Twickenham Stadium’s new East Stand officially opened on Saturday 3rd November. It’s four new England Rugby Hospitality venues - British Airways Rose Garden, The Gate, The Lock and The East Wing – welcomed guests as England played against South Africa in the first of the Quilter Internationals.
The new East Stand was officially opened by the 34 times capped former England Rugby captain and World Rugby Chairman, Bill Beaumont CBE. The development has created 6,700 sqm of high-end space in the form of four distinct world-class venues designed to take the hospitality experience to new heights. It is the first time that the Rugby Football Union has been able to accommodate all official match-day hospitality within Twickenham Stadium.
A team of 70 chefs and 360 hospitality staff served dishes featuring a nod-to England’s opponents, South Africa. These included street food style Cape Malay pulled-pork sliders in the bustling, informal British Airways Rose Garden, a 600g Dry-Aged English T-bone Steak (the most popular steak in South Africa) in new chophouse, The Gate, and rooibos cured and smoked salmon in the upmarket, members club style The East Wing.
Tom Kerridge was guest chef in The Lock with a menu that reflects his signature style of modern English classics. Dishes included a potted crab starter and a main course, loin of venison game pie.
Nils Braude, catering, conference and events director at Twickenham Stadium, said, “The opening of our new East Stand facilities on Saturday went extremely well. We have truly raised the bar for stadium hospitality. Initial feedback from guests has been overwhelmingly positive in each of our four new restaurants.
“We deliberately set out to create concepts that would offer guests a very distinct choice when it comes to hospitality enabling them to tailor the experience to suit their needs and those of their guests. And that approach has paid off.
'Gone is the standard hospitality one-size-fits-all plated meal served at tables of ten. Instead, our new facilities, designed to accommodate a range of styles, table sizes and price points to suit varied budgets and group sizes, have delivered an experience that is hard to beat,” added Braude.
The Rugby Football Union reinvests its profit back into the game. The new East Stand venues not only pair world-class sport with world-class dining, but will enable investment back into the sport from grassroots clubs to the elite England teams.
There are three more opportunities to experience the new East Stand this year as England take on New Zealand, Japan and Australia in the remaining Quilter Internationals games.
