Chef brings FRESH IDEAS

If it wasn’t for the pandemic, Olly Le Maitre might be settled in the Australian Outback rather than North Canterbury. The new head chef at Black Estate Winery has experienced plenty of change and upheaval in the past 18 months, although not all of it was caused by Covid-19.

Seven weeks ago, he and his wife Leeann, welcomed their first baby, son Miles.

“It’s been a bumpy ride, but we’re starting to get the hang of things.”

Le Maitre is settling into his first month at the Waipara vineyard restaurant, having made the move from serving as head chef at The Lindis luxury lodge in Ahuriri Valley.

The change in scenery was a practical decision that satisfies the 29-year-old’s desire for a change in career direction, and the lifestyle needs of his young family.

“We were over at the lodge at Lindis Pass, which is very remote and there’s no cellphone signal, so we decided to move somewhere a little closer to the main centre,” he says.

“Black Estate was looking for a head chef, so it worked out well. This place has always been on my radar as somewhere I was wanting to work.

“It has a good reputation in the industry, and their beliefs and the way they run everything has always been appealing.”

Le Maitre admits to feeling pressure to maintain Black Estate’s reputation as one of the best restaurants in New Zealand, as he follows in the footsteps of acclaimed former head chef Grant Soeberg.

Under Soeberg’s guidance, Black Estate won two hats in 2017, and was named Best Winery Restaurant at the 2019 Cuisine Awards.

“Everyone here loved Grant, and he fitted in very well, so that’s something I need to do,” he says. “But food-wise, our backgrounds and styles are a little different.”

Born in the United Kingdom and raised in Wellington, Le Maitre’s food education began at 15, as an apprentice at Logan Brown, where he spent seven years being schooled in environmentally-friendly and sustainable cooking practices. It’s also where he met Leeann, who worked as the restaurant’s front-of-house manager.

His development continued with a stint further down Cuba St at Matterhorn, before he left to work at Whitebait, where Le Maitre says he “started finding my rhythm with food”.

“I have come from a quite refined style of plating, where Black Estate is a little more rustic, or honest, food,” he says.

“It’s good to come back to that, using great ingredients, and just cooking yummy food, and not quite having the pressure on as much as being in a luxury lodge.”

Le Maitre and Leenn, 30, left New Zealand in 2019. After working at Spicers Peak Lodge near Brisbane, they began pursuing an opportunity at another luxury lodge in the Outback.

The couple set off on the long-haul road trip late last March, but the rapid onset of Covid-19 forced them to return home to New Zealand.

“We got about 3000 kilometres into a 6000km drive, and that was two days before New Zealand went into level four lockdown.

“We drove [for] two days and managed to get a flight home. We got back at 6pm and New Zealand went into lockdown at midnight.”

Since taking the reins at Black Estate, Le Maitre has introduced his new menu, which retains the restaurant and biodynamic vineyard’s focus on showcasing organic and spray-free produce from local suppliers embracing regenerative agriculture.

Le Maitre says the two dishes that best represent the direction of his cooking are the dry-aged butterfish with a sprig of barbecued spigarello (a type of broccoli), bone broth made from the leftover flesh, and lamb with a burnt carrot puree, with foraged kawakawa leaves and pine nuts.

“I love my seafood. We basically use the whole fish with no wastage,” he says.

“The lamb is quite a basic dish, but it’s more [about] showcasing the produce itself, as opposed to over-complicating things.

“There are quite a few suppliers within the 20km radius of the restaurant, which are either organic or biodynamic.

“It’s quite amazing really. It’s definitely the [direction] more restaurants should start to move in.”