May 23, 2017: Bombing at Ariana Grande Concert Kills 22, New Start-Up Offers Street-Food-Inspired Catering for Events, New York's Financial District Sees Influx of Movie Theaters

1. BOMBING AT ARIANA GRANDE CONCERT KILLS 22: An explosion at the entrance hall of the Manchester Arena has killed 22 people, many of whom are children. The attack, which authorities say was carried out by a suicide bomber, happened shortly after an Ariana Grande concert at the U.K. venue on Monday night. The New York Times: "Shortly before noon on Tuesday, the police announced that they had arrested a 23-year-old man in the south of Manchester 'with regards to last night’s incident,' but did not provide additional details. The bomb tore through the entrance hall of the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, as a concert by the American pop star Ariana Grande was ending. As condolences poured in from around the world, the British authorities reacted with horror and anger at an attack that appeared to have targeted adolescents and their families. 'We now know that a single terrorist detonated his improvized explosive device near one of the exits of the venue, deliberately choosing the time and place to cause maximum carnage and to kill and injure indiscriminately,' Prime Minister Theresa May said in a televised statement. 'The explosion coincided with the conclusion of a pop concert which was attended by many young families and groups of children,' Mrs. May added. 'This attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.' The terrorist attack was the worst in the history of Manchester and northern England, and the worst in Britain since 2005, when 52 people died, along with four attackers, in coordinated attacks on London’s transit system." http://nyti.ms/2rNYbIM

2. NEW START-UP OFFERS STREET-FOOD-INSPIRED CATERING FOR EVENTS: Feast It, a London-based online marketplace that offers street-food-style catering for corporate and social events, has acquired $440,000 in seed funding. TechCrunch: "Created to streamline the process of booking street food vendors to cater for your wedding, party or event, Feast It operates much like any online marketplace, matching supply with demand. The vision is to open up the catering market to more street food type operators, who often have spare capacity outside of major events, such as festivals and food markets. The startup currently partners with over 200 of London’s leading street food vendors and restaurants including Patty & Bun, The Breakfast Club, Dirty Burger, Blu Top Ice Cream, Hummus Bros, Bubbledogs and The Cheese Truck. Corporate customers to date include Amazon, WeWork, Pernod Ricard, Samsung, and Brompton. 'We’d been informally organising events behind the scenes but the website is our big play to ‘Uber-fy’ the events catering industry,' says Feast It co-founder Digby Vollrath. 'It’s an end to end booking platform that allows an organiser to book the ideal caterer for their event in a matter of minutes. We heavily vet each and every trader to make sure every event we cater is a hit! Later this summer we’ll be rolling out our drink and private chef platforms, partnering with an additional 200 suppliers.' The marketplace has proved particularly popular for people booking food for their 18th, 21st, 30th, and 40th birthday parties, but of course, corporate events, office lunches and even weddings have seen take up, too." http://tcrn.ch/2rJS6Oy

3. NEW YORK'S FINANCIAL DISTRICT SEES INFLUX OF MOVIE THEATERS: With the future opening of a 10-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 28 Liberty Street and the recent debut of iPic Theaters, the Financial District in New York is seeing a new movie-theater renaissance. New York Post: "A brainstorm of the late, legendary banker David Rockefeller, 28 Liberty was always one of downtown’s least public-friendly skyscrapers. The 2.2 million square-foot tower once had few public amenities except its 2.5-acre elevated plaza and a bank branch. Now, it’s jumped on board the transformation of a 9-to-5 office district into a 24/7, family-friendly playground packed with stores, restaurants and entertainment venues. Boasting a lower office-vacancy rate than Midtown, the area now has a new Eataly, a transplanted Nobu and hundreds of stores at the World Trade Center and Brookfield Place. Danny Meyer will soon open a restaurant and event space on 28 Liberty Street’s 60th floor with eye-popping views. But the coming of the film palace to the 1961-vintage landmark tower’s below-ground level is equally momentous. Alamo Drafthouse will open in 2018 on the tower’s third below-ground level, sources said. Dramatic exterior and interior signage will guide moviegoers through a confusing maze of entrances and walkways to ten-plus cinema screens and up to 600 seats under 20-foot-high ceilings." http://nyp.st/2qPtTWO


* INDUSTRY NEWS *

Apple has launched Today at Apple, a worldwide community and events platform that transforms stores into town square-inspired environments by hosting events such as free classes and concerts. 

* LOCAL NEWS *

CHICAGO:  The Music Institute of Chicago's 87th anniversary gala, which took place May 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago, raised $800,000. 

LOS ANGELES:  City Market of Los Angeles has debuted the first phase of its 20-year redevelopment project, City Market South. Helmed the Lena Group, Inc., the development will offer a future 20,000-square-foot event space operated by Vox Productions. Coffee pop-up concept Cognoscenti Coffee and Italian concept Rossoblu are open now, while a cocktail concept from Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix is slated to open this summer. 

The 37th annual Lotus Festival, celebrating the bloom of floating lotus flowers, will honor the Bangladeshi community July 15-16 at Echo Park Lake. The event will include live music and dragon-boat races. 

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  BLT Steak, which shut down in May 2016, will reopen this summer at the newly refurbished Iberostar Berkeley Hotel. The indoor/outdoor South Beach restaurant will have 60 seats surrounding the hotel lobby, front, and side of the building. Keith Treyball, president of ESquared Hospitality, BLT Restaurants’ parent company, said that all food and beverage at the hotel will be handled by BLT Steak.

The Miami Heat won two Clio Sports Awards for 2017 on May 16 at Capitale in New York. The basketball team received a gold statue for integrated campaign, honoring Home Strong, a long-standing military initiative; and a bronze statue for public relations, which recognized the Heat’s first-ever Heat Loud and Proud event.

NEW YORK:  Ovando will serve as the exclusive floral and event design company for the Pierre Hotel. 

Rockwell Group, an interdisciplinary architecture and design firm, has appointed Greg Keffer to partner, alongside partner Shawn Sullivan and president and founder David Rockwell. 

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

PARK CITY, UTAH:  Westgate Park City Resort & Spa has named chef Ivan Ruiz food and beverage director and executive chef. The hotel also has named chef Felipe Facchin chef de cuisine of Edge Steakhouse. 

TORONTO:  The Black Diamond Mac and Cheese Festival will take place June 2-4 at Ontario Place. The event will offer more than 50 variations of mac and cheese from chefs and food entrepreneurs. 

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Rayna Katz, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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