Follow me to Amisfield - a remarkable destination restaurant in Queenstown, New Zealand by Chef Vaughan Mabee! Awarded 3 Knives and “Best Chef Dining Experience” by The Best Chef Awards, the restaurant is definitely on the up and up. After working at top restaurants including Martin Berasategui and Noma, Chef Vaughan returned to his home country in 2012 to head up Amisfield. A love letter to the incredible ingredients in New Zealand, the menu is the chef’s playground where he can let his imagination go wild. And go wild he did. Our meal was full of theatrical and unique courses from sliced "duck heads", mortadella shaped as a pig snout, translucent abalone saucisson, ice cream masquerading as a sheep’s horn, and many more! But it’s not all just for shock value. Chef Vaughan hunts and shoots many of the animals served on his menu, and doesn’t shy away from showing diners where their food comes from. It’s all part of the storytelling that completes the memorable dining experience at Amisfield. 
Two menus are currently available at dinner - the Amisfield menu (NZD$440) and the longer Chefs menu (NZD$695). Our Chefs menu was divided into 5 acts which took us on a culinary tour of the terroir in the region via vegetables, charcuterie, seafood, game meat, and dessert.
We started with vegetables - first a trio of bite sized snacks showcasing teardrop peas, corn, and mushroom. They were presented on potted plants and our table became a mini garden of sorts - earning the gaze of fellow diners. Next up was an embodiment of spring in the Otago region featuring deer cheese, sorrel, nasturtium, and watercress. The accompanying apple and rocket juice turned out to be a fantastic palate cleanser. We then finished with my favorites from this act - beautifully barbecued yellow & green zucchini and daikon prepared in 5 different textures.
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| guisante lágrima |
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| tawaka |
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| corn, wild fennel |
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| the otago summer |
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| zucchini |
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| daikon, wild thyme |
“Come with me”. We followed a staff down a flight of stairs into the cellar for the charcuterie act. The space was dark and dramatic with a row of cured meat hanging in the background as Chef Vaughan proudly presented the charcuterie that he’s made from wild animals in the region. First up was the Rakiraki duck head which was actually a duck rilette with elderberry jam and a beak made of clarified duck stock. Then there was the wild paua (abalone) saucisson fermented for 14-16 months where you can see the wild boar fat translucent against the light. Next was the pig snout which was made up of wild boar mortadella, served on a crumpet with pigs liver butter. Lastly we had jamon cured in-house since 2015 and a flying salami made with the majestic putangitangi duck which is indigenous to New Zealand. This was actually an add-on experience (NZD$240) on top of the Chefs menu and definitely worth opting for as it was the highlight of my meal! |
| rocks, rakiraki |
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| paua saucisson |
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| paua saucisson |
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| boar snout |
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| boar snout |
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| jamón |
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| the flying salami |
Our meal continued back upstairs with an exploration of the incredible seafood in New Zealand. We started with the native koura (crayfish) where its tail was poached and its head used for sauce. Then we had the paua (abalone) two ways - the baby farmed paua in a beurre blanc and the wild paua deep-fried on top, served with its own liver sauce. We also had the greenbone (butterfish) two ways - one with vinegar cream & horseradish snow in a cone, and the other with whitebait in a Sauvignon Blanc beurre blanc. Then there’s the dramatic smoked eel fillet served with its liver mousse, jamon, pear, and Pinot Noir reduction. And finally, the majestic giant New Zealand king crab - steamed and served simply in its own juice.
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| koura |
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| koura |
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| baby pãua |
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| baby pãua |
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| greenbone |
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| eel on vogels |
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| new zealand king crab |
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| new zealand king crab |
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| paua and its liver |
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| paua and its liver |
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| greenbone, whitebait |
The next act was all about game. We started out with smaller animals such as the mallard foot with duck liver parfait & black truffle claws, the wild hare confit with raspberry & Pinot Noir, and the titi rilette wing KFC style served with fermented chili sauce & mountain ranch sauce. Then it ramped up quickly when a giant elk antler was placed on the table. Hidden inside was a 90-day dry aged elk leg with smoked elk heart pastrami. This was followed by a fallow deer sweetbread with tawaka mushroom and summer truffle, and a goat’s tail where its “fur” made of sugar was burnt off table-side. We then moved to the kitchen for the grand finale - a whole beast of wild red deer served with pickled magnolia blossom, jus, and white truffle. |
| mallard palmate |
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| hare |
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| wapiti in velvet |
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| sweetbread, tawaka |
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| a goat’s tale |
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| the whole beast |
The last act was dessert with impressions of sweet flavors from around the region. The presentations continued to impress from the fresh deer cheese with wild honey from Central Otago, the “hubu grub” made with fudge & peanut butter, the “putangitangi head” with duck liver ice cream & elderflower jelly, and the sheep milk ice cream masquerading as a sheep’s horn. Then finally, we had one last adventure to the far north where we enjoyed a “snail” ice cream made from kawakawa (a medicinal plant endemic to the country) in a room made to imitate the forest.
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