Hunters Hill Hotel nominated in NSW AHA Awards for Excellence
Hunters Hill Hotel is the finalist in seven categories in publicans’ night of nights.
Northern District Times
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Hunters Hill Hotel manager Paddy Walshe is at ease bringing his Irish hospitality to patrons.
The Derry-raised publican runs a hotel that has a knack for pulling a beer, cooking up a mean chicken parmi and offering patrons huge screens to watch sports fixtures — drawcards that have landed it seven nominations at the Australian Hotel Association’s NSW Awards for Excellence.
The pub is vying for gongs including the sports metropolitan hotel of the year, best TAB venue, best casual dining, best chef (Ronny Ghantous), group hotel operator and for whipping up the king of pub staples — the chicken parmigiana.
“It’s getting the right size schnitzel, the correct sauce and good fries and good slaw,’’ Mr Walshe said.
The 29-year-old moved to Australia nine years ago and has managed Hunters Hill Hotel for the past two years.
“The concept of pubs is similar no matter where you go in the world — it’s all about hospitality,’’ he said.
“What is different is the size — they’re much bigger in Australia; they’ve got TAB areas, they’ve got gaming rooms and some of the food and gaming areas are quite large.
“In Ireland it’s mostly small and locally owned pubs but the concept of hospitality is the same.’’
Along with the Hunters Hill Hotel, Moko Eastwood and The Governor at Macquarie Park are some of the 15 finalists vying for the metropolitan hotel of the year.
The awards winners will be announced at The Star on November 19.
Almost 650 nominations were received for the Awards for Excellence this year across 40 categories.
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