Lavish your life with Gin

You may have noticed gin is going through a massive revival. We certainly have, and we’re jumping on that bandwagon for the ride! So if you’ve never considered gin as your go-to spirit-friend (see what we did there); if you just can’t see what the big deal is about sipping the perfect martini (actually stirred, never shaken, sorry Bond), or understand the appeal of a well-balanced gin and tonic on a sunny day: this article is for you. Welcome.

We believe it’s important to understand the history of anything we put our stamp on. Somehow, things taste better when we can appreciate their origins, and it’s great conversation fodder.
Gin has an amazing history, which only adds to our love for it. After starting out as a medicine in Holland (and they say our ancestors had poor health care!) and making it to Britain in the pockets of war-weary soldiers, gin begot fame and ruin for rich and poor alike. This fiery liquid has survived wars, started riots, travelled the oceans and even had a major part to play in the USA’s Prohibition period. Our modern Western culture has been influenced by gin in many ways, so at the very least we should raise our gin and tonics to such a pioneering spirit.

Some people (bless their ignorance) like to dismiss gin as ‘flavoured vodka’, which is like saying pasta is just fancy noodles, or a well-done steak in the microwave is just as good as a medium-rare one from a restaurant. In truth, whilst the alcoholic foundation may be distilled the same way as vodka, gin is all about the botanicals. All gin must have juniper berries as the base, or predominant, flavour. From there creative licence reigns supreme! Citrus, herbs, spices, fruits, berries, flowers, coffee… imagination is the only limit for what ends up in a gin. There are three ‘official’ types of gin, as classified by the EU, which are nowadays given little heed as gin lovers the world over push the boundaries.

Now that we’ve piqued your interest, let us help you make the right choice. A good mixed drink is all about promoting the spirit used, putting it up on a platform and letting it shine. Our following cocktail favourites do just that, and our gin choices are particular.

Gin and Tonic with a twist
Let’s begin with a classic. G&T started out as a cure for seasickness. Today, we drink it to refresh both our palates and our spirits (pardon the pun). We chose Hendricks Gin for it’s famous floral and cucumber notes, which we bring out with the garnish.

30ml Hendricks Gin

Schweppes tonic water

Slice of cucumber

Ice

Add all liquid ingredients to your serving glass over ice. Garnish with the fresh cucumber slice.

White Lady
Just like gin itself, this cocktail has undergone transformations in it’s history and been improved upon with each. We also appreciate the connotations to our own White Hart Hotel: historically significant, created anew, flourishing. The master team at the Bulldog distillery are breathing new life and style into the gin halls around the world. The quietly warming spice notes and loudly citrus components are well suited to this sour.

30ml Bulldog Dry Gin

15ml Cointreau

20ml lemon juice

1 egg white

Ice

Add the liquids together with the egg white in a boston shaker. Shake hard for 30 seconds, then add ice and shake again until the shaker is chilly all over. Strain the cocktail into a sour glass, or similar wide rimmed, shallow, stemmed glass for full aroma and flavour.

Negroni

With a creation steeped in the murky past of Italian counts and insipid cocktails, the negroni shone a light that still burns brightly to this day. A negroni is one of those amazing cocktails that can be pushed and pulled in many directions, without losing it’s identity. Paired here with Rogue Society, a kiwi distillery that is also pushing and pulling the boundaries of what gin can be, whilst staying true to it’s roots.

30ml Rogue Society Dry Gin

15ml Campari

15ml sweet vermouth

A few dashes of orange bitters

Ice

Orange for garnish

Add all ingredients to a boston glass and stir for around 30 seconds. Strain into a glass over fresh ice and serve with an orange garnish.

Dry Martini
Has any other cocktail the reputation of a martini? To transcend both time and social constraints is no mean feat, so each martini replicated from the first must be done with the proper respect. And the proper gin. Beefeaters Gin truly is the world’s most awarded gin and truly has transcended both time (from it’s inception in 1876 to it’s latest historical additions in 2016) and society to stay the world’s favoured juniper spirit.

60ml Beefeater Dry Gin

5ml vermouth

Ice

Green olives for garnish

Add ingredients to your boston glass and stir for around 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with olives.

   

Babysitting adults – Who is responsible for your drinking habits?

