Overview
Hospitality, as we all know, is much, much more than solely food and drink. Entertainment, interior design, theming, culinary direction and partnerships all need to be carefully considered. It takes a while to master these skills, but hospitality dream team Jaime Doom (also known as Jaime Wirth) and Mike Delany (the duo formerly behind the Drink'n'Dine empire) have fine tuned 'em after years in the business. So this week, naturally, they've launched their own hospitality consultation business, dubbed International Worldwide.
Doom and Delany have been partners in hospitality since 1996 and have no shortage of projects under their belts including reinvigorations of The Abercrombie, Forresters and a few of the Fratelli Fresh locales. One of their most recent projects included the rethink of Sydney's infamous Club 77 from the late-night rave cave of our misguided youth to a somewhat more grown-up, eastern European-inspired cocktail bar (still with slight rave). It's this skill of turning a 'has-been' venue into an energised contemporary space that Doom and Delaney want to explore further with International Worldwide.
Doom says that the project came about during the sale of the Drink'n'Dine group earlier in 2016, the company that included The Oxford Tavern in Petersham and The Norfolk in Redfern among others. The sale of the company allowed the pair to focus their skills on shorter term projects, with the duo currently working on the Belly Bao fitout in Barangaroo and The Observer Hotel in The Rocks.
International Worldwide's website states that the company will specialise in "creative, interior design, food and beverage, music, branding and design and everything in between". It's no secret that these guys know what's hot and what's not, but for the moment we'll just have to wait and see what else they have in store for us.
Image: Andy Fraser.