Eat, drink and be merry for a good cause
The crème de
la crème of New Zealand’s food and wine industry,
including two top North Shore eateries, will be treating
guests to an afternoon of culinary delights at a fundraiser
for those living with a terminal illness.
The Bayleys Hospice North Shore Vintner’s Brunch on August 10 will see 12 participating restaurants paired with a winery to prepare a wine and food match to impress discerning diners. Around 450 guests will spend the afternoon sampling the creations at Sky City before one is presented with the coveted Bayleys Vintner’s Brunch Food and Wine Award.
Restaurants competing for the honour this year are Coco’s Cantina, Café Hanoi, Ebisu, The Grill by Sean Connolly, De Brett’s Kitchen, Monsoon Poon, O’Connell St Bistro, Prego, Eight Point Two, Masu and Thyme of the Spencer on Byron. Dessert will be prepared by a popular young television chef duo to be revealed on the day.
Participating wineries include No.1 Family Estate, Babich Wines, Constellation Brands, Coopers Creek, Distant Land, Gem Wine, Man-o-War, Matua Wines, Mills Reef, Te Motu, Villa Maria and Tohu Wines. The winning combination from last year was Toto’s mouth watering duck tortellini with mushroom ragu and truffle paired with Te Motu’s cabernet sauvignon.
For the past 18 years the Vintner’s Brunch has been the largest fundraising event on the Hospice North Shore calendar, raising $160,000 last year alone. This year marks 10 years that Bayleys Real Estate has been principal sponsor of the event and tickets have already completely sold out. Hospice North Shore patron Judy Bailey will host the event alongside MC Vic Williams.
In between satisfying their appetites for fine food and wine, guests will have the opportunity to bid on a list of tempting silent and live auction items with a combined value of around $80,000. Renowned Queenstown landscape artist Tim Wilson is once again donating an exclusive painting for sale in the live auction. Tim has supported the event for many years and his works have been known to fetch up to $18,000 on the day. Australasian and New Zealand auction champion Daniel Coulson of Bayleys will be calling the live auction.
The staff of skilled nurses, doctors and support people at Hospice North Shore work free of charge with patients and their families experiencing terminal illnesses. While the service is partially funded, a substantial shortfall must be made up from donations and fundraising throughout the year.