Crayfish snags, gold Mallowpuffs and caviar: Inside NZ’s Michelin Guide launch
Wednesday, 1 July 2026
At Tuesday night’s glitzy launch of the New Zealand Michelin Guide, there was just one question on my lips.
It wasn’t: who is going to win (though we soon learned 110 restaurants would be honoured in some way, including 15 restaurants bestowed at least one Michelin star).
Instead it was: what do they feed New Zealand’s best chefs at the after party of an awards ceremony celebrating our best chefs? Would it just be typical convention centre catering?
No, of course not! This is Michelin, and with just that one word brings prestige, intricacy and more caviar than you’d find in an episode of the Real Housewives of London.
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As guests exited the award’s ceremony, many of them carrying the heavy square trophy that indicates a Michelin honour (at least one later seen being used as a plate), food prepared by some of New Zealand’s best chefs was ready to greet them.
In fact, some of the establishments picked to cater the Michelin guide launch had themselves become Michelin honoured venues by the time the after party began.
Among the caterers, locals Ben Bayly (Ahi), Shaun Clouston (Logan Brown) and Henry Onesemo (Tala) all received gongs for their restaurants - with international heavy-hitters Michael Cimarusti and Nobu Lee flown in to add a little global star power.
Cimarusti owns two Michelin-rated restaurants in America, including the triple-starred Providence in Hollywood.
His menu featured New Zealand kingfish tartare with sturgeon valley caviar, along with local abalone and black truffle.
Taiwan-based chef Nobu Lee, formerly of Auckland restaurant Clooney, served up ‘fish and chips’ that was actually smoked eel smeared between handcraft potato crisps.
Elsewhere, I scoffed some caviar oozing off the top of beef tartare, followed by slivers of venison served out of an oyster shell. To top it all off, a miniature pavlova.
Speaking of pavlova, while the desserts may have had recognisable names, they were anything but. One was inspired by a Mallowpuff biscuit, but dipped in gold.
Another was described as a Popsicle, but glistened red and was made with kiwifruit and locally produced gins.
If you were looking for sausage rolls, you would have left disappointed - though at one point a waiter thrust something into my hand that they said was “inspired by a Bunnings snag”.
That seems like an understatement, given the snag was made with “Saveloy of Fiordland Crayfish” and served astride the shell of a crustacean (don’t eat the shell, the waiter warned).
Bunnings, up your game.
As the bubbles flowed and cocktails continued to be mixed, the Michelin Man himself - all puffy and misshapen, like the Mallowpuff I’d just eaten - continued to watch on.
The official symbol of the Michelin tyre company from which the food guide originated, the amorphous being was ever-present across the entire evening.
He was greeting people on the red carpet as they arrived. He marched to the stage like a victorious wrestler as the ceremony started. He was on stage for every single award, posing for photos alongside the overwhelmed chefs and fist-bumping a few too. He worked the after party like a pro, posing for selfies like a celebrity at a film premiere.
I’ll admit to being slightly afraid of the Michelin Man at the start of the evening, with his rictus grin and giant hands. By the time the night was over, I had become accustomed to his omnipresence, questioning whether there really was anyone inside the suit at all.
The ceremony itself was fast-paced and emotional.
Tala’s Henry Onesemo was the first to be bestowed a Michelin star - not only New Zealand’s first ever recipient, but the first ever Samoan restaurant. He was literally lost for words. “I’ll have to go out back and throw up first,” he announced to the crowd, as his eyes welled up.
Teresa Pert from Wellington’s Ortega Fish Shack in Wellington was also too shocked to speak, apologising for being “awful” with a microphone.
Others paid tribute to the front of house staff and behind the scenes workers that allowed their restaurants to operate.
The final single-starred restaurant of the night was Amisfield, the Queenstown establishment fresh off a tumultuous year after celebrity chef Vaughan Mabee’s sudden departure amid allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviour. His name was not mentioned, though there was quiet murmuring in the crowd after the fine-dining eatery was announced as a Michelin star recipient.
As guests trickled out, they were each handed a gift bag. This year’s Oscar winners each received a swag bag valued at US$350,000.
New Zealand’s first Michelin Guide guests did not, but they were gifted a small bottle of vodka, a fancy pen, a branded umbrella and a pin.