Diary of a Chef | Day 11: "Goodbye NYC - Hello QTN"

 'Eataly' Packed to the Rafters

Next day I was packing furiously.....then a quick walk Uptown to locate a camera shop....which turned out to be shut on a Saturday!!! Unbelievable. We also stopped at a place called eataly (a pun on Italy) this was in Union Square and a massive indoor Mediterranean Market, a really impressive selection of meat, cheese, pastas and even places to eat. On our way back to the apartment we had heard about this little restaurant called ABC kitchen, recipent of a James Beard Award for 'Best New Restaurant 2011' and set at the back of a houseware store. We stopped here for a quick lunch. Mark (our Chief Executive at The Rees) had wholemeal pasta with veal meatballs and I had homemade ricotta raviolis with tomato sauce. It was literally a pit stop lunch before heading to the airport, but the food was simple and tasty. The owner is one of New York's most well known chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten. What a fantastic last meal to remember NYC! Then it was off to the airport for the epic journey home... and here we are back in Queenstown, back to reality.....

Diary of a Chef | Day 10: "Eccentricity at WD-50"

The next day was when the body gave up and rest was required. We went to an interview in the morning with Daniel Gritzer at Food & Wine magazine to discuss New Zealand produce, which he was intrigued. I took to the streets of New York after that for a little afternoon siesta.At 10 o'lock we headed with Jesse Webster and Matt Lambert of Public to WD-50 (WD stands for Wylie Dufresne), a neighbourhood restaurant very casual and relaxed not your usual Michelin starred restaurant!
We started with a selection of their homemade cocktails (where they infuse their own gins and vodkas) these were novel - like gin and celery concoctions, one with shiso and cucumber and another with yuzu juice. We all opted for tasting menu and were lucky enough to have a few extra courses thrown in (contacts help!) all washed down with some great American wines. The food was out of the box! Wylie Dufresne`s style is both fun and eccentric. Really playing with the imagination such dishes as poached egg with edible egg shell, spaghetti made with shrimp, aerated foie gras, a deconstructed eggs benedict were all unbelivable. The textures and flavours spot on and i have to say one of the best meals I have ever eaten..... only one Michelin star seems not possible. After a brief chat and thank you to the chef himself, we finally left around 1.30am in the morning!!!

Diary of a Chef | Day 9: "Teamwork & Traditions"

Photo | 'The Mercenary Chef  Team'

The big day finally arrived and after the media had finished their luncheon journey 'round New Zealand on a plate', the chefs and I answered questions about my 'Flavors of New Zealand' menu and specific information about the fourteen New Zealand producers we drew on for ingredients. Then back to the kitchen for clean up followed by a takeaway pizza to refresh. Most of the chefs looked ready for sleep!!! Camera's were snapping ... a quick pic with the Consul General Paul Gestro and an interview with Regina Varolli of  The Huffington Post.
Matt and I signed the chef's jacket in the dining room (a James Beard Tradition) followed by group chef pictures at the front of the house. Then back to preparing for the evening event ahead.
Dinner was smoother than lunch as the mercenary chef team had more of an idea about how the dishes should look and be served!
Extra additions were the venison tartare and the seabass. Post dessert and question-time with the guests, we took a bow a la 'parade de chefs' - at last a chance to personally thank all the guys and gals from Public and Double Crown for their invaluable help and support - without it, this would have been an impossible task!
Then the kitchen and a few well deserved glasses of wine, beckoned and a chance to breath and reflect. Every one seemed to be enjoying this part! Then it was time to clear down, say our thank you's and relocate all of our equipment back to Double Crown.Whew, it was a long night!

Diary of a Chef | Day 7: "Eat TV and the CIA"

Photo | First prep team - Monique, Ethan and I

My day was kicked started under the cameras in the studios of Eat TV demonstrating my take on the quintessential Pavlova with lemon verbena icecream.

Filming took 4 hours for the video-based online food magazine and what a privledge and experience it was!  Eat TV is an entire channel dedicated to covering great food.

