NZEDGE Taste - New Zealand food from a global media viewpoint

Cooking from Scratch

Bridal Falls provides a spectacular setting, and outdoor market, for chef Charles Royal’s Maori feast made with bush asparagus-flavoured pikopiko fern, horopito and supple jack vine. On Royal’s food tour, which he offers from…

US Discovers Oil

Far North Olive Oil, a premium extra-virgin oil, from New Zealand is on sale in farmers markets in the North West United States thanks to the efforts of locals Charles and Gayle Pancerzewski, who…

Chocolate Carbon Credits

New Zealand graphic designer Giles Barker and his wife, trained chef Vanessa Kettelwell established confectionary company Bloomsberry & Co in 2001 and already they’ve have had their chocolate bars whipped out “from under…

By the People for the People

Auckland trio, Tim Tregonning, Dan Phillips and Danis Roberts are crowd pleasers; their project, OurBrew is currently recruiting beer drinkers to unite and develop a collective drop by signing up online, voting and then…

Kosher in Canterbury

Christchurch is visited by some 20,000 Israeli backpackers annually, and to cater for these numbers, the city will soon be home to New Zealand’s first kosher restaurant. Rabbi Mendy Goldstein, formerly of Brooklyn, New…

Chopped, but Not Out

New Zealander Mark Simmons, 29, a sous chef at New York restaurant Public and until recently a contestant on popular reality show Top Chef, wants to open his own restaurant in the Big Apple…

Potentially Pinot

Though Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc continues its global popularity – sales grew nearly 29 per cent last year – New Zealand winemakers seek a new viticulture challenge. This challenge is Pinot Noir. The winemakers’ excitement…

Feasts in Factories

New Zealander Margot Henderson, sought-after London gourmand and the other half of Arnold & Henderson catering, does not like to use the word ‘simple’ when describing their menus. “It’s more like it…

Tastebuds Will Travel

Guardian reporter Emma Johns and friend spent a two-week culinary tour of New Zealand “exploring the local flavours before attempting to recreate them ourselves.” From fine-dining in Wellington to cooking lamb fillet off a…

“Food Miles” Shredded by Chef

NZ celebrity chef Peter Gordon has made discrediting the “food miles myth” and promoting quality NZ produce his mission in the UK. In recent months, the London-based chef has appeared on British TV,…

Enlightened dining

NZ-owned restaurant Seamstress has won over critics and diners just weeks after its opening in Melbourne. The four-storey modern Cantonese eatery is co-owned by Dunedin-born Jason Chan, who runs the successful NZ-themed cafe…

Speight’s sails into London

The first Speight’s Ale House outside of NZ has opened in London, after an epic 75-day boat journey. The pub set sail from Dunedin and passed through Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas and New York…

Michelin man

Waikato-born chef de cuisine Josh Emett has won two Michelin stars for his menu at Gordon Ramsay at The London, the celebrity chef’s new venture in New York. Emett oversees the menu…

Familiar tastes in France

NZ rugby fans in France have been able to enjoy a taste of home at Le Maori Cafe in Lyons. Owned by Aucklander Tai Pepere, who played rugby league for French club Catalans…

China wine and dine

Aotearoa wine and cuisine has gained a significant foothold in China with the opening of the first restaurant and bar dedicated to premium NZ produce. Located in Guangzhou, China’s third largest city, Back Street…

Top tucker

US economics professor and blogger extraordinaire Tyler Cowen rates fish and chips as being “to New Zealand what barbecue is to Texas-tops in the world” on his popular website marginalrevolution.com. Cowen regularly compiles…

Burger Boom

A restaurant chain founded by three New Zealanders has become one of the most successful businesses in the booming UK “posh burger” market. Gourmet Burger Kitchen was established six years ago by school…

Piece of Cake LA

Times food writer Amy Scattergood introduces Americans to the humble pavlova: “a dessert with an unexpected, rustic elegance.” As well as providing a step-by-step recipe, Scattergood details the historical and cultural background of the…

Pure and Simple

NZ mineral water Antipodes was reviewed by Michael Mascha, author of Fine Waters: A Connoisseurs Guide to the World’s Most Distinctive Bottled Waters, in the LA Times. “The soft, light bubbles (it’s artificially…

A taste of Nelson in New York

A NZ-themed gastropub, Nelson Blue, has opened in New York’s burgeoning Seaport area. Owned by Pauli Morgan, a Nelson-born veteran of New York’s bar scene, the 100-seat restaurant features a suspended waka,…

Surfing the Menu in NZ

NZ chef Mark Gardner will co-present the fourth season of popular cooking show Surfing the Menu, with London-based Australian Ben O’Donoghue. Gardner, 29, replaces O’Donoghue’s previous co-presenter, Australian Curtis Stone. The fourth season comprises…

Gates of Hell open in Fulham

Hell Pizza has opened its first UK outlet in Fulham, northwest London. Founders Callum Davies and Stu McMullin decided it was time to test a new market after 11 successful years in NZ….

