Thirty-eight hospitality educators and professionals from throughout the country were ‘‘wowed'' by what appeared to be a small alien-looking plant bulb as part of a discussion about ‘‘What's Hot and What's Not'' in the hospitality industry.
When the bulb, produced in China, was placed in a glass drinking vessel of hot water, it opened into a beautiful, scented clover flower and flavoured the water with green tea.
Otago Polytechnic School of Hospitality lecturer and conference co-ordinator Cathy Price said the innovative tea was voted as definitely ‘‘hot'' because it turned what could normally be called a traditional and dull meal into a more memorable dining experience.
It made people talk with others about their dining experience. It was publicity you could not buy, she said.
The Chinese Flower Tea was one of many products examined during the ‘‘What's Hot and What's Not'' discussion.
Delegates were confronted by restaurant and bar favourites such as wine carafes, flat Champagne glasses, waiters' clothing, coffee plungers, coffee cups, serviettes and tea pots, and asked to evaluate them as hot or not.
Harbourside Restaurant owner and conference principal guest speaker Tony Adcock, of Auckland, said the discussion found that the days of restaurants with buffets, house wines, cheap cocktails, instant coffee, tea bags and waiters dressed in bow ties and waistcoats were gone and definitely not hot.
A hot dining experience could now be found in places where there was good knowledge of the menu, good personalised table service, acknowledgement of locally-produced food, and innovative dining displays.