Hotels rate with the best
Mudgee's Lawson Park Hotel has been nominated in two categories in the 2013 Australian Hotels Association (NSW) Awards for Excellence.
The Lawson Park Hotel has been nominated for the Best Steak Venue and Best Casual Dining Venue-Country categories of the awards, which recognise the best of hotel hospitality, dining, accommodation and entertainment.
"I only entered the Lawson Park in two categories and we've become finalists in both of them so it's been a hundred percent strike rate for the pub," Lantern Hotel Group executive chef Mitchell Davis said.
"We're competing against Star City in one of the categories but I'm hoping they'll spilt the group into city and country venues so we'll have a better chance," he said.
Finalists were only recently announced but the Lawson Park has already had a visit from one of the AHA judges -a judge who determined whether the hotel was fit to become a finalist in the first place.
"They'll come out and visit again soon and give us a final judging before the ceremony," he said.
Mr Davis is determined to make sure the judges are extremely impressed with the Lawson Park and has already started overhauling the Red Heifer Grill with the introduction of a new menu and a fresh coat of paint.
"The perception is that you can't get a good feed at a country pub," Mr Davis said.
"I want to get more people into the restaurant and give the customers a great meal using local ingredients for a great price. The new menu and new Red Heifer is all about bringing a Sydney food mentality to the country."
The Prince of Wales Hotel in Gulgong is also a finalist is two categories.
It is nominated in the Best Budget Pub-Style Accommodation and Best Traditional Hotel Bar categories.
The POW will go up against 17 other finalists in the Best Traditional Hotel Bar category and is only one of two country finalists.
The pub will have a slightly better chance in the Best Budget Pub-Style Accommodation category, where it will go up against nine other licensed premises for the top prize.
Both the Lawson Park Hotel and The Prince of Wales Hotel will send staff members to the Awards for Excellence Ceremony on November 25 at The Star in Sydney.
"The awards for excellence demonstrate the best of what we are. There is no doubt that hotels are well and truly at the heart of their local community," AHA (NSW) CEO Sally Fielke said.
Source: The Mudgee Guardian, 1 November 2013
