Focus | Novotel Hotel
AWARD WINNING WAYS make for a sumptuous stay Left - Makisi, Right - Sumit Award Winning Chefs at Novotel Hotel
About Novotel Wellington Novotel Wellington is conveniently located in the heart of the city with direct lift access to Lambton Quay, the renowned Wellington shopping precinct, and is a short walk to attractions such as Te Papa Museum and the Wellington Convention Centre. Its location on The Terrace means it is in the heart of the business district, with multi-storey offices housing the city’s biggest companies right next door. The hotel offers 139 rooms, some boasting fantastic city views, a gymnasium and the revamped Caucus Restaurant & Bar.
“Hotel chefs at times can be confined to a traditional style of cuisine, I wanted to be a little bit more creative,” Novotel’s Chef Sumit Kumud says of his cooking style. And his refusal to fit the mold has paid off. Kumud’s sumptuous beef tenderloin recently became a finalist in the NZ Hospitality Awards. This is just one of a string of other awards Novotel Wellington’s contemporary restaurant Caucus has picked up recently.
fondant potato and a subtly crumbed poached egg. The ingredients are elegantly centered and finished with a port wine jus. The Hospitality Association’s CEO Bruce Robertson says the finalists in the awards ceremony – such as Novotel - truly represent the crème de la crème of New Zealand. “What we have seen with these entries is that customers across New Zealand have voted with their wallets. There has been a definite ‘flight to quality’ – and that degree of quality is represented in the calibre of this year’s finalists.”
This meal isn’t the only top-quality fare the Novotel kitchen can provide. Its chefs’ skills The slow roasting of the highest quality were recently put to the test in May, when tenderloin fillet allows the meat’s flavour to come through and be the focus of the meal. It the Wellington Culinary Fare was held. In this is served with garlic prawns, field mushrooms, contest, competitors race against the clock to
complete a range of challenges and win the coveted ‘Chef of the Capital’ title. Both Kumud and fellow Novotel chef Makisi Tulikihakau won medals in numerous categories. Kumud won silver medals in the ‘hot prepared served cold’, ‘live salmon main’, ‘live beef main’ and ‘live pork main’ sections. Tulikihau received a bronze medal in the ‘tapas platter’ and ‘live seafood main course’ sections, plus a bronze medal in the overall Chef of the Capital award. Restaurant and bar manager Victoria Frazier says there are many other exciting options on the Caucus Restaurant menu, which include the Chefs’ Seafood Creation – a dish where the only the main ingredient is revealed to the customer, the accompaniments and theme of the dish is a surprise. “This item is extremely popular with our regular guests,” she says.
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The quality of Caucus Restaurant’s cuisine does not stop in the restaurant. The Novotel Boardroom, which seats up to 12, offers an all inclusive executive experience, ideal for working lunches, cocktail functions and board meetings. “From the entrée to desserts we try to have something innovative, something different,” Frazier says. The Novotel Hotel 133-137 The Terrace Wellington Central 6140 T (04) 472 4487 E H3276-RE01@accor.com www.novotel.com/wellington
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