The City of Sails should be re-named the City of Chefs. Across the region, food outlets of every ethnicity, standard, and tradition imaginable, have sprung up like mushrooms over the past booming decade. Food experiences range from cheap on-the-run takeaways to fine dining with silver service and everything in between. The eatery numbers, in fact, are so great that one visitor from Europe said to me recently, “This city seems obsessed with food.”
That may be so. We JAFA’s are a social breed and where food is involved we can munch and dine with the best. When visitors arrive – and a lot do we discovered when we moved to the city 17 years ago – everyone wants to come to the Big Smoke and if they know someone or have a relly or two to descend on that takes care of the accommodation. And, as I said, we are a social lot so we encourage these visits – so long as they don’t turn into over-stayers.
A month ago I attended an impromptu barbecue, which incidentally is the only way to have one – spur of the moment invites, chuck some bangers on the barbie, toss a few salad leaves together with a squirt of Italian oil dressing, throw in some cucumber and chopped hard boiled eggs, put some ciabatti bread on the table and Voila!
And it’s always the very best barbecue everyone has ever been to.
At this particular event, knowing my interest in food (well, it likes me, clings to me in fact) a friend was yakking about a recent magazine article she had read about Auckland’s Food Divas, which included my absolute hands-down favourites, Peta Mathias and Julie Le Clerc. The next day I rushed out and bought a copy of the magazine and read it from cover to cover – a favourite way to spend an idle Sunday.
Yes, I thought, these women are terrific, and the Diva angle was great, but what about our male chefs? Given our massive food culture there had to be some unsung superstars in those ranks. So I set out to talk to a few and found some interesting personalities – not to mention some very good looks.
I think we mostly have this idea of our restaurants’ kitchens being tyranted over by Gordon Ramsay clones. Not so. These boys have the talent, experience, personality and endurance (their days can be pretty long) needed to run their international standard kitchens smoothly and effectively. There was a noted absence of arrogance and colourful vocabulary so I guess you don’t need to squeal obscenities at your staff to get results.
The trio were impressive in their down-to-earth unaffectedness. No male divas here. Interviewing them was a pleasure and, watching them at work in the well-equipped kitchens, where they spend such a large part of their lives, a thoroughly interesting experience.
“How do you do that?” I queried Chef Matt, Head of Patisserrie at Auckland City’s 5 star Hyatt Regency Hotel, as he swirled something that looked like fluffy chocolate icecream and was, in fact, freshly prepared chocolate raspberry mousse, on a large spoon and, with a flick of his wrist, topped a row of tiny puddings with perfectly identically spirals. I was allowed to taste one and, when I stopped sighing, begged him to make the desserts for my next dinner party.
Each chef had their own individuality – only their dedication to the craft of cooking found some parallels. Oh, and their sense of humour. At a meeting with the three of them I laughed till my sides ached – and they wondered what I was laughing at.
Interviewing them later was a breeze. The ice was broken and it was down to business in a relaxed leisurely kind of way.
Chef 1 – Walnut Cottage, Orewa
It was a rocky start for Klaus Zelles as a chef apprentice in1980’s Germany. Youth and a dose of wanderlust saw him through three different apprenticeships in the space of four years until, finally, after being begged by his grandmother to please finish his training, he joined the staff at the One Michelin Star, Hotel Messerschmidt.
Almost as though it were what his grandmother had planned for him, it was here that both his life and career were to take a turn for the better and, today, sees him on the other side of the world as owner chef of a delightful café/restaurant in the popular seaside township of Orewa.
The start
At Hotel Messerschmidt Klaus met Kerstin, an attractive 20 year old girl, whose prettiness and sweet personality stole the heart he had no previous intention of ever parting with. But love creates its own rules and Kerstin’s warm down-to-earth nature was more than he could resist and, before he knew it, she had become a permanent part of his life and his old fickle transient lifestyle was behind him for good. On 22nd February, 1989 they wed and, Klaus says, he has never looked back since.
Euro Chef, Klaus Zelles at Walnut Cottage
In Hotel Messerschmidt, apart from finding his lifetime soulmate, things were different from the beginning. After the frantic life at the Bavarian Hotel in Munich he had left behind, with a restaurant seating of 380 downstairs and 180 upstairs, Hotel Messerschmidt’s 120 seating was a breeze. Here, a huge amount of attention was dedicated to the food preparation, the philosophy being that well prepared food will always be well eaten, enjoyed, and remembered and talked about – bringing a new wave of customers keen to experience the same. It is a philosophy Klaus has always believed in and adheres to today. A LOT goes into his preparation.
New start, new home
Today Klaus, Kerstin and their son, Yves, are a tightly knit unit with many years of world travel and cuisine experience under their belts, and an unabated passion for their adopted home country of New Zealand.
