Bannockburn Hotel
What makes your venue the Best Gastropub in New Zealand?
At the Bannockburn Hotel our focus is to put the ‘hospitable’ back into hospitality. We strive to provide an experience that leaves our guests feeling like they have just had a great meal at a good friend’s house. An experience that makes them feel like ‘they should do that more often’.
We achieve this by providing an atmosphere with a warm welcome every time that promotes memorable social interactions. Our venue offers a combination of stylish yet comfortable interior design and gentle background music (supported by acoustic panels to reduce unwanted noise) so that our customers can effortlessly enjoy their time with friends and family.
We focus on quality food prepared with integrity and served by friendly and knowledgeable staff. To further promote a social dining experience, we offer a small plate/sharing menu influenced by Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine. Everything is made in-house from locally sourced, foraged or home-grown ingredients. Our menu is highly seasonal, reflecting our doorstep's plethora of incredible ingredients.
We pair our menu with superb wines from Central Otago, New Zealand and the rest of the world, craft beers from across the globe and a varied selection of non-alcoholic beverages. With over 200 wines on our list and more than 50 wines by the glass, our wine program is almost unparalleled in New Zealand. Our use of Coravins and Argon gas guns allows us to guarantee the quality of the wine while offering a huge choice to our guests, including half glasses and tasting flights,
All of this before we even begin to discuss our location. Located in Bannockburn, arguably New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir region, the Bannockburn Hotel enjoys an uninterrupted view of the Cromwell Basin, Pisa Range, Kawerau River and the vines of Felton Road. The outlook from our restaurant lawn is simply breathtaking, no matter the season in which you enjoy it.
Bannockburn Hotel really is a place like no other.
Describe the experience your customers have at your establishment – what is your food and beverage offering and why do people come back for more?
Upon arrival at the Bannockburn Hotel, our guests immediately receive a warm welcome.
Guests who are dining with us will be directed to their table, where we will find comfortable chairs and appropriately sized tables. We continue to welcome them/welcome them back and make enough conversation to ensure they feel comfortable. A choice of water is offered as guests are presented with a menu each (including a full wines list – so you don’t have to wait to read it). Drink orders are taken, and drinks are provided before a food order is taken and the flow of service begins. We ensure to check in with our guest’s enjoyment of their dishes a couple of times during the meals to ensure their experience is as it should be. Bills are presented at the table before guests are asked to pay at the bar when they are ready.
Guests who are joining us for a drink and/or snack are directed to the bar, where a choice of seating is available. These include a couch by the fire, a restaurant-style table in a banquet-style nock or a high bar leaner with high chairs (rather than stools). At the bar, guests are offered a full wine list and drinks menu. Table service/drink refreshes are then provided at the table in the bar.
The full menu includes a range of carefully developed sharing dishes. Dishes are either bite-sized or designed to be shared by 2 or 3 people. Our small dish menu is fantastic as each dish delivers a balanced flavour-filled punch whilst simultaneously complementing the other dishes and beverages being enjoyed. Sharing menus also encourages social dining experiences as people are much more likely to discuss the dishes rather than silently consuming their own main.
Our Chef Owner, Andy Mackintosh, has continuously developed this menu over the last eight years to ensure that each dish delivers on flavour and presentation each and every time. Andy draws his inspiration from Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine while utilising the best of what the local region offers. These ingredients are complemented by our kitchen garden and grow pod, which provides fresh herbs when they are in season.
Our beverage list also offers the best of the local region. Being one of the few venues in Central Otago that are independent of a winery or brewery, we are free to offer our guests myriad choices. The wine list includes over 50 wines by the glass/half glass across over 15 varietals. The full list offers 200+ bottles from wineries in Central Otago, NZ and the rest of the world. Beers are sourced from excellent local and international producers and change regularly. It’s great to have the freedom to introduce our customers to beers that we love, like Estrella. Our non-alcoholic selection provides an excellent and responsible alternative, including alcohol-free wine, beer, cocktail-style RTD and standard soft drinks. This focused variety allows all our guests to feel comfortable, no matter what they drink.
