Vaughan Mabee: Amisfield Executive Chef on being crowned Restaurant of the Year

The chef at the country's best restaurant says they're always improving to stay top of the game.  

From more than 300 contestants, Queenstown's fine dining hotspot Amisfield has once again been crowned 'Restaurant of the Year' at the Cuisine Good Food Awards. 

Executive Chef, Vaughan Mabee told Mike Hosking being in Central Otago helps them in many ways.  

He says the combination of their team and the area's amazing wine country, tourism, and product brings the success of the restaurant and vineyard. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Reminded that if you get all the bits right, hospit
can be world class and you can in fact find
some seriously good operators in this country. So it's the
big Food Awards were held last night. Amersfield, not unfamiliar
with the awards, of course, got the big one, the Restaurant
of the Year and Vaughn maybe as the executive chef
and he is with us born. Good morning morning, Mike.
How are you very well? You're having quite a good

(00:20):
year at winning staff are seen that Ammersfield the Wark
last night as they should be. Is it just you,
the team, the owner top down? How does it work?
Why is it so successful?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Oh? Man, it's all about the team, you know, and
the owner as well. You know, all together we work
great together and we're always trying to do our best
and get better and be a successful restaurant. You know.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Does it help that you're in Central Otago and the
place is festooned with international tourists with real currencies and
the ability to pay for high end for.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
I mean, I think being in Central Otago helps us
in many ways. You know, there's an amazing wine country,
there's amazing tourism, and there's amazing products so I think
all of those combined together with the amazing team, brings
the success of the restaurant and vinyard.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
How do you deal with hiring? Is hiring hard work
or not?

Speaker 2 (01:25):
To be honest? In the restaurant, we get a lot
of people from New Zealand or international people that want
to work in a restaurant. So hiring these days is
that hard for us? It's quite a place that a
lot of kids and experienced people from around the world
want to work.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Well, you know, so you've reached that tipping point, right,
So you've become a thing. And once you become a thing,
people gravitate to it.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, if you'll call it the thing, Yeah, I guess
you're right.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
So what's the plan? You just keep on keeping on
or are you on a path of continual improvement?

Speaker 2 (02:03):
I'm always on a path of continual improvement. You know.
You have to be in the hospitality industry. You've got
to switch and stay on trend and change. You know,
when you're kind of you know, rubbing elbows at the
top of the game, So you have to be on
a form and you have to change direction. I mean,
you know, we just keep going.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
Good on your mate, well, congratulations yet again. Last time
we had him on he was in the top one
hundred restaurants in the entire world. Well, maybe who's the
executive chef at Ammersfield? If you've never been as well worth?
Its just its just a beautiful setting. Apart from anything.
Six restaurants got three hats last night, Ahi, which has
been Bailey's place in Auckland. If you know Ben Bailey,
he's one of the rock stars of the industry. Is
a good guy's television program, by the way, which I

(02:45):
don't think is on at the moment, but you'll get
it on TV, and said, plus, that's a fantastic program.
A Cocoroe, Craigie Range restaurant and Havelock. Have you never
been there? Went to a wedding there, Boss got married there.
Boss ins a lot of money.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
We lost you for a while. That night.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
I was in the bottle shop, Yes, yeah, down in
the cellar. I still got that brought term imperials, A
couple of imperials of craig and imperials. How many bottles
of imperials? At nine? It's at nine bottles? A couple
of imperials I bought KA was delighted about that Paris,
Butter and Tala were awarded three hats, so that's that's exciting.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
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