Since arriving in New Zealand in 2003, speaking more German than English, the greater Auckland has been their home. For the first few years they lived in Hillsborough with Klaus working in the city as Cuisine Chef at the Crown Plaza Hotel and later the Hyatt Regency. But while the work environment was good and they made many friends, Klaus knew he wanted more for his family and future.
Moving North
It was when a friend and colleague bought a home in Orewa that the family began taking day trips to the area. Quickly they realised this was where they wanted to live. What they needed now was a business and a home to make it possible.
They looked at several opportunities before speaking with a family friend, who sold businesses in the area and introduced them to the charming historic Walnut Cottage at the northern end of the Orewa beach. It was love at first sight and, within a few weeks, they were the proud owners of Walnut Cottage café / restaurant.
The past two years have been hard work, they admit, but both agree they wouldn’t have it any other way. Although constantly busy due to the restaurant’s increasing popularity, their days are often exhausting but always rewarding.
In fact the venue has become so popular that they rarely advertise. Word of mouth, Klaus says, brings him the bulk of his diners and attracts many regulars – pure gold for any business. Although the dishes he creates are basically European in style and taste, Klaus says his growing interest in Kiwi culture has helped him evolve as a chef, giving his food another dimension with even wider appeal.
Klaus believes that New Zealanders are becoming more and more discerning and sophisticated in their tastes.
“Travel opens people’s eyes to what is on offer in other parts of the world,” he says, adding that today’s average Kiwi knows good cuisine from not so good. He stresses the importance for chefs to avoid complacency and their need to keep experimenting and not be frightened of change. In his words, “We cannot allow ourselves to slack – even for a moment. The diners will tell us very quickly if it is not up to scratch.”
So, what does the immediate future hold for the Zelles family?
“It has been hard work but we love our restaurant and its unique environment and we have made wonderful friends of our landlords, who are such dear people. They are like grandparents to our son. And there is a new challenge in the wind. Matt, Tim and I are planning a cookbook. We are all very excited about it.”
On offer over summer at the Walnut Cottage are such mouth-watering delights as, Bacon-wrapped prawn on spinach salad with tamarillo, Fish of the day on asparagus with risotto cake, champagne sauce and fresh vegetables, Duck breast on pumpkin souffle with blackcurrant sauce and a vegetable basket and, for dessert, a mouth-watering authentic Apple Strudel with vanilla ice and fresh fruits and the extremely yummy Chocolate Tower with fresh fruits and yoghurt sauce.
If that has excited your taste buds you can go along to sample every day except Tuesday when they take a breather.
Hyatt Regency Hotel
Anyone who knew Matt Smith, Patisserie chef at the Hyatt Regency International Hotel in Auckland city, as a youth would be disbelieving of his eventual choice of career.
Soccer and tennis mad, chorister in the Tauranga Boys’ choir for seven years, piano – he once topped New Zealand with 98% in a Trinity College music exam much to his amazement and his astounded mother’s delight (a total fluke, he grins, only happened the once) – participater in every imaginery group at the Tauranga Boys’ College, where he was educated – well, almost everything – but cooking.
At home he avoided the kitchen with as much vigour as he poured into his other activities – except at Nana’s place, raiding the pantry for her famous mince pies and savoury pastries but never her equally popular sweets and cakes.
As a child, joining Mum or Dad for a coffee break in town, his choice was always savoury – never, ever, ever anything containing sugar or cream. In fact, today, the only sweetness he indulges in is a teaspoon of sugar in his coffee. Of course, the tasting of his dessert creations is necessary to ensure their quality and texture, but that’s all it is – never a cupcake or dessert with his coffee.
He thinks this avoidance of what most of us find irrisistible has left him with a cleaner palate and he is better able to discern variances of taste and texture. Asked why this aversion, particularly as a child, he says he has no idea but is grateful for it given his eventual career choice.
“I love good food – if I’d been a cuisine chef I’d probably be the size of a house by now,” he laughs.
Career by accident
Personality Chef, Matt Smith at Hyatt Regency Hotel
Matt didn’t set out to be a patisserie chef. Originally he had wanted to join the navy and, after having his application declined, someone told him he should do a course in cooking. He could get in on that experience and then change to what he really wanted to do when he was in. So he did. He secured a place at the Auckland Academy cooking school and it all went from there. When he’d finished the course and was ready to re apply he’d found what he really wanted to do and it didn’t include the Navy.
The next step was to really learn about the trade so, changing plans, he approached the office of AUT and found a place in the next intake of Patisserie students.
Interestingly enough his ongoing work experience placement was at the Hyatt. It wasn’t the greatest experience at the time, he says. There was this policy of putting up on the board everything anyone did wrong. No back patting or encouragement for the good stuff, just the public embarrassment for the mistakes – and he made a few, he admits.
