Meet the Shangri-La Sydney beekeepers and try the new autumn menus

Did you know that this luxurious five-star hotel has its own beehives? We went to meet the Shangri-La Sydney beekeepers and the hotel’s executive chef to find out more.

We’re taken up to a hidden rooftop at the Shangri-La Sydney hotel and, as we emerge from the back-of-house area, six beehives come into view. We’re met by John Prince, founder of Rooftop Bees, and Brent Morley, the hotel’s executive chef.

The pair have worked together for two years, though the hotel has had hives for decade now. John explains that Rooftop Bees partners with companies across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, installing beehives in unexpected places to help drive sustainability and strengthen the connection between organisations, people and the environment.

The Shangri-La Sydney was the first five-star hotel in the city to embrace the bees, and the hotel’s urban bee colony consists of around 300,000 bees, who have produced 2,700 kilograms of raw, unfiltered honey since the project’s inception.

John tells us that bees fly up to 5 kilometres. That means that from their rooftop home at the hotel, Shangri-La Sydney’s bees travel to the Royal Botanic Garden, Hyde Park and Barangaroo foreshore, collecting nectar from indigenous and introduced flowers and bringing it back to the hives to create a honey that reflects what’s in season at that time. The hotel’s honey is truly unique in its flavour.

Where does the honey from Shangri-La Sydney’s hives go?

This is where executive chef Brent Morley steps in. Under his charge, the hotel has stopped using all other commercial honey. Now, the pure, unfiltered honey is used throughout the hotel’s restaurants and bars, and is also available for guests to purchase.

Depending on what time of year the honey is harvested, the aroma and flavour profile of honey changes. That will influence what dishes we incorporate the honey into and that will vary from season to season depending on the harvest date

Brent Morley, executive chef

Suite guests will find small jars in the welcome hamper, and many of the pastries are drizzled with the sweet nectar. Elsewhere, the honeycomb in the breakfast buffet at Café Mix comes direct from the hives, and look out for the yuzu honey too; the citrus infusion is delicious when drizzled on to fresh fruit, yoghurt or with toast.

The autumn menu at Altitude includes and entrée of duck breast that is dry aged and then glazed and caramelised with the hotel’s honey.

High tea on Level 36

Honey even trickles through the tiers of the high tea, served on Level 36. Before you arrive and get distracted by one of the best views of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House below, this is what you can expect from the autumn high tea menu at Shangri-La Sydney.

Tier one:

The warm, savoury bites include: roasted pork belly bánh mì with pickled carrot and daikon, chicken pâté, coriander and cucumber; a rich wagyu and mushroom pie, with bush tomato, black garlic ketchup and native dukkah; and pulled beef cheek served with grilled halloumi, pickled red cabbage, baba ghanoush and garnished with mint and pepperberry.

Tier two:

Sandwiches are served in an elegant line—crusts removed, of course—and filled with either cucumber, lemon myrtle labneh, fennel and dill, or with smoked chicken, herb mayonnaise, lettuce and wattleseed between sliced of malt bread. They’re joined by two smoked salmon blini that combine cream cheese, Spanish onion, caper and chives.

Tier three:

Make sure to leave room for the sweets, which are the prettiest of the three tiers. Morley’s team of skilled pastry chefs let their talents shine here. There are banoffee paris-brest pastries filled with dulche de leche, espresso chantilly and cacao nib; chestnut chocolate bites, which comprise of chestnut cake topped with mandarin jelly and Valrhona macaé mousse, sprinkled with chestnuts; and picture-perfect fig and pecan tarts with almond frangipane, cassis chantilly and lemon thyme.

The one that will catch your eye, however, is the toadstool shaped honey cheesecake. Combining cherry cream, cherry coulis and ginger streusel, the hotel’s honey runs through the cheesecake, pairing beautifully with the sour cherry and soft ginger spice.

Extras:

Alongside this towering presentation of sweet and savoury treats, classic scones are baked fresh and served warm, accompanied by clotted cream and house-made jam. The jam changes, depending on the seasonality of the berries—another part of the hotel’s commitment to sustainability.

Tea and coffee are served as standard—though the options are anything but basic. Choose from a diverse selection of Australian teas, including Bush Breakfast, Smoked Redgum and Spiced Wattleseed Chai. For an extra special experience, upgrade for free-flow Australian sparkling wine (from $118) or French Champagne (from $158).

Or, experience the full breadth of the hotel’s honey offering when you order the Santorini cocktail from Blu Bar. The hotel’s honey syrup is infused with lemon juice and combined with pisco, egg white, Greek yoghurt, coconut cream and blue curaçao (responsible for that tell-tale blue tone) and finished with edible gold dust. There seems to be no limit to where the honey can be used.

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Shangri-La Sydney

Address: 176 Cumberland St, The Rocks NSW 2000.
Nearest station: Circular Quay for ferries, buses and trains, or Bridge Street Light Rail.

Restaurants

Café Mix: open on Level One, stop here for breakfast. Weekdays 6:30am-10:30am, weekends 6:30am-11am.
Altitude Restaurant: go to Level 36 for lunch (daily 12pm-2pm) or dinner (daily 5:30pm-10pm).
High Tea on Level 36: Monday-Thursday at 12:30pm & 2:30pm. Friday-Sunday at 11am, 11:30am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 2pm and 2:30pm. Vegan menus are available. Tea & coffee: $88 weekdays/$98 weekends. Australian sparkling wine: $118 weekdays/$128 weekends. Champagne: $158 weekdays/$168 weekends.

Bars

Blu Bar on 36: Sunday–Thursday 12pm–11pm, Friday and Saturday 12pm–midnight.
The Lobby Lounge: Sunday and Monday 7:30am–3:30pm, Tuesday–Saturday 7:30am–9pm.

For more information, visit shangri-la.com/sydney/shangrila.

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