Following a $55 million redevelopment, Adelaide’s landmark Colonial Mutual Life building has reopened as the 5 luxury boutique hotel, The Mayfair.
Located in the heart of Adelaide, the 170 room hotel in the heritage-listed building is complemented by two restaurants, a bar, and a café. The building’s grand original ribbon staircase winds down to the hotel’s contemporary basement bar and takes you into the signature Mayflower Restaurant. In the skilful hands of Executive Chef Bethany Finn, diners are treated to a melding of old world charm and fresh local produce, with your roast of the day served on a vintage embossed trolley.
“The style of food has a deliberate ‘classic hotel fare’ we are not trying to reinvent the wheel, instead embrace some of those all-time favourites,” said Executive Chef Finn.
For Finn, her passion for food has been a lifelong affair. “My influences have been from my family and the places I have lived and visited. My food memories are strong and I have a map of what I ate and where. From a young age I constantly tried new flavours. I remember as an 8 year old while the rest of the family would order whiting, I was more incline to order dressed crab and was keen to explore different flavours. My family have always been interested in food and wine and it’s not surprising I was named after a wine growing township in the Barossa Valley.”
Finn has an impressive list of culinary achievements; she was the first female Executive Chef in the international Hilton Hotel organisation, has appeared on the Lifestyle Channel’s program ‘Signature Dish’, is called upon to be the Senior Judge for industry events such as The Salon Culinaire and Top Hat Apprentice chef competitions and has regularly written feature articles in ‘The Weekend Australian’ foodie section.
Chef Finn was involved in the conceptual planning stages of the kitchen at Mayfair and worked closely with Clive Gilbert, Comcater Regional Sales Manager and John Harvey from Commercial Food Equipment who project managed the fitout. Having worked with RATIONAL, Garland and Frymasters previously, Finn was keen to have them installed in her new kitchen.
“The equipment is going to be use day and night, and need to be durable. I had an existing and well established relationship with Comcater and the equipment I know will last for years,” Finn explains.
The Mayfair kitchen is complete with a RATIONAL SelfCookingCenter® 5Senses®, Garland and Mareno ranges and grills, Purevac vacuum packing machines, Frymaster fryers and Comenda warewashing units. The hero of the kitchen however is the newly installed RATIONAL VCC®.
“The RATIONAL VCC® has been a real winner,” says Finn. “We can now make our stocks overnight with far less monitoring and more accuracy. It is such a full-proof system. It’s constantly used by our pastry department. We can make 20kg of caramel in one batch which turns out perfect!”
The Mayflower Restaurant and Bar offers à la carte menu for both lunch and dinner, with light snacks and beverages served throughout the day. Complementing the dining options is a well-structured wine list featuring a selection of handpicked South Australian wines. Adding to the nostalgia, Mayflower hosts a High Tea on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The Mayfair hotel definitely brings a touch of glamour, charm, style and elegance to downtown Adelaide.