Fortunately, times have changed and no way is it like that now. In the Hyatt kitchens staff are appreciated for their efforts – it’s like a big cheerful multi-cultural community, where everyone pulls together and helps out in different areas when there is a need.
“We generally have a laugh over the silly stuff, like if someone spends hours preparing only to find they were looking at the wrong menu. That’s a rare example but it has happened. But whatever the problem we generally just get on and fix it. Mostly, you’d never know an error had been made because no one makes a big deal out of it. Most importantly, when the food reaches the table it is fresh, delicious, and well prepared. We have thousands of satisfied diners a year.”
Home from Europe
Five years ago, when Matt returned from Europe and a period as Chef on the US Celebrity Line cruise ships, he wrote to a few local hotels and, ironically, the Hyatt was the first to reply. Within a week he had joined them in the Pastry kitchen alongside two young German chefs, one who later moved to the Hilton and now runs his own successful wholesale patisserie business and Klaus, who owns the Walnut Cottage restaurant in Orewa. Both remain Matt’s good golfing buddies.
Before leaving for overseas, Matt worked for two years in a wholesale bakery owned by another young German chef. This was an invaluable time for him, he says. His employer, trained in Europe, taught him techniques and methods he would otherwise have spent years discovering and perfecting. It was also where he gained an interest in specialty cakes and discovered his flair for the more visually creative side of patisserie.
Now, making birthday cakes for his nieces and nephews and friends’ children from his home kitchen is something he enjoys. “They offer to pay but that would take a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me so they accept the cakes as my birthday presents to the little ones.”
So, what cakes do the children like best?
“CHOCOLATE! It must always be chocolate cake, designed like their favourite toy or cartoon character. One kiddie had a worm farm so I created a cake based on that. It went down a treat.”
And what about the delicacies you create at the Hyatt? How often do you change these and where do you get your ideas for new menus from?
“We change the menu about every three months and sometimes more. Ideas come from everywhere. I’ll often adapt something I’ve seen somewhere and I subscribe to several food magazines so I get a lot of inspiration from those. If I like the look of a dish I’ll always put my own twist on it so it’s more about thinking, `What can I do with this idea?’ than just taking someone else’s recipe and reproducing it. Every few weeks my Chef de Partie and I will sit down and go over what we’ve been doing and how popular each dish has been. We’ll throw a few ideas around until we come up with something new to try. We experiment a lot.
“About three years ago I spent a few weeks in the Hyatt Singapore observing their methods. That was a fascinating experience. They do things differently because the numbers they cater for are so huge, much greater than anywhere in this country. In Singapore’s Hyatt everyone is a specialist in one thing. They might work only with sugar, or chocolate, or pastry. Their range of desserts is huge.”
So, what does the future hold for the Hyatt’s Patisserie Chef?
“I got married in January and I’m rather hoping there’ll be a baby on the way before too long although before that can happen we have to marry again in Malaysia – this April. Fatherhood is something I’m really looking forward to. And, of course, there’s the cookbook Klaus, Tim, and I are planning. So I expect it’s going to be a pretty full-on year.”
Tutor – City and Guilds
Passionate about the crafts of cooking and sculpting, Tim Aspinall is undoubtedly one of New Zealand’s most experienced and creative chefs. Trained in the NZ Army under the old system of City and Guilds, which he tells me is shortly to make a comeback, Tim discovered the art of margarine sculpting in 1974 during a period of work experience at the Wairakei Hotel.
Winning Gold at the Wellington Easter Show with his first sculpture was enough to hook him for life and, 35 years later, he is still sculpting and is, arguably, one of the world’s top elite in the craft. Tim’s works have been created and displayed over the past three plus decades across New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, United States and parts of Europe, and his work is still in demand worldwide.
Apprenticeship
Tim entered the Army in 1970, undertaking a five year apprenticeship in butchery, bakery, cuisine and patisserie. The City and Guilds is probably the most intensive and well-rounded training a young chef can hope for in this country, he says, and having undertaken it himself, he is very pleased to be one of the first tutors to reintroduce the system in New Zealand in 2009.
During his own apprenticeship Tim had a dream – `Art in Cooking.’ It took him two years to find a point of difference – the margarine sculpting -which has been a major part of his life ever since.
As well as tutoring in cuisine Tim also passes on his knowledge of margarine sculpting to existing chefs wanting to learn the art. “We’ve come a long way since the 1970’s,” he grins, “when we created the framework for a sculpture from lengths of 2×2 bound together with coat hangers.”
Margarine is known as an unforgiving medium so back in the 70’s they had lots of trials and errors, frequently having to remake a piece for the final showing because the truck carting it to the display venue bounced over a rock or rumbled into a pothole. Many is the piece that was sent flying from its restraints or dropped bits off on its way to an exhibition.
