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  Today Online 19 Oct 06
The secret ingredient
Culinary genius Alain Ducasse is one of Eighth Wonder's aces
Val Chua Deputy News Editor val@mediacorp.com.sg

WHILE its rivals are betting big on mega-aquariums, wildlife and robots, Sentosa hopeful Eighth Wonder wants to woo Singaporeans and tourists through their stomachs.

It has roped in renowned chef Alain Ducasse (picture) to manage a staggering 40 to 50 restaurants on the Sentosa integrated resort (IR) site, offering everything from "street food with a French twist" to haute cuisine.

The restaurants alone would employ 4,000 to 5,000 people--accounting for a large chunk of the total of 15,000 permanent jobs from Eighth Wonder's offering. They would serve up to 65,000 meals a day, said Mr Ducasse, who is known as possibly the world's best chef.

The Frenchman was present at a media briefing chaired by Eighth Wonder chairman Mark Advent, one day after the bid was presented to the Government. While Mr Advent did not disclose other parts of his $5.5 billion bid, he said food plays a "big part" in the proposal, which counts Macau's Melco and Australia's PBL as equity partners.

There were, however, glimpses into the consortium's bid, including a man-made lagoon with an island, named Orchid Island. Accessible only by private boat, the island would be the location of Mr Ducasse's high-end restaurant, which seats just 50 people. Off limits to the general public, Orchid Island, which features gardens, would also cater to up to 1,000 people for private events, said Mr Advent.

Unlike its rivals Genting and Kerzner International, which went big with a show-all for the media in the past few days, Eighth Wonder is still silent on its overall theme.

"We have many ace cards, this is just one of them," said Professor Stephen Chen, founder of ACV International (Las Vegas), the parent company of Eighth Wonder.

The China-born US citizen made a surprise appearance at yesterday's briefing--previous ones were fronted by Mr Advent and Eighth Wonder's president, Mr Mark Vlassopulos. The trio have equal stakes in an ongoing project in Las Vegas.

Referring to the Kerzner/CapitaLand team's nine celebrity chefs, including Nobu Matsuhisa, Mr Vlassopulos said: "Our masterplan for food is Alain. Others may offer eight different restaurants but no coherent strategy."

Mr Ducasse, who holds 14 Michelin stars and whose international food empire includes restaurants in Paris, New York and Hong Kong, will oversee the entire operation of Eighth Wonder's F&B offering, from creating concepts to handpicking chefs.

He will also operate the five-star Alain Ducasse Hotel, his first Asian flagship hotel, on Sentosa, along with a culinary school, if Eighth Wonder wins. The hotel, which will have more than 100 rooms, is the seventh hotel so far rolled out by the bidder, which has also tied up with Starwood and Banyan Tree.

It's not clear how many rooms in total it will offer, although its promise of 15,000 jobs is the highest so far, compared with Genting's 10,000 direct jobs and Kerzner's 8,000.

Admitting to being wooed by rival bidders from both the Marina Bay and Sentosa IR races, Mr Ducasse said: "Some contacted me at the last minute. But talks with Mark Advent started two years ago. We have reached an understanding of what we want to do in Sentosa."

The consortium's $5.5 billion bid is also the highest among its rivals. Eighth Wonder will fork out the bulk of the investment, with contributions from equity partner Isle of Capri (13.8 per cent) and Melco PBL (24.5 per cent). The latter, a joint venture between Australian billionaire James Packer and Macau tycoon Lawrence Ho, may benefit from the mega sale of PBL's media assets.

In a move that is shaking up Australia's media scene, Mr Packer yesterday confirmed selling half of PBL's media stakes, which will raise A$4.5 billion ($5.3 billion). The sale should free up cash for Mr Packer's casino ventures, which includes aggressive inroads into Macau and, now, Singapore.
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