Pacifica nabs Cuisine award

FINE DINING: Pacifica has been named Best Regional Restaurant in the Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards - a pat on the back for chef-owner Jeremy Rameka. PHOTO/FILE

Pacifica staff had a "proud moment" as they hung their Cuisine award for Best Regional Restaurant, yesterday.

Placed just inside their front door it acts as a constant reminder for the small but dedicated team to always strive for the best.

It is a long-standing philosophy which has seen them recognised countless times during Hawke's Bay's Hospitality Awards - most recently chef Jeremy Rameka was judged best in region.

It was a miracle he made it to Auckland for the Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards - presented by Vittoria Coffee during a cocktail evening at St Matthew-in-the-City on Monday.

"[Chef-owner] Jeremy has been invited up most years but it would always land on days when the restaurant is open - with Pacifica if Jeremy is away the restaurant can't open, he doesn't have a sous chef as such," manager Natalie Bulman says.

"It means a lot for Jeremy who has been doing this for nine years, I have only been here two and a half and to get that recognition, to feel like the hard work your constantly putting in is recognised, it's like a big pat on the back."

The award sees the restaurant receive one chef's "hat" - awarded to the most outstanding establishments.

Pacifica Restaurant is a favourite on the Hawke's Bay hospitality scene, their degustation menu options are not only affordable - $50 for five courses - but a great way to sample many different dishes at once.

There are two degustation menus on offer each evening; one devoted to seafood, the other serving a broader range of fare.

Ms Bulman hoped the award would draw more people here to sample some of the excellent cuisine on offer.

"There are places like Elephant Hill, they have their hat and now there's us it's really, really good for Hawke's Bay to get people coming ..."

For 2015 Elephant Hill came runner-up in the Best Winery Restaurant category after North Canterbury's Pegasus Bay - an honour they won last year.

Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards' head judge Kerry Tyack said it was positive to see winners drawn from throughout the country, along with an increase in the number of hatted restaurants.

- For profiles of the winners and other top restaurants listed in the Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards 2015, go to cuisinegoodfoodguide.co.nz or get the Cuisine Good Food Guide 2015 free with the July issue of Cuisine magazine.