Your winner: Best Restaurant
After Avenues’ readers voted King of Snake as the winner of Christchurch’s Best Restaurant in the A-List Awards, editor Liam Stretch found out what their secret is.
You won the Avenues A-List award for Best Restaurant. What does this mean to you? Our goal as a team is to deliver a product that stands up internationally and to give our community a restaurant that they feel proud of. Every choice we make is about our customers. The fact that the A-list awards are voted for by the readers of Avenues makes it a very special acknowledgement for us. So, thank you to everyone who voted.
Why do you think people voted for you? I think our customers have confidence in our consistency. I think we have a very talented and dedicated team, and I think the venue has an international feel. When you dine at King of Snake, you could be anywhere in the world. We know that there is always room to improve, and we constantly work to improve. I believe it’s a combination of all of those things.
How did the team respond? They were thrilled. It’s an industry that requires a lot from individuals, and there are people here who make big sacrifices to drive a vision we believe in. To know the public acknowledges that is huge.
You also won other hospitality awards in 2022? What does this mean to you? It’s always great to win awards. But ultimately, what matters most is what your community thinks about your restaurant. How they feel about us is what we focus on. There are some very successful, professionally run restaurants in Christchurch whose customers are loyal and love them and, for whatever reason, don’t get those acknowledgements. So we always keep our eyes on the prize: happy customers.
What makes Christchurch diners special? They tend to be very knowledgeable. They understand food, wine, cocktails. They are well-travelled and sophisticated in their dining decisions. We never underestimate our customers and bring that respect to our decision-making process. I think that’s one of the things that really works for us.
What is in store for King of Snake this year? We have some exciting plans this year. Monte, our General Manager, is entrepreneurial in his thinking, and he’s successfully launched private dining experiences in Monarch Cocktail Bar, which have been very successful and well-received. We are innovating around our dining options all the time. We plan to have a few special events this year, offer cocktail masterclasses and a few other surprises. In the kitchen, our Head Chef, Ole, is always refining and has been working alongside Stuart, our Group Executive Chef, on new dishes that are spectacular. You’ll be seeing those come through soon.
Anything else on the go for you personally/ professionally? We launched ROCA just along from King of Snake late last year, and that has been really exciting to see how well received it has been; the feedback has been incredibly positive. We also have plans for Mexicano’s that are exciting, and I think people are going to really love the direction we’ll be taking it. It’s going to be another very busy but rewarding year.