Rockpool is coming to the Australian Open
Foodies will be in for a treat at next year’s Australian Open with up-market restaurant Rockpool Dining coming in as part of a new food and restaurant hub.
Celebrity chef Neil Perry’s award-winning steakhouse will be at a site overlooking Grand Slam Oval. It will be located in elevated space at HiSense Arena with a balcony giving views of the Open crowd.
It will be one of at least nine restaurants at Melbourne Park in January.
There will also be pop-up restaurants from Gippsland, Sydney and the Grampians at the Collingwood Football Club’s Glasshouse function facilities nearby.
Add to that the precinct dubbed AO Village offering indoor and outdoor hospitality space. There will be bars, eateries and “pamper stations” near Garden Square.
Stalls at Grand Slam Oval, between Rod Laver and HiSense arenas will feature some of Melbourne’s best known restaurants.
Melbourne Park will also be offering private dining rooms and lounges.
And for fans who just want pies, sushi and fish and chips, there will be 140 food and drink stalls.
Perry said it was the first time Rockpool had partnered with a sporting event. The menu would be specially designed for the international tournament.
“We are very much looking forward to showcasing the best of Australia’s homegrown produce and delivering it to tennis fans with the attention to detail and finest execution that we are known for at Rockpool,’’ Perry told the Herald Sun.
Australian Open hospitality head Enda Cunningham said tennis fans will have a new level of culinary experience.
“We are pushing boundaries in the food and entertainment space, with our hospitality experiences continuing to grow and evolve, providing a unique platform for fans to enjoy world-class tennis,’’ Cunningham told the Herald Sun.
It is estimated that 6600kg of pork shoulder, 10,000 fish fillets, 2500kg of beef and more than 500kg of yellow fin tuna were chewed over at this year’s Open.
by Leon Gettler, July 31st 2017
