Boutique Queenstown hotel, Hotel St Moritz celebrated the finest local food, wine and art recently with celebrity chef and food author Justin North hosting an exclusive event for an intimate number of loyalty guests.
Members of the Accor Hotels loyalty programme – Accor Plus – were treated to an art and wine discovery tour and a stunning three-course meal at the boutique lodge-style property, with matching wines showcasing the very best of Central Otago.
New Zealand-born chef North is renowned for his fine-dining prowess – he trained with Raymond Blanc at the legendary Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons before returning to Sydney, running his own restaurant and authoring award-winning cookbooks.
The menu was based around local fare, designed especially for the evening by Justin with produce sourced by the hotel’s Executive Chef Avi Yochay. Southern seafood was served, from Stewart Island paua and green-lipped mussels to classic New Zealand blue cod with sweet corn puree and green chilli. The menu was completed by merino lamb, sourced from the nearby Cardona Valley and served with locally sourced vegetables, and dessert.
Central Otago’s Domaine-Thomson Wines general manager Claudio Heye presented the very best wine matches for the dishes in the hotel’s distinctive dining and event space The Library.
Hotel St Moritz Acting General Manager, Jo Finnigan, said it was the ‘perfect weekend’ break for food and wine lovers who had come from all over Australia – many of whom were visiting New Zealand for the first time. “The food was fantastic and was complemented beautifully by the wines. Some of the best the region has to offer was served up, exquisitely presented and did not disappoint,” said Ms Finnigan.
The exclusive Accor Plus member experience weekend included two nights’ in Lakeview Guest Rooms at Hotel St Moritz and breakfast in the award-winning Lombardi restaurant, before guests were whisked away for a Saturday morning art and wine discovery tour.
The recently re-branded Accor Plus programme (previously known as Advantage Plus) enables members to enjoy a huge range of travel benefits and experiences at over 600 hotels, resorts and apartments across 17 countries. Hotel St Moritz is a member of the boutique MGallery Collection of hotels and resorts by Accor, and fot over a decade the award winning hotel has been renowned for its uniqueness.