Recently our industry underwent some of the most significant liquor reforms in decades. Its aim is to curb our drinking culture.
After reading the stats, you would have to agree changes needed to be made. While many New Zealanders drink responsibly, it seems many don’t. More than 700, 000 over 18-year-olds binge drink and more than 120, 000 currently suffer from a clinically diagnosable alcohol use disorder. Alcohol related harm and the social cost of New Zealanders’ drinking habits are estimated at $5.3 billion a year. Then there is the question of what dollar figure can be placed on the pain and loss on our families as a result of excessive drinking in terms of family violence, personal tragedies and the loss of loved ones. Following on from this is the claim that 60 -70% of all injury based cases at emergency departments over the weekend are alcohol related.

Now there are certainly some positives that come from the reforms; communities can play a stronger part in local alcohol polices, parents are now required to give consent for kids to be given alcohol and there will be a reduction in the number of off-premise outlets in our communities.  But likewise, there are certainly issues that have not been addressed like the minimum drinking or purchase age for on and off-premise outlets, off-premise outlets’ pricing of alcohol, the alcohol percentage in ready-to-drink/alco pops, longer trading hours, advertising of alcohol prices and specials and supermarkets’ ability to drive down prices.
However, I believe the most important issue that has not been addressed is personal accountability.  We, the on-premise outlets (be it a café, restaurant or bar), carry way too much of the burden.  We are held responsible to ensure food is readily available, that free water is provided and clearly visible, that you are given safe transport options, that we provide licenced staff and train them about the different stages of intoxication, server invention, managing risk, host responsibility and that you don’t consume a level of alcohol that may cause you harm. We now we have shorter trading hours and we are categorized into high, medium or low risk based on size and trading hours for the purpose of revenue generating by our local councils. We are also restricted on what advertising we can do and feel pressured to provide security staff.  To me it seems the idea of personal accountability is blatantly absent.

It makes sense to me as a publican to offer an environment that is not only welcoming and safe but provides the products and services I would enjoy if I was the customer and I certainly don’t have a problem complying to our regulatory requirements.   But isn’t it a two way street? Don’t you as a patron need to assume some accountability for your actions?  Would revoking alcohol licenses from off-premises, supermarkets, bars or cafés stop alcohol misuse? Does fining a bar or staff member for serving an intoxicated person reduce alcohol harm? Isn’t it an attitude that needs addressing? What happened to personal responsibility? Some people make a conscious decision to buy cheap liquor, drink excessively, and come into town and cause damage and harm. Some people will have too many pints after work and still drive home. Some people drink to just get drunk.  Should an on-premise outlet be held responsible because you didn’t eat or drink your free water or ring a taxi to get home or you pre-loaded before you came to town and then was intoxicated and caused mischief on a licenced premises? What are you held responsible for? 
If we really want to start making a change to our drinking culture and send a clear message that excessive drinking is not okay, then shouldn’t we reinstate the law that makes it an offence to be drunk in public? It seems obvious that if individuals were held responsible for their actions, then it would it play its part in curbing our drinking culture.
Stats from the Alcohol Healthwatch and the New Zealand Drug Foundation

Would you like fries with that?

I am not afraid to admit it; I am a fry –alcoholic. I love fries and I see no point in denying the greatness of a well-cooked chip, frities or fries. They are golden sticks of joy.
Rightly so, fries now appear on all types of menus from fast food all the way up to fine dining restaurants.  They range from the trusty old faithful thick cut chip, to now including crinkly, curly, shoestring, steak cut, wedge, waffled, seasoned, hand cut, double fried, skin on, duck fat and beer battered. The revolution continues - move over tomato sauce, there are new condiments in town. Introducing gravy, béarnaise, aioli, jalapeno cheese, bbq sauce, ranch, mustard, mayo, buffalo, sriracha, parmesan and chilli cheese.
Now I am not suggesting we eat more fries as moderation is important, but it should be about the quality of fries. Well-cooked fries should have the ever important balance between crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Using the right potato is key. It can’t be watery or too in high sugar. Our favourite is Agria. With its great golden colour and the right mix of sugar and starch, it will produce great fries every time. Fries should be cooked in fresh clean oil (no trans-fat), well drained, served hot and well-seasoned. Soggy, under cooked, cold or unseasoned are just not acceptable. You might roll your eyes thinking, “they are just fries” but I can tell you after years in the hospitality industry, fries have made up a significant part of my ‘staple’ diet; fries are a quick, convenient, carbo- loading fix. I have also seen the looks on people’s faces and read the body language when fries aren’t up to standard; there is nothing worse than being sold twice cooked chips that promise to be crispy but aren’t or you are desperate for your hangover cure and you are served soggy fries or your drive through chips are cold, hard and have no seasoning. Bad fries are like hard poached eggs on your benedict, it’s just not good enough.
So please, don’t accept it any more, stand up for your humble fries. They deserve more and they are certainly here to stay.

