How long have you had The Oakroom? We opened our doors on 10 April 2012.
Corey worked for Clooney and I was the Food and Beverage Manager at Snowplanet before we opened The Oakroom. Corey has worked around the world with beverages for over 27 years and is very passionate about his wines and what he offers our customers. He steps outside the norm to introduce our guests to a variety that they would normally shy away from, and they appreciate it.
What do you offer? Cocktails? Beers and wine? Tell us some of the brands.
Well we offer a whole range of beverages - beer, wine, spirits and cocktails.
We have craft beers of the likes of Little Creatures, Emersons, Pacifico and Leffe’s and on tap, James Squire, Hoegaarden, Guinness, Becks, and Little Creatures Pale Ale to mention a few.
We have an excellent selection of spirits both in the well and the back bar.
With the cocktails we have tried to revive some forgotten, included classics and dropped in a few interesting originals which include a fig Martini, a spice-influenced Martini and a tequila cocktail with prosciutto in it, again to mention few...
Do you serve meals?
Absolutely serve food. We started off with a menu offering small plates and pizzas and we have evolved from there based on requests from customers... Our guests had requests of fish ‘n chips and steaks, etc, so we introduced a big plates and a dessert menu... because everyone loves our food so much. We have been converted into a ‘restaurant’ from being a bar with kitchen. Our guests love the fact that we cater to their food whims and fancies and we enjoy being challenged.
What feedback do you get from customers?
Below are a few:
www.facebook.com/oakroomnz/reviews
What do you do to switch off?
Do we switch off? We actually go on long drives with the kids (we have three boys) on the days we are closed at The Oakroom, being Sundays and Mondays. As a family tradition we have every Sunday dinner as a family with the Wright’s (very close family friends and now business partners).
We are in the fit out stage of our new venture out at Millwater, which will be Millwater Bistro and Bar. We are doing this in partnership with our friends Paul and Deanne Wright... Family.
THE OAKROOM, 17 Drake Street, T: 09 300 6313, www.theoakroom.co.nz