Elephant Hill CEO Andreas Weiss, head chef Jason Brown, restaurant manager Sabrina Brown and sales and marketing manager Simon Swa. Photo / Paul Taylor
Elephant Hill CEO Andreas Weiss, head chef Jason Brown, restaurant manager Sabrina Brown and sales and marketing manager Simon Swa. Photo / Paul Taylor
One of the most exciting kitchens in the Bay has reopened after what was thought to be a permanent closure six months ago.
Covid-19 forced Elephant Hill to shut its restaurant doors in April this year - which at the time was deemed to be the end of the acclaimedrestaurant.
But fate has since shone favourably on the Te Awanga winery, which opened its restaurant on Thursday with the launch of a smaller, artisan menu.
Chief executive Andreas Weiss said the new Flights & Bites dining experience will aim to match wine and food – all aimed directly to Hawke's Bay locals.
"The concept is simple – it's about the fascination of wine and food pairing," he said.
"It's designed more for locals and Kiwis, as we'll be changing the Flights & Bites every two weeks. We want to make it so if you came every two weeks, you will not eat the same food."
Weiss added: "I am not sad anymore, which I was for about six months. What I heard in the Bay from customers, friends and patrons was general sadness that Elephant Hill closed."
The owner spent the full six months rethinking and redesigning the food aspect of the winery to make it "even more wine-centric than before".
"The concept is that our award-winning wine experience will be enhanced with food again," he said.
"We originally wanted to do a silent launch in November, but we couldn't get it quiet. The Bay is small and everyone kept asking what was going on.
"At a later stage, we'll begin to add on light lunch foods, but for now we are opening the restaurant under limited circumstances," Weiss added.
Elephant Hill reopened on Thursday after six months of closure. Photo / Warren Buckland
The site, located on Clifton Rd, Te Awanga, parted ways with 23 staff members, a mix of full-time and part-time employees, due to the restaurant closure.
The new head chef, Jason Brown, replaced former head chef Punit D'Souza, who is now the new executive chef at Boat Shed Cafe in Nelson.
Weiss said Jason Brown, along with his partner Sabrina, will oversee the new-look restaurant.
"It is downsized. It's no longer 10 people front of house and 10 in the back. It's smaller, more artisan," he said.
"To guarantee the quality and experience, we have limited space. First we'll relearn to walk and then we'll learn to run."
Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said like many operators, Elephant Hill have had to adapt their offering to the domestic market.
"It has certainly been a tough period for many businesses, particularly those who relied on international visitors, but we are excited to have this award-winning restaurant back on the menu," he said.
"Elephant Hill is a wonderful reason to visit Hawke's Bay and further reinforces our reputation as a prestigious winemaking region, visitor destination and as New Zealand's food and wine country."
The restaurant has won multiple awards over the years, including Best Winery Restaurant at the Cuisine Good Food Guide 2018 Awards, Outstanding Winery Restaurant at the Hawke's Bay Hospitality Awards 2018 and the A&P Hawke's Bay Bayleys Wine Awards 2020 Cellar Door of the Year in 2020.
A new-look dinner service will run from 6pm until late on Thursday to Saturday, while the restaurant's new Flights & Bites tasting menu will run from 11am to 5pm, Thursday to Monday.
