Dan Tarrant and his family harvest mānuka honey from one of the most remote places in the country, Ruapuke Island. And while his honey is rare, Dan’s story is even rarer: one of deep connection to whenua, whānau, and the southern seas. Located 23km off the coast of Bluff, Ruapuke is wild, private…
Read More
Out past Otautau, where the skies stretch wide, Auld’s farm at Scott Gap has been growing grain for three generations – all named Rob (which keeps things simple). They’ve worked the land, harvesting wheat, wrangling sheep, raising a family. And now, they make whisky. Really good whisky. Rob and Toni…
Read More
There’s a line outside Fat Bastard Pies most days, rain or shine. By the time the cabinet’s full and the doors open, the locals already know what’s on. And if it’s a long weekend coming up? You’ll see people loading up like they’re the last food on earth. James Owen is the man behind it all, a chef…
Read More
This is the kind of place you might blink and miss – but you really shouldn’t. Out at The Key, not far from Te Anau, Davaar Station has been in the family for generations: a sheep farm, good Romney-Perendales. Out front, sisters Kate and Anna Macdonald are running the kind of set-up that makes you…
Read More
If you’re talking food in Southland, Ethan’s name will pop up. Ethan Flack has built a reputation not just as a brilliant chef but as a voice of substance: someone who brings people around the table and brings producers, growers, and young cooks along with him. He’s Southland through and through:…
Read More
Cam Davies is a head-down, lamb-in-the-oven, let-the-food-speak type. He is the executive chef and co-owner of The Fat Duck in Te Anau, and this year, the restaurant was named Supreme Winner at the 2025 New Zealand Gastropub Awards, as well as Best in the Lower South Island. Not a bad follow-up to…
Read More
There’s a giant swede grinning at you, along the state highway headed south from Queenstown - just out of Winton. That’s Wilson’s Vege Stall, and if you’re even halfway curious about what Southland tastes like, you’ll want to pull over. There’s nothing flashy here – no slick marketing, no…
Read More
Mrs Pickles, now rarely called Josie Robinson, is bottling up the kind of pickles, jams, and chutneys that taste like they came straight out of Nana’s kitchen. And that’s exactly the point. “When I was pregnant with my third child, I wanted those flavours I grew up with – the ones my Nana made. I…
Read More
On a stretch of farmland as you drive South from Queenstown, where sheep have grazed for generations, Garston Hops is quietly changing the landscape. James McNamee, whose family has worked this land for 145 years, always knew the farm had more to give. In 2016, between the rolling pastures and the…
Read More
Gadoochi Brewing is what happens when creativity, hard graft, and a love for the craft come together. It all started in a small Roxburgh orchard, where Chris and Nicola found themselves with more apples than they could handle. Rather than let them go to waste – or drown them in sugar like so many…
Read More
