While Queenstown central has plenty to offer foodwise, Jo Elwin discovers there’s even more incredible dining experiences to be found just out of the resort town.
We were thrilled that Queenstown dining recently revealed itself to be substantial enough for a recent “best of” list based entirely on
The Great Glenorchy Alpine Base Camp
Our constant search for beautiful, down-to-earth places to escape to has led us to The Great Glenorchy Alpine Base Camp (TGGABC), where the welcome by owners Liz and Doug Rikard-Bell is as warm as the fires that burn in each of the 14 well-appointed huts providing shelter for adventurers and those wanting to get away from it all. A wood fire also burns in the Homewood Stove in the Base Camp Kitchen that Liz lovingly tends as she cooks family-style meals that evoke memories of dinner at the farm or the campsite. There are cast iron pots and pans full of super-tasty, hearty fare going directly from stove to table for diners to serve on to their enamel plates. The meal may take the form of six-hour lamb shoulder falling from the bone over a bed of seasonal vegetables with substantial sides of mānuka-smoked cauliflower pie, mushrooms and lentils and a tricolore of baked potatoes. Dessert may be a sticky date pudding, baked apples or a brown sugar pavlova – impressively cooked in the wood-fired stove. The Rikard-Bells like to describe their licensed restaurant, which has one sitting each evening at about 7pm, as “dinner at our place’” The more the merrier, bring the family! There is no fuss and bother, just lots of love, happiness and camaraderie. We recommend booking a hut and giving yourself time to soak up TGGABC’s luxuriously simple camp life.
Address: 49 Oban St, Glenorchy
Headwaters
Dining at Headwaters Eco Lodge is another food-related reason to make Glenorchy more than a day trip. It’s dinner only, starting promptly at 6.30pm and it’s chef’s choice, but when that chef is Pete Gawron there’s no need to think twice. Gawron transformed the Queenstown dining scene when he opened Saffron in Arrowtown in 1999 and we’re privileged to have access to his diverse culinary talents through the lodge. Generous three-course meals using the freshest seasonal ingredients (many grown on-site), change daily to assist with the lodge’s sustainable ethos and can take you anywhere in the world. Friendly relationships with Central Otago winemakers and brewers are reflected in a drinks list that adds to our reasoning to spend a night or two at the top of the lake. Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan paid a visit to Headwaters in 2023. Read his story here.
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Advertise with NZME.Address: 42 Oban St, Glenorchy
Contact: Theheadwatersecolodge.com
Amisfield
What a treat to be able to dine at a restaurant of Amisfield’s calibre in this part of the world. As a World Top 100 chef, Vaughan Mabee‘s regular travels with his peers invigorate his and his team’s creativity. The latest work of art is a southern crayfish and Central Otago wild hare wellington that presents as a whole crayfish on the plate, but the shell is meticulously crafted from pastry. Truffles get their own menu through winter, and a smaller six-course, 90-minute tasting menu is currently available for those unable to commit to the three-hour, 12-course extravaganza. Lunch always runs to six courses and, with diners being seated inside at this time of year, there is plenty of room to sit outside and take in the majestic surrounds on crisp, clear days over a glass of wine and a bite from the snacks menu. The ultimate Central Otago food and wine experience to be sure.
Address: 10 Lake Hayes Rd, RD1, Queenstown
Contact: Amisfield.co.nz
Pacific Jemm
Stepping onboard the Pacific Jemm and cruising New Zealand’s longest lake for 90 minutes has become a hot-ticket item this winter, mostly because it’s reasonably priced and, as the luxury yacht comes under the Eichardt’s umbrella, the experience is top quality. The attentive crew encourage you to snuggle in with hot water bottles and blankets and, as you take in the majesty of Lake Wakatipu and her snowy peaks, serve a very good mulled wine and hot snacks. Departing from Steamer Wharf twice a day, this is a unique way to escape town for a wee while.
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Contact: Pacificjemm.com
Colonel’s Homestead Restaurant, Walter Peak
Also leaving from Steamer Wharf, the coal-fired screw steamer TSS Earnslaw will take you over to Walter Peak for a gourmet barbecue lunch or dinner at Colonel’s Homestead Restaurant on the shorefront of Lake Wakatipu. Julia Gessler recently wrote that “Walter Peak can feel like a buffet at the end of the world, or the beginning of it”. And that under executive chef Will Eaglesfield, Colonel’s Homestead has come to telegraph what buffets have long aspired to: “taste and quality, prised from the earth by Will’s own bare hands”.
