Over the last couple of years the term ‘snacking’ seems to have taken on an entirely new meaning. No longer just a quick bite to eat between ‘real’ meals, there seems to be a snack culture developing across the globe as clever chefs have returned to the old canapé concept giving it a bit of a nip and a tuck to replate in the form of the ‘Chef’s Snack’. It’s a brilliant way to start a restaurant meal that provides an intimate peek inside the mind of the chef and an explosion of flavour in just one or two bites.

Currently, a whip around Instagram and some major players reveals chef Ana Roš still celebrating her classic snack, a corn beignet filled with fermented cheese, smoked trout roe and wild chives at her restaurant Hiša Franko in Slovenia. Chef Daniel Humm is showcasing baby lettuce bites and a mini celtuce tostada at Eleven Madison Park, chef Julien Royer of Odette in Singapore points to flavours of the traditional Niçoise with perfect puff pastry wrapping its crispy-golden layers around olives, lemon and thyme, and chef Vicky Lau presents her ode to abalone (pāua) in a tiny tart of steamed abalone with green pepper Comte cheese sauce at Tate Dining Room in Hong Kong. Closer to home some of our Kiwi chefs are seriously upping the Aotearoa snack game with their bite-sized offerings as you will see a bit further into this snack- centric feature, and The Grove’s Cory Campbell is possibly snack master of all with his chips and dip homage to the Kiwi Sunday roast (salt and vinegar crisps with lamb sweetbread cream) or storm clams in a shell with clam jelly.

Now, the snack may be small but be under no illusion about the amount of slog that goes into creating these intriguing morsels. A good snack is a testament to the chef’s skill and knowledge, often offering a nod to food memories and cultural influences, and can take hours, sometimes days, to create before it is consumed – though hopefully not forgotten – within seconds.

For example, in Madrid Dabiz Muñoz, the World’s No 1 at The Best Chef Awards 2023, is reinterpreting his childhood flavours at DiverXO in a tiny crisp sandwich featuring Iberian suckling pig, pecorino cheese, cured goose yolk, homemade sriracha and suckling pig head cold cuts, infused with Jamaican pepper and forest- inspired pesto. I’d hazard a guess that’s not something he whips up on a whim.

With the current stretch on restaurant budgets and resources, one might wonder whether such attention to detail and investment of time is worth it. However, developing a unique and inspiring snack allows a chef who is serious about forging a culinary career the chance to stray from the traditional elements needed in a more substantial entrée and main course and take an opportunity to think way outside the restraints of their standard menu.

And so, we bring you our investment into the development of the New Zealand snack game, with a series of snackified events that are fast, furious and terrific fun and that Cuisine will proudly continue to produce and present into 2025.

Let the games continue…

Mussel & Kawakawa Fritter

SNACK MASTER

Our recently crowned Cuisine Chef of the Year Cory Campbell has been using the concept of the chef’s snack to wow diners at The Grove in Saint Patricks Square, Auckland. For a fleeting moment back in 2022, owners Annette and Michael Dearth had considered closing their iconic restaurant until Cory arrived bringing with him a huge depth of knowledge crafted at the likes of Noma in Copenhagen and Vue de Monde in Melbourne, where he was instrumental in helping Shannon Bennett achieve three-hat status. With a fierce understanding of how important it is to honour the legacy of The Grove, while bringing his unique spin on our New Zealand flavour, he believes that our restaurants and cafés have a responsibility to not only support but challenge our growers and producers to produce unique, premium ingredients which will in turn encourage the hospitality industry to lift their creative game. The only way that will happen is by leading from the front to create a trickle-down effect that will encourage enough product demand to make it worthwhile for the producers to grow something a little bit special. This year Cory has taken The Grove back to its three-hat status by presenting, with his team, a menu that is world-class. His snack game is high and sets the standard for an evening of discovery by presenting just a tiny taste of the talent and skill behind this incredible chef. Our challenge to produce a snack for our cover with the look and feel of the traditional plate of oysters served in a restaurant setting – but using the endemic green-lipped mussel – was not an easy one, but has resulted in this super-clever bite in the form of a mussel and kawakawa fritter topped with luxurious Imperial Caviar from Caviar Mafia. Enjoy! thegroverestaurant.co.nz