Missed the next interview as the filming went way over time. Sprinted back to Double Crown to begin more prep for 'Flavors of New Zealand' in earnest.  Worked through until midnight – and felt knackered!

Back to Double Crown at the crack of dawn to join our first prep team – Monique from Double Crown, a New Zealander formerly from Wellington where she worked with Martin Bosley and Ethan Oh, a young up-in-coming chef working at Lincoln Restaurant, the brand new $20 million Italian dining room opened by Jonathan Benno previously under the wing of Thomas Keller at Per Se.

We were joined in the kitchen by a couple of students from Culinary Institute of America (CIA) – one from Boston who is doing her “internship” at Public Restaurant and the other from Hong Kong via Cambridge (UK), Oregon, SF who is about to graduate.

Ethan and the two students are giving their time to us in exchange for the experience of working with our food. It's going to be a long day!

Diary of a Chef | Day 6: "Tales of Jing Fong's Dim Sum and 18,000 Plates"

Photo | Jing Fong 1000 seater

My early start was worth it to secure a place in the long queue for New York's largest luxury Cantonese restaurant - the 1000 seat Jing Fong Restaurant on Elizabeth south of Canal.

It was 11.25am and I was handed ticket number 49 as the dining room was already full. Minutes later, we're in and GOB SMACKED! We'd entered a room as big as a football field covered in tables, every one of them full!

Laden trolleys of Dim Sum pushed by older Chinese ladies in flowery hats pass by. We feasted on six plates each (is that 18000 plates per sitting?). Our table was part New Zealand contingent along with 6 other nationalities (UK and Taiwanese).They laughed when we told them the population of Queenstown was 10,000 and here we were sitting with 1000 others in the dining room!

I discovered the most ginormous pizzas I have ever laid eyes on at historic Lombardi’s – opened since 1905. My queueing skills were put to the test once again and the queue was still there when we left at 9pm. Everything is supersized – Italian staff appeared everywhere apart from the Mexicans who cooked the pizza!

Back home to the bar below our apartment to watch the Chicago Bulls deal to the Miami Heat – nothing more American! Our 'local' was packed with cheering Americans (men and women) who were all good natured and lots of fun!

Diary of a Chef | Day 5: "Monkfish and Hibiscus"

Photo | Corton's signature style and precision plating up

So today was tourist day!
My feet did the walking and I paid hommage to 'Ground Zero', cruised along the Hudson, looked out to the Statue of Liberty, saw the oldest suspension bridge in the US - the Brooklyn Bridge and visited Wall Street.

The kitchen soon beckoned and I popped back into 'Double Crown' to fine tune our team's preparations for 'Flavors of New Zealand' and managed a stroll up one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world, 5th Avenue.

Tonight I headed out with Mark Rose CEO of The Rees Hotel for heart of Tribeca to dine at one New York's finest called 'Corton', named after a region of Burgundy and another Michelin award winner.

Chef Liebrandt’s modern French menu at 'Corton' is a cross between classical and contemporary. His flavours were clean, precise and intense. Stand out dish had to be the monkfish with hibiscus and blond morels.  

Corton's winel list is exemplary with a selection predominantly from the Corton hill in the largest area of Grand Cru in Burgundy.

Diary of a Chef | Day 4: "From Organics to Oxtail"

Photo | Wholefoods organic market

My retail therapy highlight had to be discovering 'Wholefoods' a natural and organic organic market chain that maintains strict quality standards with an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture.Was that place full of amazing and interesting produce!

My shopping expedition was quickly followed by an interview with Cheryl Carlesimo at The Huffington Post and then I headed straight to the kitchen at 'Double Crown' to begin our preparation for 'Flavors of New Zealand.'

There was a little stocktaking and reviewing all our ingredients and then time to create my marinade to moisture, tenderise and boost the flavor of the meat selected for the 'Flavors of New Zealand' signature menu. I was ahead of schedule and managed to squeeze in finishing a sorbet before wrapping up by 6 o clock.

