SINGAPORE - The World Gourmet Summit (WGS), known for its dining events and recent awards ceremony celebrating chefs, had some guests seeing red over a shock cancellation of a gourmet event on Tuesday (April 23).
An invited guest, who wanted to be known only as Mr Leong, 48, said that he and his partner arrived at the United Nations Gastronomic Assembly (UNGA): Gastro Market Place held at Chijmes Lawn at 6.25pm on Tuesday, only to find the venue being cleared out.
Mr Leong, a businessman, said: "There was only an A4-size notice to say that the event was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. The people we spoke to said that they could not comment." Calling the situation messy, he added that other guests like himself were also left with no explanation on the cancellation.
The event - priced at $10 per entry - is described on the WGS website as the "perfect place for one to savour exquisite cuisine, fine wine and spirits".
The event was supposed to be held from 6pm to 10pm on Tuesday. It is not known how many people had signed up for it.
An e-mail was sent to the media at 5.10pm on Tuesday - less than an hour before the event was scheduled to start - to announce the event's cancellation. It cited "unforeseen circumstances" and "deep regret".
It also gave contact details of WGS' assistant general manager, Mr Elton Tan, for paying guests to get more information and a refund.
When asked on Wednesday, Mr Tan did not elaborate on why the event was cancelled.
On behalf of WGS founder Peter Knipp, Mr Tan said in a statement to The Straits Times: "Mr Knipp expresses his sincere regret over the last-minute cancellation of the event yesterday. However, he wishes to emphasise that the team is now working to ensure the rest of the events planned for World Gourmet Summit 2019 will proceed as planned.
"The team at WGS has been actively reaching out to ticket holders and invited guests the moment the cancellation was announced yesterday via personal phone calls and texts to inform them of the cancellation, as well as to advise on refund procedures.
"Unfortunately, due to the short notice, not all guests were notified in time. The team is continuing the outreach to ensure that all customers are attended to. Similarly, the organising team has been working closely with all partners and vendors to manage the situation."
For more information or to get a refund, call Mr Elton Tan on 6377-6076 or e-mail elton.tan@pkh.com.sg
