Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay NZ
September 15th, 2009. Posted by luane
Phil and I are just back from Cape Kidnappers in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand where we did a wine dinner with Dry River Winery. It was a great night and the wine and food were very well received by the guests. They all enjoyed a weekend of golf, wine, food, relaxing and a cooking class by me on Saturday morning. It is the first one I have done in years and I hope that they learnt a bit more about eating well at home by the end of it. Phil and I had a couple of long hard days in the kitchen to get the 5 course dinner out, but were ably assisted by Dale and his kitchen team. They have a really good group there and some of the best food I have eaten in NZ was over that weekend. Dale made us a really lovely dinner on the Thursday night with some local seafood and lamb as the main, all washed down with a few glasses of Stonyridge.
The day of the dinner was long, but really rewarding as the food came out just as Phil and I wanted, so in the end, satisfaction. The wines were terrific and I think I may have had one glass too many of the 01 pinot. The paua and xo salad and scampi dishes were winners as was the quail pie,.. it only took all of Friday to put that one to bed. The lamb was perfectly cooked sous vide at 67 degrees. Kori the pastry chef did a cracking job on the custard apple and mascarpone cake so the meal came to an awesome end.
Unfortunately I had to come back the next day after some Tunisian eggs and a book signing. I can’t wait to get back there as it really is one of the most beautiful places on earth and all the staff were fantastic to work with.
Tags: cape kidnappers, dry river winery, hawkes bay, Neil Perry, New Zealand, Phil Wood
