a day ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Hospo precinct complete
Visual stylist Alex Watts and Ayrburn GM Kieran Turnbull in front of Billy's. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER
With next Saturday's opening of opulent, Chinese-inspired restaurant, Billy's, based around a restored homestead, Queenstown's Ayrburn hospitality precinct's complete.
Named after farmer William Paterson, who lived with his wife Bessie in the homestead in the late 1800s, Billy's uses five original rooms for dining, supplemented by a large central bar and kitchen.
It also has an attached 'orangery', or glass conservatory, which seats another 50 to 60 diners amid lime and lemon trees.
The extensive Cantonese-style menu is a nod to the Chinese immigrants who played a major role in the nearby Arrowtown and wider Otago goldrush.
"We thought it would work well for our own precinct but also for the wider market," Ayrburn GM Kieran Turnbull says.
Ayrburn developer Chris Meehan's again employed architect Jessie Sutherland from Cromwell's SA Studio and Alexander & Co for interior design, in close collaboration with his own Winton team.
According to a release, "the venue's interiors are a bold expression of eclectic luxury, featuring velvet banquettes, chinoiserie wallpaper, notable artworks and richly-layered texture that create an atmosphere where history is honoured and indulgence is elevated".
Visual stylist Alex Watts notes she sourced 130-plus pieces of art, 85% from New Zealand, over 18 months.
Reconstruction of the homestead — one of the first homes in the area featuring electric lighting — was handled by The Builders, while Diemarco built the orangery.
Billy's will open Wednesday evenings for dinner and Thursdays through Sundays for both lunch and dinner service.
Added to Ayrburn's six existing hospo venues, "it's the final piece of the hospitality puzzle, and it's the puzzle on the board that kind of fits everything together", Turnbull says.
