D4 on Featherston
What makes your venue the Best Gastropub in New Zealand?
D4 on Featherston (D4) is a relaxed craft bar and restaurant with an Irish twist, as the name pays homage to our Irish owner’s postcode back home in Dublin 4, Ireland. Dublin 4 is not only where owners Dermot and the Murphy family were raised but also where Dermot started his hospitality journey at the young age of 14, eagerly learning the true meaning of Irish hospitality during his apprenticeship at the local pub.
It’s this combined Irish/Kiwi experience and passion, for not only welcoming guests but ensuring they leave pleased with their experience, that we believe allows D4 to sit confidently amongst NZ’s best Gastropubs.
Located in the heart of Wellington’s CBD, D4 is family owned and operated, and we are proud to be amongst the few remaining independently owned bars in the city. Our incredibly committed staff and loyal customers are a focal point to D4, they are the reason we've been successful in striving to improve for 17 years now, as they back our business with vigour.
With its informal yet warm and welcoming atmosphere and attentive staff, D4 offers customers a comfortable and relaxed place to enjoy a wide range of quality drinks, craft beers and gins from around the globe. As evening falls, the sounds of old friends, families, and co-workers all conversing reverberates around the bar to create a 'buzz' with guests lost in their own conversations. We’ve developed a sterling reputation for pouring some of the best local brews available, so our impressive selection of NZ/Wellington craft beer & gin is a standout feature. Our 26 beer taps are constantly changing to showcase and celebrate the incredible craft beers coming out of New Zealand, there's plenty to choose from with a variety of styles and flavours to suit every taste! In addition to the beers and spirits, D4 pours a quality selection of wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic drinks to cater to all our customers.
A menu of tasty and affordable food reflecting our Irish roots is also on offer to warm the soul, perfect for a quick bite alone by the fire, a lunch break in the city or dinner with friends. The current menu is inspired by the various popular items we've offered throughout the years and what works well in the capital – from our popular curry fries and delicious burgers to our hearty steak & Guinness pie. This approach enables us to ensure quality of our food offering whilst also maintaining a profitable kitchen in the current climate, as the industry experienced a severe shortage of qualified chefs.
Describe the experience your customers have at your establishment – what is your food and beverage offering and why do people come back for more?
We feel the atmosphere of D4 is quite unique, as being owner operated the senior management team of D4 are truly invested in the success of the business. Customers know Dermot, our senior management team and staff by name with many of our regular clientele being repeat customers thanks to their relationship with Dermot over his longstanding tenure in Wellington’s hospitality industry.
Our venue can be described as a "hidey-hole" for Wellington corporates, as many of our patrons are business professionals, local to the area. We're located upstairs and above the foot traffic of Featherston Street, making D4 feel exclusive without being ostentatious - everyone is welcome here. We try to offer affordable food & drink options as well as special/unique products that you may not find elsewhere.
Our beverage offerings go above and beyond with 26 beer taps of which 14 are reserved for domestic craft, an abundance of gins and some very rare Whiskey. We continue to innovate with gin and incorporating frozen, mulled and cocktail trees into our seasonal gin offering has been a great success. We love to work with local NZ gin distillers, having hosted many distillers at our Ginology gin tasting evenings with local distillers invited along to showcase their gin/s paired with gin related canapes.
Our seasonal food menus have gone from strength to strength over the years. If the truth be told, with one rough patch of a couple of months in 2023 whereby the capabilities of a new chef unfortunately contradicted the expectations promised. This bump in the road turned out to be a blessing however, as it strengthened the management team’s desire and urgency to return to the quality output we were used to before Christmas bookings kicked in. Our range of burgers are mouth-watering and our burger of the week special is one of the reasons why people return for lunch so often. Our head chef Annie holds the kitchen to a high standard, using quality local ingredients to make almost everything in house.
A range of low-alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks, even including a 0% gin, are stocked to ensure customers have a choice.
D4 continues to enter and support local initiatives such as Hopstock, Eat Drink Play, WOAP, Hazecraze & HopDogs. These events not only draw new customers but also create variety around our food and drinks offering for our regular patrons.
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?
D4's menu offers a variety of options to suit all tastes and appetites, from classic pub bites and starters to delicious pizza and a great selection of mouth-watering burgers. We also promote a lunch time "burger of the week" special, which changes weekly and includes a complimentary drink with purchase.
Our head chef Annie is passionate about using fresh raw ingredients in the preparation of her dishes, from our house made pizza dough to sauces made from scratch. Where produce is purchased rather than prepared in house, we strive to support NZ owned and operated businesses, as is the case with our much-loved golden Makikihi fries. Our menu changes seasonally, swapping from the likes of duck salad in spring to steak & Guinness pie in winter.
