DANSEYS PASS HOTEL
Hotel Management School in New Plymouth, she said.
‘‘I thought ‘why not?’ I came here and fell in love.’’
Now she is looking at ways to further promote the hotel to New Zealand travellers coming to the district.
Taking part in Eat.Taste. Central was an obvious thing to do. Chef James Laughnnane came up with a sharing platter of his housesmoked pork ribs (fingerlicking good, if you can say that in Covid19 times) and wings with salt and pepper calamari, and for the main a slowbraised lamb shank with Whitestone feta and rosemary jus.
Omakau
Two more recent imports to Central Otago are Eugene and Sharon Whakahoehoe, who have taken over the Omakau Commercial Hotel.
It is a big change for Eugene and his family, who have moved to the small town from Virginia in the United States, where he worked in military strategy. hotel because it was a going concern with the potential to expand its offerings.
‘‘I flew back from the States to have a look and when I walked out back and saw this I thought, ‘awesome, I could do something with this’.’’
The schist building is believed to have been built by William Leask as his homestead in 1898.
After his second business case was approved by wife Sharon, the Whakahoehoes bought the business and had been operating for just six weeks when lockdown hit.
It gave him time to work on his pet project, restoring the old stables to create a taproom to serve his own beer and Americanstyle ‘‘low and slow’’ barbecued meats.
He opened Dark Horse Brew Werkz late last month, giving the first visitors to the taproom the opportunity to name his first beer on tap — a brown ale made with English yeast and Gladfield grain.
His only requirement was that the name linked back to place and the history of the township.
‘‘Tinkers Ale’’ won the day for