Check out these sites whose commitment to chip greatness is to be admired.

www.lordofthefries.com.au
www.belgianfries.com

This one’s for your Dave!

Why write an online restaurant review? What role does it play?

In today’s modern world, where everyone is a critic with their mobile devices, it’s the online food critic, which has the hospitality industry on its knees.
This is a real issue for anyone in our industry; the problem being, there is very little recourse for us. I will be the first to admit, not every service is perfect and while we may install high standards of product and service, and set policies and procedures and invest heavily in training, we do have a human element to factor in. Some days customers will all arrive at once causing kitchen carnage, someone will order 20 takeaway coffees which will cause a time delay in your order, suppliers will be closed over a long weekend and inevitably some items will run out, staff constantly work under pressure, mistakes will happen and unfortunately (but hopefully not often) a staff member may just have a bad day.
For some online critics, a restaurant review site provides a stage to vent as well as a cloak to hide behind. There are tales of scathing reviews from competitors posing as real customers, disgruntled ex-staff, reviews from people who have never been but heard something from Jimmy at the office, from people who dined a year ago or dined under previous ownership or because they just want to participate in a conversation .  The system is easily abused no matter the filters or processes a site may put in place. There is no requirement of proof that the reviewer even ate there. There is no accountability for the reviewer and their comments. What is posted on these sites is on the big bad web for ever.

So, if you want to write an online review, these are my suggestions to keep in mind:

1.    Have you judged the business correctly? Is it right to post a negative review because a bar didn’t sell muffins or you had to order at the counter? Or you were told by a friend that it was noisy but you went any way and then posted a negative review because it was noisy?
2.    Did you view the menu before you went there? Every business has its own objectives and gives careful consideration to menu planning, food styling, and pricing that suits their business. Is it fair to negatively review a business because mains were $40 or your wanted loose leaf tea but yours came in a bag or you didn’t like thin crust pizza because thick crust is your favourite?
3.    Are you being completely honest? If you waited 30 minutes for your meal but were pre-warned by the staff or because the restaurant was full then why not include that in your review? Is it fair, to write a negative review because you didn’t like your meal?  Or if it was cold or over cooked and you are asked how your meal was and you don’t say anything at the time, is it fair to then write a negative review?
4.    Be careful of the words you use. “Disgusting” or “worst meal ever” are very strong words and if that was the case, shouldn’t you have spoken up at the time? Why would you pay for such a product?

Now, I don’t want to come across like my nose is out of joint or that I am bitter. A business I co-own has had its share of bad reviews but why, for an example, is this business then, one of the busiest in town? What role have those reviews played? I genuinely believe all feedback is good feedback and if half of what is said in a bad review is true then we do need to look harder into what happened and make sure as business owners, we right any wrongs.  Restaurant review sites aren’t going away and they are welcomed in terms of the feedback they can provide. As an industry, we just want reviews that are fair and balanced; we want to hear when things are good as well as when they are not so good and we want to remove the ridiculous, somewhat toxic, personal and misinformed comments.

The Hangover

Most of us have been there; an evening of booze –fuelled festivities morphs into a morning of headaches, nausea and trying to remember the last thing you did. You know very well you should have stopped at the last one but where is the fun in that. Life is short, and there are so many more good times to be had.

We all know there is no cure for a hangover but over the years, I have learnt a trick or two. Basically out of necessity, like how to get through a 12 hour shift, faking it for a meeting or preparing yourself to do it all over again for yet another festive party.

