New boutique café on the menu for Queenstown Airport

28 January 2014

New boutique café on the menu for Queenstown Airport

More tasty food options are on the menu for travellers coming through Queenstown Airport with local operator Patagonia confirmed to open a new boutique café in the terminal in mid-March.

The popular locally owned and operated business, known for its signature handmade chocolates, ice creams and espresso beverages, already has a kiosk at the airport but is relocating to expand into a full café with a new line of fresh produce and savoury food.

Whether it’s a pizza straight out of their new pizza oven, savoury crêpes or a made-to-order salad or sandwich, owners Lorena and Alex Giminez believe they can cater to every traveller’s taste buds.

“The new café is a fantastic opportunity for us to branch out and do something different but not compromise our core philosophy of making things by hand using the freshest, superior quality ingredients,” says Lorena.

She also notes that their savoury dishes will be exclusive to the airport.

“This menu won’t be available in any of our other locations around the region and all dishes will be made fresh to order.

“We’re also excited that for the first time we’ll be able to offer a great space for our customers to sit, relax and enjoy their food rather than a takeaway service.”

In line with their philosophy, Lorena and Alex have used local suppliers and contractors wherever possible to “keep it local”.

“It’s been a busy few months for us to create this concept and bring it to fruition so a huge thanks goes to all of the people involved, particularly Kerr Ritchie Architecture, Craft Design and the team at Queenstown Airport who have been so supportive.”

Queenstown Airport Corporation CEO Scott Paterson is delighted with the new café concept, saying it provides a complementary food offering and gives airport visitors more choice.

“As the first and last impression of the region we’re keen to showcase local businesses in the terminal wherever possible so we’re delighted to have Lorena and Alex on board.

“They’re been with us since 2009 and are passionate go-getters who have an excellent track record of delivering top quality products and service. We’re excited about their new venture and what it will add to our passenger experience. The whole concept has been designed to complement our existing offerings as well as providing an extra seating area in the terminal.”

Construction of the 40-seat café is expected to take six weeks, with the majority of work being undertaken after hours to ensure minimum disruption to passengers and tenants.

Once the new café is completed, Patagonia will move from its island kiosk on the main terminal concourse into the empty space opposite the Global Culture retail store. The kiosk will then be removed to improve passenger flow through the terminal.

More about Patagonia
Patagonia has gone from strength to strength since it first opened in Arrowtown in 2005.

It launched its second store in central Queenstown the same year, relocated within Arrowtown to larger premises in 2007, opened its first kiosk at Queenstown Airport in 2009, and launched its Wanaka store in 2012. Wanaka also became the base of operations for Alex to hand-roast coffee for all of the Patagonia stores and produce pre-packaged beans and grinds for public sale.

Patagonia took over the management of the international departure lounge kiosk at Queenstown Airport in December 2013.

ENDS

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