SKYCITY Entertainment : A taste of old Shanghai to launch in the heart of Auckland

A new contemporary, authentic Chinese restaurant boasting world-class design, impressive ambience and traditional cuisine with a modern twist, will open its doors in SKYCITY Auckland's award-winning Federal Street dining precinct in July.

Huami draws inspiration from old Shanghai during the French Concession period, transporting classic Chinese elements in to the 21st century.

Graeme Stephens, SKYCITY Entertainment Group CEO, says SKYCITY saw an opportunity for a premium yet authentic Chinese dining experience.

"SKYCITY is pleased to be delivering a ninth restaurant to our successful Federal Street dining precinct. Huami will provide an experience for our customers that tells the story of old Shanghai, merging all that makes the Chinese culture so unique - a fusion of traditional and contemporary," he says.

"We have collaborated with a number of highly experienced consultants on Huami's food and wine offering, unique cultural elements, restaurant design and architecture to ensure that, as with our other Federal Street restaurants, we are offering an experience like no other restaurant of its kind," Mr Stephens says.

Well-known Kiwi chef Nic Watt, of Masu on Federal Street, has collaborated with SKYCITY on the project and together with esteemed executive chef Jeff Tan, who has an impressive career running some of the finest restaurant kitchens in Asia and the Middle East, will deliver Huami's incredible food offering.

"Huami will be a refined restaurant honouring traditional Chinese cooking methods, while at the same time delivering a lively, relaxed and enjoyable eating environment. Huami will be the perfect marriage of old-style and modern-day China," says Mr Watt.

The menu will highlight exceptional dishes from regional provinces across China including Canton, Sichuan, Huaiyang and Beijing. The focus is on using fresh seasonal produce and bold flavours, featuring signature dishes including wood-fired Peking duck, hand crafted dim sums, braised New Zealand abalone, and crayfish.

Huami pays homage to classic Chinese influences in a contemporary style with the use of old brick work, ceramic tiles, dark wood and stone finishes. Huge bi-folding glass screen doors open directly onto Federal Street, while deluxe Chinese screens are used to help break up the main dining room creating a restaurant of exploration and discovery.

Ambient jazz playing in the background and wait staff dressed in classy waistcoats and cheese cutter hats, feather head pieces and sequins will all add to the theatre and unique experience of Huami, drawing on the traditions of the French Concessional period in old Shanghai.