, the show is aimed at Dubai?s general public, and is open to everybody including children.