How three food experiences proved to me that the Michelin Guide belongs in New Zealand

I was at the Michelin Guide Restaurant Ceremony, soaking in the atmosphere of celebration, achievement and respect for the cohort across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown (the cities encompassed by the New Zealand Michelin Guide) — and, of course, enjoying a taste of what New Zealand’s restaurants have to offer. One of the pillars on Michelin Inspectors’ matrix for assessing restaurants is quality of ingredients, something that Ben Bayly, the chef-owner of one Michelin star restaurant Ahi considers deeply. “At the end of the day it’s all about our food producers — without them we’re nothing,” he said. “We want to teach our gardeners to become chefs, and our chefs to become gardeners. Chefs think they work hard, but their bench is waist-high… the gardeners’ bench is down on the ground, and out in the elements. It’s a really tough job.”

At Ahi the day following the ceremony, Bayly and co-owner Chris Martin were buzzing; it was clear that their stellar new accolade was shared between the venue’s entire team. As well as celebrating individuals with the Young Chef Award (Robert Fairs from Londo in Christchurch), Service Award (Stina Person from Graze in Wellington) and the Sommelier Award (Matthew Aitchison from The French Café in Auckland), Michelin recognised Bayly as a Mindful Voice for his work connecting cuisine, land and community. During my lunch, Bryant’s enthusiasm for nurturing the next school of New Zealand restaurant talent was shining. He mentioned —while delivering impossibly pretty plates like a terrine of Ahi’s garden kamokamo and butternut squash with buffalo curd, a crisp scampi “corndog”, and Akaroa Harbour king salmon — his goal of giving every chef in the kitchen the tools to operate their own restaurant one day.

Over in the Herne Bay neighbourhood, Auckland restaurant Paris Butter already had close ties to the Michelin Guide; its sister venue in France, Le Petit Léon operated by Paris Butter co-founder Nick Honeyman, has had a star of its own since 2024. For Paris Butter to receive its own star under the guidance of co-founder and head chef Zennon Wijlens suggests a degree of cross-continental consistency (another pillar of Michelin’s assessment) that is well worth celebrating. “New Zealand has had a thriving culinary scene for years,” said Honeyman in a statement. “To see so many of our peers recognised in the inaugural ceremony is testament to how unique our food scene is. No matter where you go in the country or what you eat, the freshness of our produce and our culinary excellence shine through.” Like Ahi, the entire staff at Paris Butter was beaming with pride when I visited for dinner in the days following its announcement. I couldn’t help but notice a significant, freshly etched Michelin star tattoo on the neck of a young chef as he presented me with another knockout course.

After the official Restaurant Ceremony back in June an elaborate night of indulgence followed the announcements, centred around the Michelin Tasting Pavilion. Top chefs including international talent like New Zealand-born Nobu Lee of Nobuo in Taiwan and Michael Cimarusit from Los Angeles’ Providence presented canapes prepared at live kitchens in the centre of the space. A highlight for me was the Sturgeon Valley caviar station, where founders Nicholas Long and Xinyue Wan offered bumps of their New Zealand-produced caviar — the first of its kind — off a crystalline ice sculpture. Long and Wan told me how they’d been inspired to start production in New Zealand following aquaculture overseas, and in the following days I enjoyed their product on newly Michelin-starred menus at at both Ahi and Paris Butter (on a tart of Waikato beef tartare at the former, and on a delicate roulade of line-caught snapper and scampi mousse in a puddle of beurre blanc at Paris Butter— one of my favourite dishes of my trip).

The writer was hosted by Tourism New Zealand.