WILD ABOUT FLAVOUR

A vibrant and varied hospitality scene is one of the keys to a great city, argues UNO wine columnist Jess Easton, and every one of us can play a part in lifting Tauranga Moana’s.

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Hospitality, in case you haven’t heard, is doing it tough right now. Every now and then, though, something comes along that restores faith and lightens the gloom.

Five Go Wild With Food, my team at Kitchen Takeover’s offering at this year’s Flavours of Plenty festival held in April/May, hit that mark perfectly and left me reflecting on why I enjoy this festival, and the hospitality industry, so much.

Proudly sponsored by Pyramid Valley Vineyards, the Five Go Wild With Food event featured five courses created by an international array of talent – Samoan/Māori chef Nancye Pirini (Te Kaahu), Japanese/Korean couple Rika Inagaki and Brian Kim (RikaRika), British whiz Ian Harrison (The Grocer), Italian Stefano Raimondi (Autentico) and Kiwi Dan Lockhart (Kitchen Takeover).

Although Nancye, a remarkable wahine, hails from the East Coast and is now based in Tāmaki Makaurau, the rest of the chefs are right here in Tauranga Moana.

They’re far from alone. We have some amazingly creative chefs and restaurants in this city; I was also lucky enough to enjoy a couple of extraordinary, envelope-pushing meals at Mount Maunganui’s Solera during Flavours of Plenty, for example.

What I absolutely love is the collaboration and sense of community in this town. Most owners are incredibly generous and helpful towards each other, chefs support one another, and talent is nurtured and shared.

I’m really excited for one of our young chefs, Christian Schurink Gardner, who got to work with all the incredible talent at Five Go Wild and will hopefully pick up some gigs with them in future.

A quick word on Pyramid Valley, too. I spent an incredible afternoon with winemaker Huw Kinch at the North Canterbury vineyard a couple of years ago and came away dazzled by what they’re producing.

Huw is a craftsman extraordinaire and some of the single vintages – Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay and Snake’s Tongue Pinot Noir spring to mind – are mind-blowingly good.

We were thrilled to be able to showcase Pyramid Valley’s Sauvignon+ at Five Goes Wild, and really appreciated their support.

Hospitality, when all boiled down, is all about heart. It's about those all-too-rare connections between people and palate. Times are really tough at the moment, but we can take a leaf out of hospitality’s book and pull together by supporting our local eateries and venues as much as possible – because a city is only as vibrant as the people and places we each choose to support.

Jess Easton is a director and owner of Kitchen Takeover, a venture that complements her career as a Tauranga-based lawyer.