An example was Tim’s first piece in 1974, which literally fell apart and had to be totally remade at the venue. That he won Gold on this first attempt is testament to his perfectionism and natural creative genius.
Today things are different. The framework is made from welded steel (another skill learned), much more conducive to the stability of the sculpture.
In three plus decades Tim has created many sculptures. He has album upon album of photographs, in fact he has lost count of how many works he has completed over the years.
“I haven’t counted,” he says, “but I’d say it’s in the thousands.”
His most recent work was his gift to Matt and Meera Smith on their wedding day, of a maori warrior and a Malaysian dancer. I saw them, they are amazing.
The teacher within
In the past few years Tim has reduced his number of overseas sculpting and tutoring engagements to spend more time teaching up-and-coming young chefs from New Zealand, Asia, and parts of Malaysia in the culinary arts, inspiring them with his infectious passion for the craft.
When you talk to him about cooking and sculpture it’s clear it is not just a job, or career, it’s his passion. His excitement and enjoyment in what he does is truly mesmerizing. Discussing class time with his students he explains, “When we’re talking about the basics I want them to be able to close their eyes and feel what they are doing, to become a part of it, to merge with it.”
To illustrate he hunches over an imaginery bowl, one arm curved around it while he slowly rotates his free hand. From this position he looks up at this fascinated student.
“You don’t stir the pot,” he tells me, shaking his head and, continuing to stir, he takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and says, “You stiiiirrrrr the pot.’
No doubt about it, the message got through. My hand was on the spoon, stiiirrring along with him.
Tim clearly gains deep satisfaction from passing on his knowledge. His is not textbook teaching. I think his students are the privileged ones. For myself I don’t think I’ll ever again be able to simply, `stir the pot.’
A change of pace
Tim didn’t always cook or teach. Early in the 80’s he cut his hand badly in a work accident and took it as a sign that he needed a break. He left the industry and, for a short time, worked as a landscaper then, for awhile, a gib stopper. “Just to stretch myself physically with something entirely different,” he explained.
But this separation from his craft was not to last. During this period he was approached by the Valentines chain of restaurants to create elaborate centerpieces for their buffet tables. This was the beginning of an extremely busy period for him as the restaurant chain included those in Australia. At the time there were 18 Valentines restaurants in New Zealand and 18 in Australia. At home he would do a round trip from Auckland to Wellington, Palmerston North, Napier, Rotorua and Hamilton, spending three days at each stop to create a sculpture before moving on to the next town or city then back to Auckland. Then he would fly to Australia for two months doing the same thing in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with three days at each restaurant.
He did this full time for a year before deciding to become self-employed and, for the next two years, set himself up as a freelance artist. While it was exciting doing what he loved and feeling all the good karma from the thousands of people, who daily stood before his creations, it meant that he was away from home a lot. So he cut back his out-of-town time and took a tutoring position at the Auckland Hotel and Chefs Training School.
Home sweet home
Currently Tim is preparing to build his dream home, from which he will work eventually full time as a sculpturer – only partly with margarine – he has always wanted to try his hand in the medium of bronze. Needless to say, the house plans include a very large studio.
For the past five years, in his spare time, Tim has been preparing the land around the house site. “I have the best driveway,” he laughs, “but no house.” Knowing Tim, when it’s finished, it will be something pretty special.
Past and future
So, who is Tim Aspinall today? Moulder of our next generation of food specialists? Artiste extraordinaire? Student of life?
In Tim’s words he is `a flowing river,’ he is evolving, his spirit is growing and changing him as an individual. There is so much more to life, he says, than just rising in the morning, going to work, coming home. He has a need to go the extra mile, he wants to do it all and more, he needs 36 hour days to pack everything in.
Perhaps his latest sculpture, the giant robot in Wairau Road’s Valentine’s restaurant says it best. Standing astride the buffet, tall and majestic, chest open revealing the wiring beneath the breast plate – his heart – he holds a bow in one hand (the past) and is pointing forward (the future). That’s Tim. He has a growing awareness of life and admits he wants to live it to its fullest. People ask what it is he’s high on? His answer is that it’s pure undiluted life he’s on. There is so much out there to experience he wishes he didn’t have to spend any of it sleeping. He wants to……stiiiiirrrrr the pot.
A Trio of Chefs
Tim, Matt and Klaus’ individual personalities and cooking styles caught my imagination so much I couldn’t resist nick-naming them. Klaus, with his soft German accent and expressive body language – Euro Chef; Matt’s warmth, humour, and infectious smile –Personality Chef; and Tim, in a word – Passionate Chef.
I can’t wait for this Chefmate trio to release their book. I’ll be looking out for it and wanting my copy signed.