Post-prep, I had a cheeky beer at 'Madame Geneva' with tasty snacks like squid and bonemarrow nibbles, then regrouped at 'Public' for a chat with Executive Chef Brad Farmerie (and victor on Iron Chef of America) who produced a 'stand out' menu of oxtail and snail ravioli, cervena venison, smoked eel with beetroot and quails egg completed with dashi custard with lobster.

All matched perfectly by a superb selection from the New World and Old World regions like Greece, Lebanon, Hungary and Alsace! Thanks guys a truly awesome evening.

Diary of a Chef | Day 3 : "Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies"



Photo | McSorleys - An institution and the oldest Alehouse in NYC


In the lead up to 'Flavors of New Zealand' we've started to receive goods for Thursday's event and finalised ordering in preparation for beginning to cook tomorrow.All systems go!

Media calls this week are with The Huffingdon Post on Friday and eatTV on Monday, I'm looking forward to putting 'New Zealand cuisine' on the map (or plate if you like), whipping up a 'pavlova' onscreen as they've asked for the quintessential recipe!

Lunch today was at Daniel Boulards bistro and beer cafe specializing in beer and food matching and I just has to pay a call to the oldest alehouse in NYC McSorleys (had to be an Irish pub!) complete with sawdust on the floor! A fantastic place full of history - no woman was allowed in until they were forced to by the government in 1970 - their motto still stands, "Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies."

Diary of a Chef | Day 2: "Like a Kid in a Candy Store"




Photo | JB Prince - I was like a kid in a candy store!

Highlight of the day had to be paying a visit to 'Korin' - Voted New York's number one for fine tableware and chef's knives.  It's home to perhaps the most extensive collection of Japanese chef knives in the world - including Japan - plus the rarest natural sharpening stones.

Located in the heart of Manhattan, Korin was VERY tempting for my wallet and boasts an inventory that caters for any 'kitchen samauri'.

Only a short yellow cab ride away is 'JB Prince' that sells specialised chefs' tools, utensils and equipment used in the preparation of fine cuisine.A 'must do' as it'll turn any chef into a kid with it's Aladdins Cave bounty ... My wallet was truly exploited here!

In the afternoon after months of email and phone-tag, Mark Rose, The Rees Hotel's CEO and I finally met the Team at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) who have kindly assisted with all the arrangements of 'Flavors of New Zealand' - finally we get to put faces to the long list of ladies' names.

Post meet and greet with NZTE, we made a short journey to Michelin Award winning, 'Public Restaurant' where we were greeted with their signature brilliant hospitality from Matt and Jesse!

What can we say gents, but we devoured the uber delicious "tapas" - fried oysters drizzled with yuzu and wasabi mayo, seared scallops spiced delicately with sweet chilli, anchovies with quinoa fritters, Kobe beef tongue peppered with cumin and aubergine pickle and fantastic charcuterie all washed down with a good cold beer.

Next on the 'to-do' list was a visit to 'Public's' sister restaurant, 'Double Crown' for more of the same hospitality and boy, we weren't disappointed. The highlight had to be gin cocktails mixed with homemade jams!!!

Diary of a Chef | Day 1 : "The Rees Takes on Manhattan"

Photo | Ben Batterbury outside James Beard House

Welcome to my 'Diary of a Chef'! Tune in for foodie tips (streamed live from the Big Apple over the next week) and tales from my True South Dining Room kitchen at The Rees Hotel on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, New Zealand.

We've survived the long journey, got the nod from Customs and finally arrived in New York in the lead up to our 'Flavors of New Zealand' event at the James Beard Institute on 12th Street in Manhattan and we are in awe already! There's a reason why Time magazine calls the annual 'James Beard' awards "the Oscars of the food world". This is the culinary mecca of the USA!

After an early "jetlag" rise and foot tour around NYC, I found a superb organic store with surprisingly, a lot of NZ lamb and a drool worthy cheese counter ...... Heaven on a plate!

Then on to a whirlwind tour of James Beard House by the wonderful and super organised, Izabela Wojcik - Director of House Programming and Event Manager - Victoria Jordan, thank you ladies, we can;t do this without you!

Now it's time to roll our sleeves up ...