Kiwi chef whets appetite of West End's theatre crowd

Peter Gordon will have New Zealand lamb and wines at his new London restaurant. Photo / Dean Purcell

Around the corner from Jamie Oliver's new restaurant, and directly opposite Andrew Lloyd Webber's company grounds, a Maori gathering place has been built.

Award-winning New Zealand chef Peter Gordon will open his newest restaurant, Kopapa - Maori for a crowd or gathering - on the cobbled streets of London's Covent Garden next month.

The Wanganui-born, part-Ngati Kahungunu chef said his venture would place a New Zealand-influenced and owned restaurant among the area's affluent lanes.

New Zealand lamb will be on the menu and the wine list will be 40 per cent New Zealand labels, but the meals will be international, with flavours pulled from Turkey, southeast Asia and more.

Gordon is also working with foraging companies, so English weeds will be found in the dishes.

"As a kid, our dad would give us pocket money to pull all the oxalis out of the lawn." he said. "But in Britain you pay £100 ($205) a kilo for it. I do find it funny that the weed we threw away is used as a garnish."

The Seven Dials district where the restaurant has been built was once a slum - Charles Dickens referred to the "unwholesome vapour" of its streets - but is now high-value property dedicated to arts, culture and shopping.

Gordon's Kiwiana cuts across high European culture - the Royal Opera House is just round the corner.

Kopapa's other neighbours include the famous Ivy restaurant, as well as celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's newest venture. It is within walking distance of the West End theatres, which allows Gordon to target the pre-theatre crowd.

With a weak pound and a "buoyant" dining scene in London, Gordon said opening the restaurant soon after a recession was not a great risk.

However, the Kopapa project was temporarily set back by tight lending.

"The banks are hideous," said Gordon. "The British are lending nothing to nobody. The pedigree of [his London restaurant] Providores and the strong trading history of the other collaborators, meant nothing to the bank."

With his other long-time partners Michael McGrath, Adam Wills and Brandon Allen, he eventually had to fund much of the restaurant's development from his own pockets.

Gordon has returned to New Zealand for a two-week break but has been throwing himself in various culinary directions.

As well as looking after his New Zealand restaurants - Dine and Bellota in Auckland - he has filmed an episode for New Zealand Masterchef, promoted a new line of pork products for Beehive bacon, launched a range of chutneys and fronted a charity dinner.

From the Kopapa menu:
* Turkish eggs - two poached eggs with whipped yoghurt and hot chilli butter.
* Seared yellowfin tuna with nori sauce, dashi jelly and jicama slaw.
* New Zealand lamb chops on smoked sweet potato mash with braised butter beans and pickled garlic tapenade.

On the web:

www.kopapa.co.uk