Healthy Competition

A NZ healthy fast food chain has opened its first European outlet in Glasgow, Scotland. Owner Conrad van der Klundert believes that Reload, a South Island-based juice, salad and sandwich bar, can take…

Matterhorn Among World’s Best

Wellington institution the Matterhorn has been named one of the world’s top five bars by respected US trade magazine, Bartender. The Cuba St local was ranked fifth behind Milk & Honey (London), Salvatore…

Food to Match the Location

Wellington restaurant Martin Bosley’s features in a guide to the Pacific region by the New York Times. Research for the guide was conducted by leading US travel authority Frommers. “Previously reserved as the…

Doctor vodka

42 Below ambassador and “vodka professor” Jacob Briars discusses dirty drink names, Golden Globe shout outs and the social psychology of bars in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. Formerly a bartender at…

Renaissance master

The Honolulu Star Bulletin has recognised NZ-born restaurateur Dave Stewart as one of ten people who “changed Hawaii” for the better in 2006. Stewart has been a leading figure in the renaissance of Honolulu’s…

Te Rapa creams the opposition

Cream cheese from Fonterra’s Te Rapa site won a silver medal at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin; its 97.55 out of 100 score less than half a point behind the winner….

Pride of the south

Speight’s Gold Medal ale gets a big thumbs up from the Journal and Courier’s (Indiana, US) resident ‘Beer Man’. “It poured a nice head and was an absolutely crystal clear, light amber…

Roast with the most

Edge establishment Batch Espresso is cutting it in Melbourne’s razor-like café scene, with more stellar reviews in the city’s leading newspapers. Herald Sun: ” works the coffee machine and the room, making…

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

London’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen – the brainchild of three Kiwi entrepreneurs – is credited with starting the trend for fast food for the organic generation” in a lengthy Guardian piece. Now boasting 8 restaurants,…

Spoiled for choice

Kiwi chef Rex Morgan takes Guardian food writer Jonathan Ray on a culinary tour of Queenstown. The eating extravaganza takes place at Morgan’s recently opened boutique hotel, The Spire (competitors will be “hard-pressed to…

Food for thought

A lengthy Independent feature examines Auckland’s burgeoning food scene – and NZ’s as a whole. While NZ has embraced café culture (“probably the best espresso experience outside Italy in about 13 years, skipping the…

Flash Gordon

The Times profiles NZ’s most famous cooking export, the “arch-exponent of fusion food” Peter Gordon. As well as owning the Sugar Club, Providores and Tapa Room (all in London), Gordon is consultant…

Cook me some eggs

Kiwi Josh Emett is the chef responsible for returning London institution The Savoy Grill to its former glory, picking up a coveted Michelin star in the process. As Head Chef, Emett is working under the…

Land of plenty

The Financial Times devotes a sizeable spread to the “veritable culinary cornucopia” that is NZ. “‘Used to be that a big night out would be to Barry’s Bistro for Steak Diane and a big…

Serendipity strikes gold

An extra virgin olive oil by Waihopi Valley’s Serendipity Olive estate was awarded a diploma of grand mention at Italy’s prestigious Mastri Oleari International Golden Lion Awards. Serendipity Olive Estate owner Carol Walton: “It is…

Steaming in Seattle

Kiwi Carl Sara was a finalist in the World Barista Championship in Seattle. The prestigious competition was won by Denmark’s Troels Overdal Poulsen.

The £55 burger

Hamburgers made with New Zealand meat are being sold by a London restaurant for £55 ($NZ146) each. The 200g ‘burgers, made from meat from cattle of the Japanese wagyu breed, come with fries, and…

Plastic fantastic

NZ’s Calvert Plastics in conjunction with the Wellington Institute of Technology has developed a plastic packaging innovation set to revolutionise global exporting. International market regulations are increasingly demanding alternatives to traditional wood and cardboard…