Degustation with a difference: Five courses with matched gins
Two Taranaki food and beverage heavyweights are teaming up to offer people a degustation dinner with a difference.
Haukai Bistro & Bar at the Novotel Ngāmotu and Juno Gin will put on the five-course degustation dinner on May 16, but the matching drink will be gin, not the usual wine.
“The world has a lot of familiarity with matching wines with food and it’s really good to understand that gin fits with food as well and that it’s not just something to have with lemon,” Jo James, co-founder of Juno Gin, said.
“We serve the gin as a neat sample so people can smell and taste it and then add an appropriate mixer and garnish.”
To go along with the Juno Gin, Richard Ponder, head chef at Haukai, has created a menu to match each gin.
The menu features the likes of lime cured salmon, smoked goats’ cheese with rendered pork, Easter brook quail with oyster mushrooms and Ovation lamb rump.
“We’d done things similar before but with wine and not local,” Ponder said.
“This is the third year and it’s been really successful.”
Representatives of Juno and Haukai will be talking about each drink and each dish as they are brought out.
James said she felt so lucky for New Plymouth to have a Novotel Hotel that had such a strong international standing.
“It’s done wonders for our business as the first degustation dinner we did led to Juno being on the bar here which has supported our international export work – Juno is on the bar now at Novotel Singapore.
“Beer and wine are so accepted in our community and spirits are often considered the bad boy.”
James said working with Haukai was a natural fit as they were also passionate about flavour and exploring seasonal variations.
Jayesh Bala, general manager of Novotel New Plymouth, said the idea had come about post Covid when there was a push to support local.
“So we thought what are two food and beverage icons that can work together and develop something cool for our people in town. This region is fantastic for food and beverage and when you’re in the region you don’t always recognise that,” Bala said.
“It’s good to celebrate, it’s in your own backyard, it’s a great night out.”
Tickets to the Juno five course degustation dinner at Haukai are $165 per person and are available from the Novotel website.