Cooking up a Storm March 2011

If the young talent rising in the food ranks is anything to go by, our restaurant scene is about to get a whole lot more exciting. Viva's restaurant reviewer talks to three chefs ready to shake things up.

Young. Gifted. Chefs. There's a new breed rising to the top of our restaurant industry and they're on a mission. Level-headed, healthy and fit, collaborative, they're holding down their first "Head Chef" positions in some of Auckland's best and busiest restaurants and call themselves "The Next Crew - Aotearoa Raw Talent".

The collective (thenextcrewart.co.nz) is all about celebrating our most adventurous young chefs as they push boundaries, take diners outside their comfort zones and draw international attention to the raft of talented and young New Zealand chefs presiding over our restaurant kitchens.

One of their mentors, successful restaurateur and DineAid champion, Mark Gregory sums it up nicely; "These chefs want to be at the top of their game and to do that, they know they must push their cooking to the limits. This may mean at times we, as diners, need to be able to forgive them. Great tennis players don't win every match. These guys won't produce winning dishes every time but to beat monotony, and to raise the standard of dining through the roof, we must understand that practise, and risk taking, makes perfect."

The world of head chefs is a highly competitive one and only a talented few rise to the top.

In New Zealand, the likes of Peter Gordon, Michael Meredith, Al Brown are household names. Internationally the Jamie Olivers and Gordon Ramsays of this world are as well known as rock stars.

Determined to make their mark on the food scene, The Next Crew stages its first public event, a multi-course dining extravaganza with the theme "Deception", in Auckland in just over a fortnight's time. Here I talk to three of the young guns involved to find out what it takes for a young chef to survive and thrive in the highly strung, intensely competitive industry of cooking.

NICK HONEYMAN

Head chef, Dallows & Sale St, Freemans Bay

When I first tried Nick Honeyman's degustation menu it made me sit up and take notice, big time. It is dishes like his clever rice-less cauliflower risotto, or lamb served with a hot gazpacho gel, that simply dazzle the senses. And while it appears Honeyman has seemingly come from nowhere, the truth is more that he's come from everywhere.

Born and raised in South Africa, he took off at 18 to pursue what he describes as "a burning passion for cooking". He flew straight to Sydney where he enrolled on a four-year cooking apprenticeship. So talented and motivated was he, he tore through it in less than three years.

The driven Honeyman then set about targeting the world of Michelin-starred restaurants, working for great chefs such as Alain Passard (L'arpege), Pascal Barbot (L'astrance) and Iron Chef Sakai in Tokyo before making the move to New Zealand in 2009.

Why New Zealand? "To be honest, I was running away from a girl," he laughs. "Actually, I'd been hearing great things about Simon Wright and The French Cafe so I paid him a visit. He told me to come back in two months and I did. It was the beginning of another love affair. This time with New Zealand."

At only 28, he's now in charge of hospitality baron Luke Dallow's kitchens - and watching Honeyman work you get a sense of what this new generation of head chefs is all about.

There are no mid-service tantrums or signs of over-blown arrogance - it's all about clarity, communication, fairness and fun. And like many of his generation, Honeyman looks at his career as a portfolio of opportunities, grabbing as many of them as he can fit into his busy schedule.

One example of this is that every year, for the past three years, he's taken off to France for a stint at Le Petit Leon, a small restaurant that's only open for nine weeks, from July to September. Last year the owners were so impressed with Nick's menu that they appointed him "head chef at large" and begged him to return this year. "You've got to keep building your game and working at Le Petit Leon helps to challenge me. It gives me my spark. In France, you might have five chefs working under you and every one of them, respectfully, wants your job. It's a great way to stay motivated."

The restaurant has no menu. Instead, diners choose how many courses they want and the kitchen decides what to prepare. It's the ultimate freedom for a chef and Honeyman wants to see diners in New Zealand be more prepared to trust the chef. "Diners can get too fixated on descriptions. Around the world it's far more common to leave it up to the chef to decide what they'll eat."

While acknowledging the pressure of being a top chef, Honeyman doesn't complain about the long hours or high stress. He surfs to keep himself sane and has a personal trainer who makes him work out so hard "he cries". "Hard out exercise is key, as a stress release and also to keep fit for the job. Anyone who doesn't do that will find it harder to get to the top." There's no doubting Honeyman is bold, brave and part of the new wave of chefs coming through our ranks.

- NZ Herald

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Cooking up a Storm March 2011

NICK HONEYMAN

Head chef, Dallows & Sale St, Freemans Bay

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