Hotel serves up top wild dish

Martinborough couple Jerry and Caroline Dolan are making a name for themselves after becoming finalists in a wild food competition.

The husband-and-wife team, who have owned the The Martinborough Hotel Bar and Grill since April, have made it to the next round of the 15th annual Monteith's Beer and Wild Food Challenge.

They entered a dish of confit duck leg on truffled and fluffed celeriac mash, with beetroot jus, and matched with Monteith's Crushed Apple Cider.

The competition will include another visit from a panel of mystery judges, and if successful, will see Mr Dolan enter a cook-off in Auckland later this year.

He said inspiration for the dish came about as duck shooting season was coming up, which seemed a perfect fit for the business as each entry has to have a wild ingredient.

He said the announcement as a regional finalist was unexpected but very welcome - especially as a first-time entrant.

"We had no idea we would get as far as we did. It was a very good surprise," he said.

"To be able to hit this kind of standard is brilliant."

Mr Dolan said the dish was rich, suitable for winter and was a combined effort between the couple.

He said it matches well with the cider, instead of a beer.

"We thought we'd go a bit of a different way instead ... it seems to have worked," Mr Dolan said.

The couple has about 45 years experience in hospitality and hotels between them, and said the competition was a good way to put themselves out there and the feedback from customers had been great.