Passionate about food and drink? Go deeper with a class or evening dedicated to teaching you more about the produce you love. Here we showcase three of Auckland's many options: a sake class, an evening of wagyu, and a Christmas preserving workshop.
Sake Club at Nic Watt's Masu
There is a Japanese proverb that says, "Sake never fights with food". Sake production is a laboured process, and drinking it is all the more enjoyable when you understand exactly what goes into making a bottle. Marimo Sasaki is one of New Zealand's few sake masters and she will guide you through this class, which takes place in Masu's private dining room.
Join a shared table of food lovers to learn all about the flavours, production and culture of drinking sake. Over the course of the evening, try five sakes, all made by New Zealand sake brewery Zenkuro, based in Queenstown. The beautiful accompanying menu (which is advertised as "snacks", but more than enough for a lovely early dinner) includes tuna, salmon and kahawai sashimi and oysters, wagyu and kimchi gyoza, spicy lamb cutlets and a baked custard spiked with manuka honey, lychee and passionfruit. It is a full menu of food and drinks, but both are light (sake is typically about 15% ABV, and never higher than 22%) so you will leave pleasingly full without feeling you may have overdone it. Tickets are $115, including food and drinks.
The next Sake Club will take place on February 1 and will sell out quickly. Reserve your place at
skycityauckland.co.nz/restaurants/masu
Wagyu feast at Jervois Steak House
For an evening of absolute indulgence, book a table at the Jervois Steak House for their next Wagyu Evening. The menu is rich and the dishes are generous so strap in – executive chef Gareth Stewart has gone to town with a five-course menu of sumptuous dishes. Stewart came to NZ from Michelin-starred restaurants throughout Europe, so expect classic techniques applied to this very modern menu, from long-brined tongue carpaccio with beef cheek croquettes, to bavette with smoked egg yolks, to a take on bourguignon, and a beef fat fudge wedged within a muscovado mille feuille.
The next wagyu evening is on November 22, and will team up with Church Road to offer a complementary menu of wine matches to complete the meal. Tickets are $165 from jervoissteakhouse.co.nz, and bookings are essential.
Christmas preserving with Kylee Newton at Homeland
Kylee Newton is well known in these pages and in culinary circles for her modern preserving ideas. This year, create your own stocking fillers (or just get the fridge ready for the party season) by taking her latest class at Peter Gordon's Homeland.
Kylee will teach you how to make the most of seasonal produce by preserving and pickling, ready for Christmas stockings and tables (or just a seasonal cheeseboard). Learn how to make sauerkraut, chutney, gin-pickled cucumbers, and pickled pears. You'll be fed at the end of the class, and will go home weighed down with jars of goodies.
The four-hour class takes place on November 5; tickets $165 from homelandnz.com