Tell us how you showcase NZ produce / offerings? Does your menu change with the season and how is it locally influenced. How do you accommodate allergy and dietary requirements?
Our focus is on providing the majority of our produce from either local or regional providers. Artisanal cheese makers from Christchurch, locally produced wines, herbs, Stone fruits, fish and small goods are all sourced from Central Otago. Our menu of table-side discussions will highlight local producers - We are fortunate enough to have a large number of local winemakers as regular clients who will often chat with customers, explaining their wine-making processes and guiding customers through wine tastings.
Our menu is very seasonal, offering Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer variations along with weekly specials to provide a wealth of choice. We cater to Pescatarian, Vegetarian, Vegan and Carnivores. Furthermore, we operate a specific menu highlighting dishes with no onion, no garlic or that are Dairy free or Gluten free. Dishes are often created with substitutions in mind that allow us to make modifications to dishes to accommodate intolerances or allergies whilst allowing those guests to partake in the same menu as their fellow diners
What are your key points of difference and how have you managed to deliver them?
Warm Welcome. At the Bannockburn Hotel, this happens every time and immediately. Our guests never experience the discomfort of waiting for someone to notice them, and they never wonder whether they should approach the bar or wait. One of our prime objectives is to ensure that as soon as guests are three steps within the building, a staff member makes eye contact with them, smiles and welcomes them.
Managing Expectations. If guests arrive to dine without a booking, we do everything we can to accommodate them. Sometimes, they need to wait for a table. In this case, we ensure the customers know exactly how long that wait is going to be. This allows us to guarantee that the customer’s expectations are met and ideally exceeded. We would prefer to look after a customer another day rather than promise something that we know we cannot deliver today.
Flexibility. Our venue has four areas: a bar, restaurant, scenic front garden and back beer garden. While each space flows seamlessly into the next, there is a distinct difference between them. That said, the full food/beverage offering is available throughout. If you prefer to eat outside on the front lawn or in the bar rather than the restaurant, then that is your choice. Your menu shouldn’t be limited by your location. Casual drinkers are also very welcome to take their drinks outside if the weather/table capacity permits.
Consistency. Guaranteeing repeat returns and referrals and consistency with the quality of food and beverage is a huge part of what we do. As owners, Andy and I work within the business on a day-to-day basis to ensure the high standards of both the kitchen and the FOH are kept.
Beverage choice. With no contractual obligations to any brewery, we are able to offer guests an ever-changing and varied range of beverages. Guests are welcome to sample beers or wines by the glass before making their choices. We have curated the wine list to provide guests with an extensive local selection combined with some really interesting and exceptional international examples. Many members of the local wine community have had input into the global side of the list, recommending wines that they consider to be benchmark examples in a variety.
Dogs. While several aspects of the Bannockburn Hotel focus heavily on the ‘Gastro’ side of gastro pub, one thing that is very much ‘pub’ about what we do is the fact that we allow guests to bring their dogs into our bar area. Dogs are so much part of the family that we are happy to allow guests to bring their well-socialised and behaved dogs to the venue. The K9 family members are offered water and a dog treat to make them feel welcome too.
Location. Our location is exceptional. We have a view that is second to none, which transforms with each season. We are surrounded by internationally renowned wineries. Bannockburn is the heart of Central Otago.
Tell us about your commitments to Customer Service and Host Responsibility
As previously discussed, we focus on a personal approach to our customers, paying attention to their needs as much as possible. We retain a database of likes, dislikes, birthdays and anniversaries in order to further personalise their time with us. We are extremely aware of the need to practice Host Responsibility to ensure the safety of patrons and the enjoyment of other guests. The majority of our FOH staff are Duty Managers, and all staff is trained extensively in Safe Serve Skills and our Host responsibility. We stock a large range of low alcohol beer, Zero Alcohol beer and Zero alcohol wines. Our beverage offering does not include "shots"; we offer a large range of soft drinks, water and mixers.
Best Known for:
Seasonal menu
Pinot Noir country
Huge wine list of 200+ local choices
dogs, dogs, dogs
instagram.com/bannockburnhotel
Please describe your commitment to sustainability.