Competitors and their mentor chefs (left to right) Aditya Raut of Sugo, Leah Knotts of Central Deli, Shane Yardley of Toi Ohomai, Perrin Yates of Hide, Brew Co and Sailor Rum Galley & Kitchen, Neil Sapitula formerly of Solera and Saltwater, Ian Harrison of Sugo, Kristian So’e of Papa Mo’s and Samantha Bandara of Alma Eatery

BATTLE OF THE SNACK 2024

Our second year producing this sell-out event in collaboration with the talented team at the Flavours of Plenty Festival in the Bay of Plenty saw four leading local chefs pair up with four young up-and-coming chefs to give a culinary performance of major significance as they delivered more than 1,400 snacks from the pass at Saltwater Seafood Bar & Grill in Mount Maunganui to a room packed with passionate food-and-drink lovers.

This event was born not only from our obsession with the chef’s snack, but also a desire to recognise and encourage young chefs by providing an opportunity to work alongside a talented mentor with a focus on promoting local artisan produce and products.

This year’s snack menu served some incredible creations including beetroot and Wilderkin Vodka-cured Mount Cook Salmon with cucumber, sour apple, horseradish and wild fennel; smoked pork belly with burnt butter, pumpkin purée and pickled cabbage on brioche; potato fritter with tamarind, chilli, garlic and coconut; and lobster and prawn with kimchi mornay on wonton tartlets. Local beverage producers Henlee, Wilderkin Spirits, Mount Brewing Co. and Leveret & Mills Reef Winery were the star sips to accompany these stunning flavours of the bay.

It was Aditya Raut of Sugo, supported by Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology mentor Shane Yardley, who claimed Cuisine editor Kelli Brett’s Judge’s Choice Award with his Indian-spiced braised lamb with tapioca cracker and salsa. Highlighting his initial culinary training in India and his skill at balancing deep flavour, it was the perfect bite. Diners at this ticketed event were asked to play close attention to each and every snack and then vote for their favourite, and it was Papa Mo’s junior sous chef Kristian So’e – under the watchful eye of mentor chef Neil Sapitula, ex-executive chef at Saltwater and Solera – who impressed the crowd with his curried duck rillette croquette with coconut ketchup – a traditional classic turned cleverly on its head.

Our chefs preparing their snacks

CUISINE SNACK ATTACK AT ORIGINE

Our dedication to the art of the chef’s snack continued in July as we partnered with the superb team at Origine in Commercial Bay to challenge four rock-star Auckland chefs to create four epic chefs’ snacks in a culinary showdown in front of an intimate live audience.

A phenomenal showcase ensued as Ben Bayly of Ahi and Origine, Mike Shatura of Ahi, Leslie Hottiaux of Apéro and Gareth Stewart of Advieh undertook this gastronomic face-off to create their ultimate signature snack and take home the highly coveted – in our opinion – Cuisine Snack Attack trophy.

Aligning with a passion for snacks, this event also allowed us to highlight some super-special produce and products at a time when diners want to experience high-quality ingredients but are also looking for great value, low-stakes ways to explore the work of some of our best chefs.

With spanking-fresh pot-caught blue cod and pāua from Chatham Island Food Co, meltingly tender Fiordland venison (thanks to the guys at Neat Meat) and the unmistakable flavour of With Wild Canterbury truffles, Cuisine Snack Attack wrapped this all up into an eating adventure like no other.

Congratulations to chef Ben Bayly for taking home our trophy with his magnificent mince and cheese pāua pie. As one attendee commented, “Ben might have won, but we are all winners tonight by being here to taste the incredible creations of four chefs at the very top of their game.”

Huge thanks to these spectacular companies for supporting the talented team at Origine on the night.