A Rotorua 5-star luxury lodge is opening up its dining room offering a new a la carte menu as it looks to reinvent itself post-Covid-19.

Peppers on the Point lodge manager Ann Gregor-Greene says the lodge has been in "hibernation" since lockdown with some staff being made redundant due to a massive drop in income.

Ann says with 90 per cent of the lodge's guests coming from overseas a decision was made to "sit tight and look to re-open in September".

"Considerable upgrades and investment had been made into the property and future bookings were strong," says Ann.

"With the collapse of the tourism and hospitality industry due to the pandemic we had to think quickly about how to survive in this new environment and whether we were going to appeal to the local and domestic market."

But, a decision was made to re-open on June 15 and so "The Mains" was born, named after owner Jamie Main.

"We retained seven staff and have since begun increasing hours and even bringing some staff back on," says Ann.

Dinner is being offered on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 7pm till late and brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 1pm.

"Currently we offer a set menu, or table d'hôte offering, which is popular for one night of our guests stay but not every night.

"We have always been open to the public, but this was not widely known as we rarely advertised it, so with all of this in mind we had a change in focus which saw us develop an a la carte menu and to market the restaurant as a separate entity," says Ann.

She says the new a la carte menu uses produce from their garden, eggs from their chickens, and freshly sourced meats and fish delivered daily.

"Of course, dinner is available to all in-house guests every evening and the new menu is proving very popular.

"In the last global financial crisis, the owners built the beautiful stone chapel to turn their attention to weddings and this will once again become a focus.

Ann says they are also looking at hosting their popular wine and whisky matched dinners again.

Plans to invest in upgrading the Log Cabin and Villa Apartment have also gone ahead and should be completed in the next month.

"I've used the term 're-invent' ourselves a million times over the past weeks and the team are working alongside me to keep welcoming and hosting guests to Peppers on the Point, which is what we love to do," says Ann.

Ann says people can check their new menu out at www.themainsatpeppers.co.nz.

The team from Matai Restaurant.

Meanwhile, across town at Matai Restaurant, the newly opened high-end dining venue at the Regal Palms Resort on Fenton St has been getting busier and busier.

Rotorua Now spoke to owner and executive chef Ryan Gregorash just after he opened on May 18.

Ryan said since then a mixture of local and out-of-town diners had been keeping his team of 17 staff so busy he has had to open for breakfast and brunch to meet demand.

'We've been blown away and a little humbled with the support shown towards Matai by the community," says Ryan.

"Every week since we opened, we've been getting more customers – not only out-of-towners who are escaping to Rotorua for a break but lots of locals too.

"Originally, we'd planned to only open for lunch and dinner in the short term, but we've had to fast-track our breakfast and brunch menu to meet demand.

"So we're now operating from 7am until 10pm which we weren't expecting to do quite so soon."