Queenstown’s restaurants offer fine dining and wining riches

Queenstown is booming. The compact South ­Island resort town now boasts 2.9 million visitors a year.

Chef Vaughan Mabee at Amisfield Winery & Bistro, which grows 80 per cent of its produce.

Queenstown, everyone will tell you, is booming. Just look at the numbers: the compact South ­Island resort town now boasts 2.9 million visitors a year, a figure projected to soar in the next decade if you heed the government ­reports. Leading the charge is the wealthy, independent Chinese tourist, who apparently spent 20 times as much yuan here in 2014 as he or she did back in 2008.

But here’s the clincher: of all international visitors to New Zealand, half of them come to Queenstown. And they hit the roads. In peak season, locals note with some concern, the pretty little town even has traffic jams.

And yet, on a mild and sunny autumn day, looking out over Lake Wakatipu — the country’s longest lake — and those craggy mountains, ringed by long white clouds so low they form a sash around the base, you’d swear you were in a peaceful, pristine country town. An Untouched World, as the upscale local fashion brand would have it. Maybe everyone is off hang-gliding? Or checking out the nearly 100 wineries that make up the famous Central Otago region.

You don’t have to love food and wine to enjoy this patch of New Zealand, but it helps. Queenstown revels in its status as heart of one of the world’s greatest pinot producing regions, and the pride is evident every time you pick up a wine list overflowing with local labels (the contrast with many fashion-victim Australian restaurants is ­irresistible). And where good wine goes, good food inevitably follows.

With peak season — snow season — starting this week, we round up a few of the best places in Queenstown to eat and drink. What? A ski resort with decent food and wine? Well, no wonder Queenstown is booming.

True South,
The Rees Hotel

A wine-driven hotel: how very Queenstown. If the row of Wine Spectator awards at the entrance to The Rees’ dining room doesn’t convince you, a quick squiz at the hotel’s cellar — stuffed with prestige names from NZ and the Old World — surely will. Four times a year, True South hosts themed wine dinners: a recent Misha’s Vineyard event marked the Central Otago producer’s 10th vintage and reminded us — via several whites ­including pinot gris and gewurztraminer — that the region is known for more than pinot noir. But you don’t have to wait until the next big night to try the food of the hotel’s wine-driven chef (so to speak). While a fine, contemporary cook, perhaps expat Scot Ben Batterbury’s greatest claim to glory is his affinity for matching food and wine, the result of a degree of commitment rare among his peers. Year-round, Batterbury’s menu takes full ­advantage of game, giving diners from across the ditch the chance to try genuinely wild — as opposed to farmed — hare, rabbit, goat and venison. ­Depending on the season, you might find wild hare croquette with celeriac puree, celery oil and blackberry chutney; or Southland venison tartare and bresaola with nectarine, ricotta and rocket. Wide-screen views from the dining room across the lake don’t hurt all the authenticity, either.

The next wine dinner at The Rees is “Winter In Paris; A French Christmas” on Saturday, June 25. More info: therees.co.nz

Rata

High-profile telly chef Josh Emett (in a previous life, he headed up Gordon Ramsay’s short-lived Maze at Crown Melbourne) presides over two restaurants in Queenstown. The newer, hipper one is the Asian street food-­inspired Madam Woo, but it was closed for a function the night of our intended visit, so the firstborn it was. Serendipity. Rata is the restaurant the town deserves: refined yet relaxed, service oriented, with a serious wine list and a ­focused, contemporary menu basking in prime New Zealand produce. Bluff oysters; Moko eel; Wakanui sirloin; blue cod; merino lamb … and you simply must start with the treacle & rye bread with “home smoked butter”, even though you’ll need to pay for it. (There’s no such thing as complimentary bread in NZ, it seems.) As an upscale offer, Rata competes with the ­equally high profile, lakeside Botswana But­chery, but take it from us — your dining dollar will go much further here.

Amisfield Winery

Of all the winery restaurants within striking distance of Queenstown, this was the one that kept coming up as everyone’s ace card — and not just ­because Kate and Wills dropped in here, by private plane, for drinks and canapes on their last royal tour. It’s quite the package. The imposing stone-and-schist building, the soaring hardwood beams, the kinetic sculptures in the courtyard … and then there’s the food. Chef Vaughan Mabee worked at Noma before it hit the big time, and it shows in his subtly Nordic-influenced approach. Cured greenbone (a native NZ fish, aka butterfish) is light and pretty with rose, vinegar cream and horse­radish snow; highly ­desirable West Coast whitebait comes with crayfish aioli and wild greens (often, ­locally foraged watercress); even the children’s pasta sauce is made with heirloom tomatoes — not out of snobbery but “just ­because they’re there”. Mabee estimates the restaurant grows 80 per cent of its produce, ­including farming its own beef and lamb, and the vineyard is in conversion to organic. From go to whoa, it’s a class act, right up there with the best Australian winery restaurants.

The Bath House

With its killer spot lakefront and cute heritage building-with-crown-atop, it’s hard to avoid a visit to The Bath House, ­especially for families with children making a beeline for the playground alongside. Never mind; as it turns out, the indoor-outdoor cafe is more pleasant pit stop than tourist trap. If the rather daggy menu doesn’t inspire confidence (think pasta with creamy sauce and co), the food is a nice surprise, fresh, generous and made with care. Go for ­something plain — the steak sandwich is huge, and excellent value — and enjoy chatting to the United Nations of staff. Are there any hospitality workers in Queenstown that actually hail from NZ?

Sasso

The town’s best-known Italian offer, housed in an 1882 stone ­cottage, exceeded our expectations with its culinary skills and service as warm as the seats by the open fire. Sandwiching a short list of “pasta and grains” are a few more sophisticated offerings that take the restaurant beyond classic ­Italian into more mod-NZ, territory. Whatever: dishes that can sound a little over-­elaborate on the page come ­together well on the plate. Celeriac and apple soup studded with ­seared Bay scallops, pan­cetta, ­hazel­nuts and olive oil shows off fine local produce; gnocchi with broad beans, pancetta, tarragon and parmesan is simple and sty­lish.

And also

Coffee: Queenstown isn’t exactly at the vanguard of the NZ cafe scene, but you’ll find pretty good coffee at Joe’s Garage, in a laneway downtown (also home to a sensational brownie with Mars Bar icing). VuDu is also popular.

Wine: The Winery, in the centre of town, offers more than 80 NZ wines on tasting — the world’s largest, apparently. Nab a leather armchair and drink in — with cheese, in the lounge — or buy to take away. They sell local whiskies too.

Hip hotel: Sherwood, up the road from The Rees, is part wellness retreat, part hipster restaurant-with-kitchen-garden-and­orchards, part music venue. A glance at the menu, liberally sprinkled with things pickled, smoked and house-made, says it all. They even offer something called “Tantric Dining”. Very on-trend.

Necia Wilden travelled to New Zealand as a guest of The Rees Hotel.