Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White gets his teeth into goat dog

Judge Marco Pierre White tries the Curried Goat Dog by Jordan Macdonal at Culprit. Photo / Michael Craig

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White stretched his taste buds to sample some of Auckland's finest food, including this twist on the staple hot dog — a curried-goat dog. White is here this weekend for Taste of Auckland at Queens Wharf.

Besides hosting a white-tie dinner on Thursday night, White — who left the kitchen 20 years ago to run restaurants, write cooking books and judge TV food shows — was a judge for the Best in Taste awards.

The judges gave the top award to the Takapuna Filipino restaurant Nanam. Chef Jess Granada impressed with her dish of wagyu beef and lemongrass sausage in tortilla with chipotle mayo and atchara pickles.

Second place went to Mount Eden's Xoong and chef Cameron Knox for his Ruakaka kingfish sashimi with apple, celery and avocado.

The contemporary fast food outlet Lowbrow and chefs Jordan MacDonald and Kyle Street won third place with a tasty fried chicken dish.

Taste of Auckland judges from left to right: Viva's Amanda Linnell, celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, Chand Sahrawat, Tony Stewart and Nicole O'Brien. Photo / Michael Craig

The People's Choice award went to Miann and chef Brian Campbell for a sweet hot dog with chocolate parfait, éclair, passionfruit and raspberry.

Taste continues until tomorrow at 5pm and features cooking demonstrations by White, signature dishes from 14 top Auckland restaurants, live music, an artisan marketplace, and other food and drink attractions.

By the time the show winds up, 60 top chefs and their teams are expected to have served 40,000 dishes to more than 20,000 people.