Training restaurant awarded Beef & Lamb Excellence Award

In 2011 Bay of Plenty Polytechnic’s training restaurant, The Atrium Restaurant, became the first student run restaurant to receive a sought-after Beef & Lamb Excellence Award. It was no surprise to the many diners who have experienced the delights the restaurant had to offer that they received the same award in 2012.

To get your taste buds watering we reveal the 2012 winning dishes:

Beef dish: aged eye fillet of beef, chargrilled and served with herb polenta, ratatouille and a choron sauce.

Here’s what the assessor had to say: “Congratulations on a faultless dish! The eye fillet was simply seasoned and grilled perfectly to rare as requested, with good caramelisation. Presentation was innovative with crispy polenta and a well-textured ratatouille. The choron sauce added a perfect acid/buttery balance and the accompanying polenta was simply delicious.

“This was a superbly executed and thoroughly enjoyable meal, well done.”

Lamb dish: roasted New Zealand lamp rump with potato fondant, red wine shallots and a balsamic jus.

“The flavour of the rump was sweet and rich and the accompanying shallots were outstanding. Presentation was tidy and colourful, and all aspects of the dish blended well.”

We make no apology for any stomach rumblings! To catch the Polytechnic’s chefs-in-training in action, you’ll have to wait I’m afraid. The next intake of students is not until February 20 and The Atrium will reopen in Semester Two.