Dine like a royal: Parliament's restaurant recreates 1977 state dinner

Bellamys head chef Joshua Ross and restaurant manager Baili-Ann Boone Francis with the original 1977 royal visit state banquet menu. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The official restaurant of Parliament is recreating a dinner fit for the Queen as part of this year's Wellington on a Plate festival.

Bellamys has put a modern twist on a 1977 state dinner menu for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The invitation to "dine like a royal" has proved popular with both nights of the event sold out. Tickets were $160 each.

Head chef Joshua Ross said the menu caught his eye when it was dug up from the archives.

It was intriguing because the dishes were all so vague and simplistic - the first course was listed only as cream of chicken soup, he said.

Ross said the modern version would still honour the history of the dish.

"So not going too crazy and too modern with it, but just refining it a little bit more and creating a little bit more of an elegant style."

The soup will be made by roasting chicken breasts in porcini butter, served with creme fraiche in the bowl and a jus.

Ross didn't want to "mess with" the fillet steak bearnaise course too much because it was such a classic dish.

Bellamys head chef Joshua Ross at work in the restaurant's Beehive kitchen. Photo / Mark Mitchell

So he has chosen a quality handpicked 55-day-aged fillet from Pure South, accompanied by potato garlic gratin instead of roast spuds, and the salad will be much more than just iceberg lettuce.

The dessert on the menu was called "Meringue Aotearoa", which Ross guessed was a fancy name for pavlova.

Sous chef Antoine Collet has worked his magic to create a dessert with a little pavlova crown, kiwifruit sorbet inside, and biscuit.

Next on the old menu was a Hawke's Bay fruit bowl and cheese board, which Ross has decided to combine into one dish.

It has been transformed into a light cheese foam, with saffron and pear chutney, freshly baked focaccia, and toasted New Zealand hazelnuts.

The final course in 1977 was "coffee". This has been turned into a dish of pistachio sponge with a shot of coffee poured around it.

Ross said they have been planning and trialling the menu for months, including three or four versions of the Meringue Aotearoa.

"It's fun to be planning something a little bit different."

The original 1977 royal visit state banquet menu. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The menus for the event have been formatted the same way they were for the Queen.

Restaurant manager Baili-Ann Boone Francis said official portraits of the Queen and Prince Philip from various royal visits to New Zealand will be on display as well as some memorabilia.

The dinner will be paired with wines from the historic and highly acclaimed Te Mata Estate.

Francis said the Queen was served Te Mata wines at her 80th birthday dinner in the UK as well as at other state dinners in New Zealand.

"They have a couple of wines cellared at Buckingham Palace so there's a little connection there as to why we asked Te Mata to come along with us for this function."

Guests will also be treated to an evening tour of Parliament followed by a gin made with botanicals sourced from the palace.

The Queen's 1977 visit was part of a Commonwealth tour designed to mark her Silver Jubilee.

She arrived just as the Beehive was constructed. The first three floors were finished over the summer of 1975-6 for Bellamys to move in. The Queen unveiled a commemorative plaque in the reception hall during her visit.

Once reserved for MPs and their guests, Bellamys was opened to the public almost five years ago under the guidance of Wellington culinary scene stalwart, Logan Brown.