Kiwi cuisine earns eating places seal of quality

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 31

Kiwi cuisine earns eating places seal of quality

A total of 20 restaurants in Canterbury and Aorangi have won Taste New Zealand Awards. The awards were announced this week by the Minister of Tourism, Mr Hunt. Presentations were made at a regional investiture ceremony in Christchurch on Tuesday. Quality assurance is now the main focus of the award, which is a seal of quality, not a competition, for restaurants featuring cuisine that is distinctively New Zealand. A noticeable trend in Canterbury and Aorangi is the increased number of successful restaurants from smaller centres. Last year three restaurants outside Christchurch were

successful. This year restaurants from six smaller centres gained awards: Woodend (Gateway), Duvauchelle (Relais Rochefort), Akaroa (La Rue, Pier Cafe, The Old Shipping Office), Fairlie (Rimuwhare), Waimate (Te Kiteroa Lodge) and Mount Cook (Panorama Room — The Hermitage). The successful Christchurch restaurants are Canterbury Tales — Parkroyal, Crofters — Cotswold Inn, Dux de Lux, Leinster Restaurant, Off The Wall Cafe, Sarah’s Brasserie — Quality Inn, Scarborough Fare, Sign of the Takahe, Strawberry Fare, The Bridge Restaurant, The Colonial Kiwi, and Tiffanys.

An honorary award has also been made to he Guildroom Restaurant at Christchurch Polytechnic.

"Assessors were delighted to find a distinct improvement in standards over last year, especially in the presentation of food,” said Mr Hunt. “A particularly encouraging development was increasingly high standards in the regions, where many of the assessed restaurants provide very good value for money.” However, the assessors were disappointed to find that the New Zealand food products being used to good effect, were not actively promoted as such. They felt more care

could be taken to ensure staff have a better knowledge of the New Zealand food and wines on their menus.

They also found that the dessert/cheese course was not always of the same high standard as the previous course. In particular it was felt that better use could be made of local cheeses. Portions still tend to be on the large side, they said. They also criticised the pricing structure of some restaurants as unnecessarily high.

Award restaurants will feature in the 1989 Taste New Zealand Restaurant and Food Guide being distributed domestically and overseas.