Bali coup for Perth foodies
The team behind Balinese food and drink hotspot Ku De Ta, a favourite with WA tourists and the international jet set, has signed on to anchor a new Swan River hospitality development that has been decades in the making.
Perth will get its own Ku De Ta restaurant and bar complex at Point Fraser, on the eastern edge of the city foreshore, near the Causeway.
Ku De Ta — whose Seminyak location is renowned for its sunsets as much as its upscale cocktails and gastronomic creations — will be the biggest and most prominent tenant of the On The Point development, the brainchild of developers Steve and Helen Palmer.
The development, which juts 30m over the riverbed, is a stone’s throw from Heirisson Island.
It is under construction and includes a function centre, rooftop garden, boardwalks, boat moorings, and food and drink outlets.
The Palmers, whose business interests include a Margaret River winery and who once raced a thoroughbred named Lady Lunchalot, got to know Ku De Ta founding partner Guy Neale after repeated visits to the 15-year-old Bali venue.
Perth marks the first expansion outside of Bali for Mr Neale, a former Victorian who now lives on the Indonesian island.
He will partner with renowned London-based architect Perparim Rama to design the venue, which features 270-degree views over the river and a spectacular westward vista of sunsets over Kings Park and the Narrows Bridge.
The pair have been scouting Perth and surrounds for design inspiration for several days.
Standing on the development’s concrete slab yesterday, Mr Neale said a visit to the location a few months ago convinced him that it was “the perfect place to recreate what we have in Bali”.
“We are a lifestyle destination, but at our core we are a food and beverage operation in a cool setting,” he said.
The development continues the eastward reorientation of Perth’s leisure and entertainment scene, a phenomenon spurred by the new football stadium at Burswood, the expansion of Crown Casino and the proposed developments near Trinity College and at the East Perth Power station.
Source: The West Australian, Gareth Parker, 3rd August 2015
Originally published as: Bali coup for Perth foodies