We aim to reduce waste at all times by using ingredients across multiple dishes. Any food scraps are sent to feed local pigs. Our diners are provided with takeaway containers to take any leftover food home.
We recycle all cardboard waste and work with suppliers to reduce packaging when possible, i.e., our cheese supplier now sends us our order in biodegradable vacuum bags instead of plastic tubs.
We stockpile all thermal packaging and return them to the suppliers for reuse. We grow our own herbs and vegetables to reduce transport emissions and excess packaging. Our egg cartons are repurposed for winter fire lighting or sent to local producers.
In 2020, we purchased a gas grill that operated by mixing LPG with Oxygen to reduce gas usage and CO2 emissions, and at the same time, all of our light fixtures were converted over to LED fixtures.
Have you won any awards in the recent past? Tell us about them.
Finalist - Southern Lakes Hospitality Awards
Regional Restaurant of the Year 2023, Southern Lakes Hospitality Award
Regional Restaurant of the Year 2021, Wine Spectator Top 50 Wine Experiences 2017
Please describe how you create ambience.
The ambience at Bannockburn Hotel is created with a combination of elements.
What you see:
The spaces with the venue are warm and welcoming. The colour palate reflects the landscape outside. We have used the dark grey of the local schist, the warm brown of the soil, the warm white of the clouds and plenty of plants to reflect the greenery.
In the bar, we’ve laid carpet to create warmth. The couches around the fireplace create comfort, while the bar leaners provide a more social bar-style atmosphere. We have no stools, just high or low chairs so that people can sit comfortably for long periods.
In the restaurant, the floors are barn oak, and we’ve installed a white brick wall to create texture and warmth. The tables are a good size and well-spaced, and the chairs are leather and padded, again to create comfort.
Throughout the venue, further warmth has been created with the use of Edison filament light bulbs, individually and in also as a feature installation.
On the walls, there is a mixture of photographs of local scenery and history, art with reference to wine and some wire sculptures for texture.
As the venue is impeccably clean, and all the design elements complement each other and the outside surroundings, the overall effect is a relaxed feeling of being in a warm and comfortable space.
What you hear:
What you hear at the Bannockburn Hotel is as important to the overall ambience as what you see. On a normal day of trading, we broadcast a playlist that includes 1605 songs that are on shuffle. The songs are popular soft rock and pop music that our guests are familiar with. Our customers are primarily between the ages of 40 and 70, so the music we play is the music that these generations enjoy. The music volume is loud enough to hear it without straining but not so loud that you need to raise your voice to talk over it.
We will pick the playlist for private dining events based on the customer base.
To ensure that all of the sounds in the venue are balanced, we have installed acoustic panels throughout. This ensures that music and conversation are warm and add to the ambience rather than jarring and unpleasant. Furthermore, the music is synchronised throughout the venue to create one harmonious space.
We’ve chosen to have no TVs in the venue as we want to provide a social space without unwanted distractions.
As a result of the ambience that we have created, the other element that contributes to our fabulous ambience is conversation. It’s constant. Sometimes, it’s the local viticulturists discussing the vintage, its winemakers discussing the wine they’re drinking or talking to the table next door about their wine, friends and family catching up or making new friends and our staff warmly engaging with our customers.
How you feel:
No matter how good things look or sound, if you’re too cold or too hot, it’s uncomfortable. On warm/hot days, we open the full-by-fold doors, which make up the full-view side of the restaurant and all of the other doors and windows to create a cool space. We have a shade sail directly outside that restaurant to ensure that the direct sun doesn’t reach the tables. We have sun hats and sunscreen for people to use if they choose to sit out on the front lawn. (Unfortunately, because of the unpredictability of the wind in Central Otago, umbrellas aren’t an option).
In autumn/winter, we light the fire and ensure that the heat pump keeps the restaurant at 19C. We have blankets for people to use if they would like to sit outside. On very cold days, we put blankets on the chairs in the restaurant for people to choose to use if they are sitting next to our single-glazed windows. We also offer complimentary marshmallows to toast on the fire; there’s nothing more warming than that.
