May 11, 2015

Celebrity chef Justin North hosts ‘perfect weekend’ at Hotel St Moritz

Boutique Queenstown hotel, Hotel St Moritz celebrated the finest local food, wine and art this weekend (8-10 May) with celebrity chef and food author Justin North who hosted 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 Justin 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 cook books.

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. Sumptuous 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.

No Southern menu is complete without merino lamb, sourced from the nearby Cardona Valley and served with locally-sourced vegetables.

In true New Zealand style, just enough room was left for a gorgeous ginger pudding with caramelised pear, eggnog ice cream and burnt orange.

Central Otago’s Domaine-Thomson Wines general manager Claudio Heye presented the very best wine matches for the exquisite 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 tour featured Thomas L. Brown Art Gallery, located in a historic cheese factory at Lake Hayes near Arrowtown and featuring his strikingly realistic oil paintings.

An underground tour of New Zealand’s largest wine cave at Gibbston Valley with tastings and a presentation preceded a unique wine-barrel cooked lunch at Wild Earth Winery, expertly matched with Wild Earth Wines.

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. It is the most expansive travel, dining and lifestyle programme in the Asia Pacific.

Hotel St Moritz in Queenstown is a member of the boutique MGallery Collection of hotels and resorts by Accor, encapsulating an innate Queenstown style. For over a decade the award winning hotel has been renowned for its uniqueness, with intriguing works of art, alpine-inspired interior and attention to detail.

The distinctive five-star hotel is ideal for group events with the clever architecture providing flexibility across room types for intimate gatherings to large groups.

ENDS

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