"Hawke's Bay is really getting itself on the map as a food destination."
This came yesterday from Bistronomy chef James Beck, who was reacting after scooping the Best New Regional Restaurant award - complementing another gong won by fellow Napier chef Jeremy Rameka of Pacifica, who claimed the Best RegionalRestaurant crown.
The dual wins in the Cuisine New Zealand Good Food Awards are significant.
When I first rejoined the province 13 years ago the boast used by most chefs during interviews was "we use only seasonal produce". A dollar for every time a chef sent that cliche my way. It was as if that was enough. The implication was if you shopped at the Farmers' Market you could cook-up wonders.
There's been a distinct shift in these cooking quarters. Namely, rather than being a region known just for raw ingredients (and rightly so), we've evolved to give equal attention to rendering the famed ingredients into something special.
Confidence breeds confidence. And when these culinary distinctions start stacking up, the "food destination" invitation only gets more appealing.
Another pleasing thing from an amateur foodie's perspective is that these twos chefs have appreciably distinct styles - yet they both work. They're representative of the frontier-type cooking ethos that is less self-conscious, is understated and fearless.
We're not the "provence" of the Antipodes - that lofty analogy makes me recoil in horror.
Witness these two chefs; a couple of guys who are less inclined to glance over their shoulder and more interested in our endemic kitchen craft. It's something to savour. How refreshing to start looking inwards for inspiration.
