A server scooping dishes onto a thali, the Indian name for a metal plate and also the name of an Indian-style meal where various dishes are served on a platter. Copthorne Wellington’s One80 Restaurant hosted a three-course Indian temple dinner in conjunction with a New Zealand olive oil producer, for the Visa Wellington on a Plate Festival.
A Temple
Celebration At
Copthorne
Wellington’s
For Wellington
On A Plate
Festival
For the Visa Wellington on a Plate Festival, Copthorne Wellington, Oriental Bay’s award-winning One80 Restaurant hosted a ‘Temple Celebration’. The feast included an authentic three-course temple meal with wine, music and festivities, and was held in conjunction with Lot Eight, a home-grown olive oil brand. The founder, Ms Nalini Baruch, was brought up in India and wanted to provide guests with a taste of the different cuisines found in the country.
The hotel and restaurant were transformed into a temple setting for the evening. Diners were welcomed with an offering of tika (a paste made of rice and vermillion) placed on their foreheads. They were then taken up to the seventh floor of the hotel, which was turned into the ‘temple gate’ before being led to their tables. Guests were also invited to ring the temple bell located above the entranceway and make a wish, a practice in Hindu temples.
Guests were welcomed with an offering of tika, a Hindu ritual where guests are marked on their foreheads with a fragrant paste as an expression of welcome and honour when they arrive.
Guests enjoying the three-course dinner that brought together tastes from different regions in India.
The menu comprised paani poori from North India (an unleavened deep-friend bread that is filled with tamarind chutney, chili, potato, masala, onion and chickpeas), thali (an Indian-style meal where various dishes are served on a platter) with East Indian Bengali Aloo Posto (potatoes cooked with spiced poppy seeds and other spices) and Gujarati Dal Tadka (cooked lentils with a tempering of oil and spices) that is commonly served in Jain temples in Gujarat in Western India. For dessert, guests enjoyed Maha Prasad Sheera (a sweet dish prepared with semolina) from Maharashtra, and Payasam (rice pudding) from South India.
Payasam, a rice pudding that is typically served as dessert in the Indian subcontinent. 
A dancer performing the Bharatanatyam temple dance, a traditional solo dance that originated from Southern India.
Guests also enjoyed a visual treat with a performance of the Bharatanatyam temple dance. It is a traditional solo dance performed by women that originated from Southern India.
The Visa Wellington on a Plate is an annual two-week long celebration of all things food and beverage in New Zealand’s capital city. The food festival is in its 10th year, and encourages guests to “eat, drink and be Welly”.