So, my tricks of the trade are:

1. Never drink bad spirits. Some are so high in sugar they will cause the mother of headaches. There is just no recovery from that.
2. Two Panadol and large glass of water before bed. Don’t forget. The process has to start some were.
3. Before you have anything else in the morning, drink 2 cups of English breakfast tea. I have only recently learnt this and promise you, it’s like heaven in a cup.
4. Have a piece of toast.  Settles the stomach and lifts those blood sugar levels.

Now that you are feeling human again, here are my tricks for coping with the day:

1. Order some fried goodness with your brunch. No scientific facts, it’s just hot and salty and makes everything better.
2. Have a Bloody Mary. It’s like a soothing tonic and it’s a vegetable.
3. Drink Sprite. There is even some medical research to suggest it could be a cure.
4. Have a dosa (Indian pancake filled spiced goodness) for a late lunch. Kathakali in Devon St, New Plymouth do a great one. Worth a trip.
5. Take more Panadol.
6. Have a small scoop of ice cream. It will wash away the last remnants of the night before.

Merry Christmas and good luck to you over this festive season.

Victoria Hodson –don’t do anything I say.

Rule # 1 -Life is too short for bad drinks

Call it what you want: escapism, indulgence, recklessness, a waste of money, fun, good times…. but I love a well-made drink. These are beverages that people have put time, love, skill and passion into making. From a wine maker, to a brewer, barista or cocktail maker –they all have one thing in common – they all enjoy making something that you will enjoy drinking.

With every change of season, I am on the hunt for that season’s drink. Something new, something I get to learn about and something I get to share. Weird to some, but not to this hospitality lover.  I call it “broadening my horizons”. If I want to be a great hostess, then I need to make sure I have done the research.

So, the research is done and these are my picks for the coming summer:

1. Summer in a glass  -White Sangria
Refreshing, great for groups and easy to make. Just make sure you have more than one bottle of Pinot Gris in the cupboard. One jug is just not enough.
Use a 1 litre jug.  ½ fill with ice.
Add 750ml Pinot Gris 
90ml Stolen white rum
30ml St Germain Elderflower
30ml Pear liqueur
Stir
Add slices of pear, apple and cucumber.

2. Margrain Pinot Rose
Delicate and decidedly moreish. Prefect long lunch wine 
Check them out www.margrainvineyard.co.nz

3. Christmas in a glass
Always nice to finish any get together with a nightcap. Not only will you have a good night sleep, but it will give that lingering visitor a subtle hint.
1 part Drambuie
3 parts hot apple juice
Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon wedge
Add a cinnamon stick
Serve in a coffee glass.

Thanks for the photo Gina
Stolen rum -all the way from NZ
http://stolenrum.com/

The Christmas Challenge –Random acts of Christmas Spirit

Those of you who know me may claim that I am somewhat of a Christmas Grinch. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, but after many years of working in the hospitality business, I have: 

• fed and watered hundreds of people;

• had far too many early starts and late finishes;

• worked long days on my feet without a break;

• heard every Christmas carol at least twice an hour for weeks on end; 

• dealt with too many stressed out grumpy customers;

• had to “manage’ too many overzealous drunk people who claim I have ruined their           Christmas.

You will forgive me but, on occasion, I have been known to somewhat lose that jolly Christmas spirit.

This year, I am fighting back and I have set myself a challenge: a challenge to spread the Christmas Spirit of Giving and Kindness.

So, in this spirit, here is my list of 10 random acts of Christmas. This year I will:

1. Give a Santa sack full of little gifts and treats to an adult. Watch them unpack it and           smile like a kid.
2. Make a Christmas cake and give it to the old lady on the corner who lives by                     herself. 
3. Post 10 Christmas cards to friends and family.  This just never happens any more.
4. Give a box of chocolates and a thank you note to my local café.
5. Bake some Christmas cookies and give them to the voluntary fire service with a               Merry Christmas note.
6. Put money in a stranger’s parking meter that’s just about to expire.
7. Give a food donation to the local food bank and SPCA
8. When I get my takeaway coffee, I am going to pay for two so the next person gets              theirs free
9. Send a Christmas card to my favourite young person and tell them how proud I am of         them. 
10. Leave a box of chocolates out for the rubbish collecting guys.

So now I challenge you. What will your random acts of Christmas Spirit be?