The Rānui Meals from the Heart Culinary Showdown 2024
After spending a day in the hospital, having the energy to even think about making dinner is a chore and effort. At Rānui House, they wanted to be able to take this stress away and this is how the Meals from the Heart programme was founded. As our second year of supporting Rānui House, it was only due time that our Miles Continental Volkswagen teams headed into the kitchen again for their Meals from the Heart 2024 playoff.
This year, to spice things up a bit, a theme was given out to inspire even more creativity than last year. Each team was to choose a country that would spark not only flavour inspiration, but also the whole atmosphere. Some chose to stick to the origins of the country and others took it one step further and infused different cultural flavours together for their own unique dining experience.
Before we cut straight to the winners, here’s a rundown of the four evenings.
First up: The Sales Team
With brightly coloured sombreros and guacamole galore, the sales team put together a Mexican fiesta like none before. Equipped with their own printed and displayed menu, the team served up a “Plato Fuerte” (main course), of build-your-own hard- and soft-shell tacos, a Postre (dessert) of Churro ice cream and chocolate sauce, topping it all off with a piñata and Música Mexicana.
¡Ay, caramba! A hard first round to follow!
Night two: The Service Team
The service team created their own unique cuisine for their night, serving up a variety of different cultural taste explosions. For starters, they presented both Indian Samosas and Chinese dumplings, for the main course, it was a choice of chicken or beef stir-fry, and for the grand finale, decadent chocolate brownies that were served ala mode with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.
Night three: The Parts Team
Taking the house on a German hiking trip was the Parts team on night three of Meals from the Heart. The team served up a traditional bratwurst, with classic sides of potatoes, peas, carrots, and mushrooms. The competition really amped up when the team laid down their “nachtich” (German for “night dish” or dessert) which was chocolate berry brownies and vanilla ice cream.
The Final Countdown: Frontline Team
The Frontline team had themed their menu like they were dishing out a summer picnic. They presented two-day hand-smoked chicken and lamb with a cheesy potato bake on the side, and the red-gingham cloth classic, pasta salad. For dessert, the competition was truly on again as they also produced their own rendition of a chocolate fudge brownie, served with vanilla ice cream.
The Verdict
To decide the winning group, each night the guests had been marking based on taste, atmosphere, and experience. Despite the points being pretty close for some teams, there was a clear winner of the bunch.
Drum roll, please!
The winner of Meals from the Heart 2024 was the Frontline team!
This was announced on the Friday after the games with a celebratory sausage sizzle and of course a classic T1 model trophy for the winning group. This was presented by Jodie Gill, Rānui House’s Development and Relationship manager, and of course Nico Swanepoel, the Miles Continental Volkswagen General Manager.
We’re honoured to support the Rānui House Bone Marrow Cancer Trust in their mission, and we look forward to further fostering our relationship and supporting the valuable work they do.
Find out more about Rānui House.
- Visit their website
- Visit their Facebook page
- Visit their Instagram page
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