Our vegan burger and coconut chocolate mousse dessert are both made in house, these dishes are prepared with love to ensure non meat eaters can enjoy as flavoursome food as their meat eating friends. A number of our dishes can be tailored to suit allergy requirements, whether it be using a different sauce or swapping our brioche for a gluten free bun, our staff are on hand to help and our kitchen is happy to oblige.
D4 takes part in the annual burger craze of Wellington on a Plate, focusing on using local Wellington regional produce within our dishes.
As one of the few independently owned and operated bars in the capital, customers can expect to find a wide range of craft beers not commonly available at other bars. Our staff are always happy to assist customers with their selection or offer recommendations based on the customer's taste preferences. D4 on Featherston is an OG member of Wellington’s “Craft Beer Capital” and the majority of our guest beer comes from craft beer breweries around New Zealand, our beer gurus are always on the lookout for new and unique brews to pour with passion. As our range of craft tap beers is constantly changing, it keeps our hop loving customers coming back for more.
What are your key points of difference and how have you managed to deliver them?
People all around the globe have a story about D4 and the good times they’ve enjoyed here!
We're serious about meaningful customer service as many of our patrons are loyal returning customers and it's important that these relationships are well maintained.
D4’s customers are part of the fabric of the bar, and in an indescribable way D4 has a personality of its own, it has to be experienced to be understood. Ultimately our customers feel cared for while they're with us, we enjoy being unassuming and then over delivering with our standard of service, food & drink. We aim to welcome everyone at the top of our stairs and then seat them appropriately depending on if they're dining or enjoying a drink.
Our customer service is an obvious strength, with many reviews repeatedly mentioning our staff by name. Aside from great customer service, D4 creates memorable experiences because we've always got something going on.
Even if you're new to D4 you'll be looked after as soon as you walk up the stairs, expect a friendly hello and professional service. We encourage our staff to engage with customers and tailor their service accordingly, from discreet corporate meetings to visiting rugby fans keen for a chat. If you're a regular feature, our staff will definitely know your drink of choice and what you really enjoy about visiting D4.
Vigorous induction training, alongside continual staff training and weekly managers meetings, ensure our company values, what the D4 brand strives to achieve and how we intend on doing it are all at the forefront of staff minds as they make even the most basic of decisions.
Our management team run an 'employee of the month' competition which is a great chance to highlight a staff member's hard work and our appreciation, as they receive a personalised gift. Alongside this we also run sales incentives to encourage our FOH staff to sell different products.
Best Known for:
Irish/Kiwi experience
26 beer taps
“burger of the week”
Please describe your commitment to sustainability.
Our sustainability efforts to date have centered around responsible recycling of waste and cooking oils, high focus on stocking local and craft products, menus being written with dishes prepared to make use of offcuts and minimise food wastage, a compressor installed to reduce our keg gas usage etc. However, we realise that this is just a base level and a lot more can be done. Through Hospitality NZ, we have recently signed up to an upcoming WellingtonNZ initiative in partnership with TIA which will assist us in improving our future level of sustainability. We look forward to having guidance, tips and learning of approaches specifically available to the hospitality industry.
Have you won any awards in the recent past? Tell us about them.
D4 on Featherston has featured in Hospitality NZ’s Awards for Excellence for a number of years. Selected as a finalist for Best Bar category in 2016, 2017 and 2019 - With the title of Best Bar being won in 2019. We were also a finalist for Best Sports Bar in 2023, Excellence in Training & Staff Development in 2017 and Excellence in Marketing in 2017 too. When Lion ran the annual Guinness Pint Master Championship, D4 on Featherston won the title for our perfect pour every year bar one - 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 (Funnily enough the contestant who took out the 2011 title joined the D4 team shortly after meeting us at the finals)
Please describe how you create ambience.
Setting aside the furnishings and menus, Dermot and the staff are the heart of D4. Having created a venue where he would enjoy spending time himself, Dermot has developed a team that shares his passion for hospitality. Dermot’s fountain of hospitality knowledge is continuously imparted onto the proud management team, and it is through their hard work and dedication that the premises runs as smoothly when he is absent as it does while he is present. Our aim is to be Wellington’s local living room - a refuge where customers can leave behind a hard day and unwind. Our mark of success is in continuously seeing returning faces, not only from Wellingtonians but out-of-towners who make D4 their local in the capital.
Since our inception we've offered table service, as we want our customers to feel well looked after. Our bar & restaurant is managed in sections, with each section being looked after by a dedicated server to ensure consistency of service, our staff are always ready to offer another round before the current drink runs dry.
Aside from fantastic customer service, beers and food, D4 creates memorable experiences because we've always got something going on, whether it's live sports or culinary events. We regularly partake in events, festivals and initiatives that support local charities/organisations yet also provide our regular patrons with exciting new offerings, from Wellington on a Plate and Eat Drink Play to Garage Project's “Kegs for Christmas”.
At D4, customers can expect a warm and welcoming atmosphere, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and a unique enjoyable experience focused on quality craft beer, tasty food, live sport & events and service that'll make you want to return.
