Manaakitanga: A Special Mardi Gras Dinner

Championing their Pacific and queer communities, Chef Amber and Arrnott collaborated on an exclusive dinner event celebrating friendship, diversity, and Manaakitanga, a Māori and Pasifika concept embodying kindness, support, generosity, and hospitality.

Guests were welcomed with a cocktail on arrival alongside a selection of Chef’s snacks. Gathering on the terrace, they mingled over the welcome cocktail ‘Mango On Then’, part of our Mardi Gras cocktail list crafted with Archie Rose’s Signature Dry Gin, chinola, mango, lime and prosecco.

As guests took their seats, both hosts welcomed the room, sharing the ethos behind the evening: a share-style menu blending Māori and Pacific dishes with Chef Amber’s boundary-pushing fusion flavours. Chef Amber offered a Māori acknowledgment and prayer, welcoming everyone present and giving thanks for their generosity and spirit.

What followed was a feast. Hand-kneaded Rewens flatbread with airy seaweed butter, Humpty Doo Barramundi Kokoda in a fragrant coconut sauce, cold smoked Ōra King Salmon and Toroi, fermented green lipped mussels. After a short break, the mains arrived: handmade ravioli in a buttery clam sauce, market fish with Arrnott’s special Fijian Suruwa sauce, spiced green rice and fall-apart Mānuka smoked Wagyu short rib, slow cooked in banana leaf.

To finish, guests were treated to Aunty’s golden syrup steamed pudding and a tropical pineapple custard with pineapple sorbet, before Arrnott brought the evening to a close with a rousing rendition of Tina Turner’s ‘Simply The Best’. It was a perfect end to a night filled with warmth, joy and the kind of generous hospitality that made every guest feel truly at home.