Address: Walter Peak Country Farm, Walter Peak
Contact: Realnz.com
Rosewood Matakauri
Eight months after Rosewood Hotels and Resorts assumed management of Matakauri, we are starting to see a few changes at Queenstown’s intimate luxury lodge. But fear not, it’s all good. We couldn’t be more excited that executive chef Jonathan Rogers is still managing the kitchen and they’ve relaxed the exclusivity, opening the dining room to everyone, where once you could only enjoy this five-star dining experience if you were a house guest. It’s hard to find a good meal that doesn’t come with a view in Central Otago, but Rosewood Matakauri is one of the best, perched in a landscape of natives above an expanse of Lake Wakatipu, taking in the drama of the snowcapped Remarkables, and Cecil and Walter Peaks. It’s jaw dropping and, when the 168-foot Earnslaw cruises past looking like a dinghy, you realise the scale of the surrounds. Jonathan has maintained an exceptional standard throughout his 10-year tenure, his menus always bursting with the very best seasonal produce, and we like that he doesn’t limit himself to southern delicacies: Te Kouma oysters, Whitianga kingfish and Easterbrook duck delighting as much as Lake Ohau beef, Cromwell pears and Matakauri honey. Put yourself in Chef’s hands with tasting menus of different sizes for lunch and dinner, or go a la carte. A knowledgable team ensure you get the right drop from a confident wine list to match the food and the occasion, and we love that the occasion can now be just because we can. Make a booking and take the short, seven-minute drive to the middle of nowhere for a taste of luxe lodge life.
Address: 569 Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd, Closeburn
Contact: Rosewoodhotels.com
Bannockburn Hotel
Were you even in Central Otago if you didn’t have lunch at the Bannockburn Hotel? With a wine list that runs to over 200 - 60 available by the glass - this restaurant is a magnet for oenophiles and there’s a high chance you’ll see one or two of the region’s celebrated winemakers here on your visit. As you swirl the Riedel stemware, taking in the surrounding Felton Road vineyards and Kawarau River views, owners Anna and Andy (chef) McIntosh present a complementary menu of sharing plates that brings Mediterranean and South American flavour to high-quality local produce. Hailing from the UK, Andy makes a great Cumberland sausage, pork and beef albondigas are on a par, and his current rendition of poor man’s potato with chorizo and butter-fried egg has us booking an early lunch to quell the effects of yesterday’s jaunt around the cellar doors. Things tend to close early in this special little wine-country town so booking for dinner is also highly recommended.
Address: 420 Bannockburn Rd, Cromwell
Contact: Bannockburnhotel.nz
The Chef’s Table at Rippon Hall
Dining is not an option at Wānaka’s Rippon Vineyard (unless your swanky friends get married there), so when winter sets in and The Chef’s Table pops up at Rippon Hall, it’s time to take a drive over the hill to Wānaka for an early dinner. Chef and owner of Raspberry Creek catering, Sam Metcalfe, presents a menu of sharing plates for banquet-style feasting in the main hall, at the table in the kitchen, on the terrace where the kids can run wild, or up in the loft where a group can dine privately. Even if it’s just a pit stop at the end of a day at Treble Cone – there is a snack menu available and walk-ins are welcome – watching the sun go down on the best view in town is most satisfying. And then there’s the fondue … you have until the end of September.
Address: 246 Wānaka Mount Aspiring Rd
Contact: Rippon.co.nz
Ayrburn
Ayrburn has taken the region by storm since opening last November and the hospitality-plus precinct has certainly kept everyone entertained this winter with light displays, an ice-skating rink and midwinter Christmas festivities. Spicy mulled wine aromas entice you into The Manure Room, intimate meals are taking place underground in the newly opened Barrel Room and they’ve added an extra layer to The Woolshed menu with maltagliati pasta and a coffee-rubbed venison dish. Roaring fires encourage time outdoors over drinks and snacks and there’s a lively après ski scene. In fact, Ayrburn are doing a pretty good job of picking up where the Queenstown Winter Festival (shuttered last year) left off – star-studded winter ball and all. Come September 16, you’ll find us at the Burr Bar for negroni week.
Address: 1 Ayr Ave, Arrowtown
Contact: Ayrburn.com
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