Welcome you to your private chef experience, creating an evening to remember.
06.00 pm – Your Private Executive Chef, Stephen will style a beautiful table for you to enjoy an evening of culinary delights. This includes bespoke cutlery, classic glassware, white table linen and a unique floral centerpiece to set the scene.
07.00 pm – Stephen will invite you to enjoy a hand made selection of canapes along with the first wine of the evening chosen to delicately set up the palate for the night.
Your evening’s culinary journey will travel through six courses, with well matched wines of which tasting notes are provided on the menu available at your place at the table.
09.00 pm – Enriched by your evening, we invite you to relax and socialise while your Executive Chef clears away all elements, including a kitchen clean.
Wine Sommelier :
Martin Cahnbley was born in Germany and grew up in South Africa and lucky enough to attend the University of Cape Town, close to some of the most beautiful and welcoming vineyards and wineries in the world. He started collecting red wines from the exceptional 1978 South African vintage and the cellar continues to grow.
He loves the sociability of the world of wine, the stories, the families, the history, the natural surroundings and the laughter and fun that is shared around the world in the company of wine and food.
He travels the world and visit wineries (and great restaurants) to find wines and spirits that make an impact on us and, we believe, will entice you too.
We sincerely hope you enjoy his choices for you.
STEPHEN WEEKS
Executive Chef
Stephen was destined to be a chef and realised his natural ability and skills with food at an early age. Over the last 30 years he has honed his passion through extensive worldwide experience and today invites you to love food and experience it through him.
Once qualified in the UK with a National Diploma and City and Guilds, Stephen spent several years working his way to senior levels in top Restaurants and Hotels around England. However, he soon caught the travel bug and his first adventure took him to the French Ski resort Les Menuires. By the end of the season he was hooked on travelling and learning about the varying global gastronomy.
This interest took him to France, Spain and Italy where he worked as a private chef for families in luxury villas. Stephen soon realised he enjoyed providing a more personal service and this led him to Mallorca, working in a luxury villa, where the guests included celebrities such as the famed, Sir Richard Branson.
Stephen’s culinary journey didn’t stop there. He was bound for the legendary South Pacific and after working in Asia, where he learnt about the food and culture, he arrived in New Zealand, and began working in the kitchens of a Five Star resort in the Marlborough Sounds.
Now, having spent the last 13 years living and working in New Zealand, Stephen puts his passion and vast knowledge and experience with food into the unique personal food service provided by his company Free Range Chef.
MENU
Martin recommends the Riesling to start and continue to the duck; open the Semillon with the duck and that can roll into the main too …. A bit like a relay running team …but much more relaxed!
Canapés
Canapés matched with
EMPRESS EDEN VALLEY RIESLING
The Barossa Valley is home to the oldest and some of the
finest Shiraz vineyards in the world. However, someone ‘up
there’ must be really looking out for us Barossa winemakers,
because right next door we have the Eden Valley, birth place of
many of Australia’s supreme dry Rieslings. And if Shiraz is the
big, rich and bold ‘king’ of the Barossa Valley, then surely
Riesling must be the strong, sensual and desirable ‘empress’ of
the Eden Valley. Riesling shows great fruit purity, and once
your palate negotiates the initial pure citrus flavours, the wine
glides across the mid-palate with an energetic gait showing hints
of mineral ‘wet slate’, orange blossom, white flowers and talc.
Coconut coriander and Lime Ceviche
With Rye Crisps
CONTINUING WITH THE EMPRESS EDEN VALLEY RIESLING
Duck breast with rhubarb purée
Walnut granola, crispy duck skin, poach soy baby leek and endive salad. (GF)
A LISA SEMILLON
A Lisa Sémillon is a very elegant wine. It is the winery’s first ever white and just like the reds, it aims to bring into the bottle the freshness and sophistication of Patagonia.
Bright straw yellow with golden hues. The bouquet on the nose is extremely elegant, with aromas of citrus and tropical fruit, including mango, yellow peach and papaya. The moderate vinification in oak add some buttery notes and a creamy texture to the palate, which is rich, fresh and very persistent.
Aged Fillet, Roasted with mushroom parfait
Caramelised baby onions, saffron potato, red wine glaze, and seasonal vegetables
UNISON SELECTION 2013
Unison Vineyard is a small Family Estate in the heart of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District in Hawke’s Bay.
Vintage 2013 The growing season kicked off relatively early in September 2012. A complex nose where aromas of roasted dark fruit, finely ground cinnamon and cardamom mingle with savoury notes of sunbaked earth and leather. The palate is round and supple with sustained, intense dark fruit and gentle spice flavours and a texture of velvet. The tannins are firm but only a supporting and balancing backbone to the richness and concentration of the fruit.
Modern Fresh Lemon and citrus tart
Lemon curd, biscuit crumb, toasted baby meringues, Candied orange, crisp raspberry and buffalo lime yogurt sorbet
NEWTON JOHNSON l’Illa 2012
L’illa (pronounced leeya) is the Catalan translation of ‘island’ and alludes to the wine of origin of the same name, Eilandia, and its ‘islands’ in the Breede River. An exceptional sweet wine with a clayey high pH soil produces a fine structure, helping to align the sumptuously ripe and fresh flavours.
A selection of 3 international cheeses
Served with quince paste, honey comb, Fruits and a selection of Oat biscuits, mini roman wafers and cheese biscuits
Newton Johnson l’Illa 2012
Personally Selected Menu
The Best Of New Zealand
Delicately Balanced Meals
Bespoke Dining Layout
A Culinary Journey
Wine Matching
Five Course Degustation
The Perfect Setting