Renowned head chef Vaughan Mabee suddenly quits Arrowtown restaurant Amisfield after 15 years

Friday, 1 May 2026

Vaughan Mabee was head chef at Amisfield, the Queenstown fine-dining restaurant.

Award-winning head chef Vaughan Mabee has suddenly quit Arrowtown’s renowned Amisfield Restaurant.

Amisfield chief executive Simon Toneycliffe confirmed to The Press that Mabee, who led the winery’s restaurant for 15 years, resigned and left the job in February.

“Amisfield can confirm that Vaughan Mabee is no longer employed by the business.”

Vaughan Mabee prepares to serve a selection of salamis and cured meats in Amisfield's private charcuterie lounge last year.

Toneycliffe did not elaborate on the terms of the departure, saying “Amisfield does not comment on the private affairs of its current or former staff in order to protect their privacy”.

However, Mabee’s profile was on the company’s website as recently as last week, including his being named Chef of the Year at Cuisine magazine’s Good Food Awards. The references have since been removed.

In a statement to the Herald, Mabee said his departure was planned.

“I resigned my role as executive chef at Amisfield early this year in order to be able to spend more time with my young family while also pursuing several overseas opportunities.”

Amisfield Restaurant is a fine dining restaurant on the shores of Lake Hayes in Central Otago.

Mabee is one of New Zealand’s most prominent and celebrated chefs. He joined Amisfield in 2012. Along with his individual Cuisine award, Amisfield was Restaurant of the Year in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Born in London to a Kiwi father and American mother, Mabee worked in the US and Europe as a young chef, most notably at Noma, the fine-dining disruptor in Copenhagen with three Michelin stars and five best restaurant in the world crowns between 2010-21.

In March, Noma’s founding chef Rene Redzipi stood down after a New York Times story exposed years of physical and psychological abuse in his kitchens.

Last year, Mabee told Sunday magazine working at Noma under Redzipi was inspiring but incredibly stressful.

Head chef Rene Redzepi resigned from Noma, one of the highest-rated restaurants in the world, amid allegations of abuse.

He described Redzipi as a “psychopath – and I love that about him… the way that he just never calms down … I loved the way he infected everyone around him into thinking the same way that he thought.”⁠

In the July story, Mabee said he still saw Redzepi as “an amazing inspiration” and revealed the pair recently spent time together.

Since 2024, Mabee has held three knives – the highest recognition by The Best Chef Awards ‒ and last year Amisfield was named the 99th best restaurant in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 51-100 list, the first New Zealand restaurant to do so.

Amisfield was widely discussed as a contender for Michelin stars, when it was announced last year the guide was expanding to New Zealand. “This is gastro tourism at its finest,” Mabee told The Press at the time. “We’ll capture a different type of New Zealand visitor we haven’t really seen before.”

Michelin qualification includes strict criteria around a restaurant’s menu and staff.

Mabee’s profile has been further burnished in recent years from his stint as a judge on MasterChef in 2022. This year, he co-hosted Taste of Art, a reality show that challenged professional chefs to “push the boundaries of food as art”.

British royals William and Kate visited Amisfield during their 2014 New Zealand tour.