Toast & Oak Is Queenstown’s Sleek New Food & Wine Destination

Whether you’re a wine buff or a wine novice, Queenstown’s Toast & Oak has the glass for you, and the menu to go with it.

An exciting new food and wine offering from a team of hospitality stalwarts has taken shape on Queenstown’s Shotover St.

Toast & Oak is a restaurant and wine bar that aims to transport visitors to Europe with its succinct menu of shared plates and its wine-focused drinks list highlighting varietals from all over the world.

The clue is in the name, which nods to wine aged in toasted oak barrels, as well as the art of toasting with great wine, over beautiful food, which at this restaurant, also features the occasional piece of toast (or bruschetta).

Casady Cunat, Toast & Oak’s brand and design manager, says it was “a no-brainer” when the opportunity arose to take over the space previously occupied by Spice Room Indian Restaurant upstairs on Shotover St, one of central Queenstown’s key thoroughfares.

With “incredible views of the Remarkables and Queenstown Hill”, the location provided the opportunity for Toast & Oak’s team to transform the dining room into a European-style wine bar, with interiors designed by Studio Muse.

Working alongside Casady to launch the restaurant are directors Romain Cunat and Hayden Davison, the same trio behind The Locker Room Sports Bar, which opened in Queenstown in 2021. Also on the team is Nathaly Barducci, sommelier and senior front-of-house expert, and Giulio Barducci, Toast & Oak’s wine director and executive chef, who is a Certified Sommelier for the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS Oceania). Rounding out the team is CPA, director and financial controller Jeremy Weinberg.

“We saw an opportunity in the market in Queenstown for a casual fine-dining experience that highlighted food and wine from all over the world,” says Casady. “We set out to find the perfect site for our vision in April 2023 and we were lucky enough to find it quickly.

The menu, designed by Giulio Barducci, celebrates seasonal ingredients and will change frequently, but diners can expect dishes like oysters with Rifters gin granita; bruschetta-style toast topped with beef tartare with yolk jam and shallots; and octopus with roasted potato and tomatoes.

Giulio began his career in Italy before moving to New Zealand, with experience working in five-star hotels, as well as Michelin-starred and Hatted restaurants, such as Il Palagio at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, Clooney in Auckland, and Amisfield and Aosta in Queenstown, where he worked both back- and front-of-house positions.

He and the team have ensured the food offering pairs beautifully with wine — with cheese and charcuterie boards on offer, as well as snack plates like dates, pancetta and brie, for anyone after a drink and a bite.

The wine list, says Casady, will be long, highlighting styles from New Zealand and around the world, “but our ultimate goal is that you ask questions and leave tasting something you’ve never had before.”

Visitors can try “Classics of the World” from the wine menu, which highlights “classic grapes from classic regions and older vintages. There will also be extensive offers by the glass and by Coravin, to make sure people can keep trying new and different wines they might have never tried before. We aim to get the ‘new to wine’ and the ‘wine professional’ excited, with the same list”.

Cocktails are classics with a twist like the Margatini, which combines gin, Cointreau, blood orange, lime juice and a salted rim, or The Wine Club with Bulliet Bourbon, hibiscus syrup, lemon, egg white and a red wine float.

Exposed black beams throughout the room lend a sense of scale and history, and “are original to the space. We love that we’ve been able to keep them as part of our design”, says Casady. The dining room is split into a main banquette dining area, tall tables and banquette seating on the bar side, as well as a private dining area, with furniture from Harrows and a handsome communal table from Alan Perry Furniture.

“We wanted a space with earthy and rustic tones, an atmosphere that feels elevated, but cosy and one that would match the level of service we will provide. We couldn’t be happier with Studio Muse’s design.”

Another star of the new restaurant is the wood-clad temperature-controlled wine cellar that houses 550-plus wines. “It’s going to be such a special space for not only storage but for small wine tastings and trainings as well,” says Casady.

It’s an elevated experience, but everyone is welcome, says the team.

“Queenstown is such a melting pot of cultures that we wanted to make sure there was somewhere that our locals and tourists could experience not only New Zealand wine and food, but a global offering. By also being open for lunch we hope to appeal to those who may not be able to fit in dinner due to their schedule or for the business person who needs an upscale yet comfortable place to dine with clients or friends.”

Toast & Oak opens on Friday, June 7, for dinner, and then from 12pm until late from June 8. Find it at 15 Shotover St, Queenstown. Phone (03) 442 TOAST; Toastandoak.nz