Restoring the Royal

Photo by Ash Nayler
Albert Ponzo, top left, is at the helm of the kitchen at The Royal Hotel, which offers multiple dining experiences such as the main dining room, top right:.
There is also the lobby-based wine-tasting bar, which can be completely concealed by closing the cabinet doors, bottom left; and a grab-and-go counter, bottom right, where hotel guest can pick up local sandwiches and coffee served by Kieno Carter.
The smoked white-fish mousse is elegant in its disc-shaped form, served in a soup plate. Ponzo fillets, brines and smokes the white fish (its actual name) on site and then makes it into a traditional French mousse with cream, eggs, shallots and alcohol of some kind, often white wine. The garnish is a play on granola and features different grains and seeds, including house-puffed amaranth, roasted quinoa, oats and pumpkin seeds.
The grab-and-go counter, shown on the left, features sandwiches always made with as many local ingredients as possible.