Ben Bayly: executive chef at Ahi on Tourism NZ's bid to bring the Michelin Guide to New Zealand

There's excitement among Kiwi food experts and hospo giants about what the Michelin Guide's arrival could do for tourism.

Tourism New Zealand is investing $6.3 million to bring the guide to New Zealand, and it's estimated 36,000 more international visitors could be drawn in as a result.

Executive chef at Ahi and New Zealand Food Story host Ben Bayly says this move will give the nation's food sector more credibility.

"Let's face it, gastronomic tourism right now is huge, people are travelling all over the world to eat food - that is their main driver for coming to countries now."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The New Zealand. New Zealand may get some Michelin stars
because the government has, through Tourism New Zealand, sunk six
point three million dollars into bringing the Guide here. Tourism
New Zealand has put the money in and it's initially
going to focus on Auckland, Wellington, christ USI and Queenstown.
Are he Executive chef Ben Bailey is with us now, Hi, Ben.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello, how are you? I'm very well. Are you excited
about this? I am Jack, Yeah, I'm so happy this
is This is going to be grateful New Zealand for
hospitality especially. It's going to give us credibility. It's going
to validate all of our hard work. And you know,
let's face it, gastronomic tourism right now is huge. People
are traveling all over the world to eat food. That

(00:40):
is their main driver for coming to countries.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Now, Tamy, did you do you think there are people
who who honestly just say I'm going to go to
New Zealand to eat my way around the place, not events,
not skiing, not sight seeing, just food.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Of course I'll do other stuff, right, but we see
last summer huge amount of Americans through it was almost
like I wanted to have a map of America and
start putting all the cities from all our visitors from
around the States, and they come here and they are
searching out what is New Zealand food? What is our cuisine?
And it's you know, thirty percent of the tourism spend
is spent on dining, so it is a big thing.

(01:16):
And up with golfing and hunting and stuff like that.
There are diners around the world who go to countries
just to eat. You look at how gastronomic tourism has
changed places like Tokyo Osaka or even San Sebastian and Spain,
places like Mexico, people are traveling their fourth food.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Do you think that we are at the quality to
be able to earn Michelin stars.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
We're definitely going to get some one hundred percent. I
mean I spent my twenties and early thirties working in one,
two and three star restaurants, so we know the level.
I mean, there's some restaurants that will get three stars,
maybe one or two, and there'll be some that will get.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
To and quite a few of them three stars.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Definitely born in Amasfield or might be down at Amasfield.
I mean, you know that it's just exceptional food and
very low amount of covers. I mean, getting three stars
is a huge accolade. I think it's only about one
hundred and fifty restaurants in the world with three stars.
And you know that wouldn't really suit our sort of
you know, Antipothy and or ki We dining or hospitality.

(02:19):
We like sort of atmosphere and we like to have
a vibe, we like to have fun, sort of be
more suited to the one and two star I think.
But there's a huge amount of criteria. Foods just one
part of the Michelin Guide, judging the dining room, you know,
the atmosphere. They even measure the bathrooms, I think, so
you know, it's quite mysterious how they're judged too. Yeah,

(02:40):
there's there's so many things that go into it.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
What they make sure that the bathrooms are big enough.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
You've got to have bathroom, You've got to have the
right type of bathrooms. You've got to think about the
whole experience, right and often even in three mission stars,
it'll be about the experience of the morning when you
wake up. What is the gift you get when you leave?
Do they make a little granola for you to give
you a little bag of sad ado to take home.
So when you wake up in the morning, you think
about the restaurant, right, So how far do you want

(03:05):
to go get one? Do you reckon? Ben? I'll be
disappointed if I don't. But you know, especially for he,
I mean that's sort of you know, you know, I
think that we're at that level dis judging by I mean,
I'm in Shanghai right now doing an h pop up
and I've just ate another three star two nights ago,
and so you get to compare yourself with other restaurants

(03:26):
and stuff like that. So I think would be we'll
get a star maybe too.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
You run the food joint out at Woe Studios in Henderson.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
Don't you. I did. Yeah, I founded it and I've
since sort of passed it on to our general manager.
But yeah, that was.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
What a great idea. I've been I've been dying to
talk to you about it because there just isn't enough
of the stuff around where parents can go and sit
in a nice place and let these kids play a
But I.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Think things have changed now where you think might be
a fancy restaurant, like you know, how people dress. You know,
all these sort of like sort of snobbery around sort
of fine dining of flash restaurants has gone, especially with
KIW dining. So you know, you can bring your kid
to any flash restaurant in New Zealand now, no problem.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
Yeah, Hey, Ben, good luck with Shanghai, and thank you
for talking to us, mate, and good luck getting a star.
I'm sure you will. Ben Bailey, executive chef at Ahi
and host of New Zealand Food Story.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
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