One year on from the launch of Ora King, we decided it was time for a celebration to mark the occasion. As part of the core team behind the organisation of the event, I was highly anticipating this day – and particularly eager to check out the stunning location where the lunch was to take place, at Cloudy Bay Vineyards in Marlborough, NZ.
The Ōra King Long Lunch featured a superb four course spread prepared by three great chefs; Matt Lambert, of New York City’s The Musket Room, Daniel Wilson from Melbourne’s Huxtable, and Nick Honeyman of The Commons and Everybody’s Izakaya in Auckland.
The day before, Jemma had met guest chefs (now known as our official ‘Ōra Boys’) Matt, Dan and Nick in Blenheim for a foraging mission – which even included a particularly entertaining trip to a variety of tableware stores, on the hunt for the elusive ‘perfect bowl’ (for Nick’s Salmon Congee to be served the following day).
Having made it through the challenges of the day, the evening was dominated by a ‘Fush ‘n Chup’ mission to feed these ‘hangry’ (angry/hungry) chefs – and who knew finding an open Fish ‘n Chip shop in Blenheim could prove so difficult at 8 o’clock on a Monday night!
The morning of the Long Lunch was somewhat frantic, herding together a varied bunch of chefs from around the country, plus throwing a photo shoot into the mix that morning. By lunchtime quite an appetite was worked up, and guests were ready to experience a special Long Lunch menu designed by their peers and featuring the hero ingredient – Ōra King – accompanied by other fresh Marlborough ingredients, and complemented by Marlborough’s Cloudy Bay Wines.
We garnered the help of two excellent NMIT Culinary students to help the boys in the kitchen with prep and plating – such a great way to give up and coming chefs experience with the masters. Myself and Anne-Marie took on Maitre d’ duties, along with three very lovely NMIT Hospitality students to help us with the task of serving 40 chefs, media and Ora King staff – for a rookie waitress like me, no pressure at all!
We had decided some months earlier that The Long Lunch would be a great way to celebrate the launch of the new Ōra King brood for the coming year. And we went to great lengths to ensure guests would enjoy the first, exclusive taste of this new brood, sourced directly from our Otanerau farm in the Queen Charlotte Sound.
The Long Lunch was also to provide the platform for the inaugural (and surprise) Ōra King Awards.
We wanted to celebrate those chefs who had really embraced the Ōra King philosophy and demonstrated its wonderful traits to fine diners all over the globe – from the United States to Germany and of course here in our heartland, New Zealand.
Earlier in the year, I had come across a local Nelson sculptor who made beautiful pieces out of Oamaru Stone. I asked her if she could devise a sculpture that reflected Ora King, and she came up with a wonderful circular sculpture reminiscent of the crowned O, particular to Ora King. All the winners were absolutely thrilled with their trophy, although there was some consternation about managing it within their luggage allowance!
You can read more about the winners of the Inaugural Ora King Awards in Jocelyn’s companion blog about the day found here.
Highlight for me in the Awards Ceremony was the reaction of our new International Ambassador, Matt Lambert – who did not refrain from cheekily rubbing his new found ‘International Ambassador’ status in his fellow ‘Ōra Boys’ faces (we love you Matt)!!
After a stunning platter of local chocolates from Makana Chocolates produced especially for our Lunch, the guests relaxed and took the time to catch up informally. This was one of the most rewarding aspects of the day, as chefs don’t get out of their kitchen very much, and the chance to catch up with their mates was highly valued. Tired but satisfied, we packed up the room, put our aching feet up, and poured our own glasses of fabulous Marlborough wine to celebrate the success of the day.
Leave a Reply