Top chef inspires prestige dinner with Church Road

MEDIA RELEASE 24 September 2008

Top chef inspires prestige dinner with Church Road Cuve wines

Tetsuya Wakuda, one of the world’s most respected chefs, gave his blessing to a prestige dinner where some of his famous dishes will be matched to Church Road’s Cuve wines.

The seven-course degustation dinner will be presented to patrons at the Church Road Winery in Taradale, Hawke’s Bay, on 23 October 2008.

Tetsuya is head chef and owner of the world famous restaurant Tetsuya’s in Sydney, rated fifth best restaurant in the world by the UK-based Restaurant magazine. With his sheer brilliance as a chef and his artistic flair, Tetsuya is consistently ranked amongst the top chefs in the world.

Commenting on the upcoming dinner at Church Road, Tetsuya said, “I’m honoured to be part of the menu.”

The food will be prepared by Church Road sous chef Thorsten Witzel, who worked with Tetsuya at a recent charity dinner at the Montana Brancott Winery in Marlborough.

Thorsten started his career as chef at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany, as a teenager and has worked in the demanding German hospitality industry for many years. The quality of the produce and cuisine in New Zealand lured him to our part of the world, and in 2005 he settled in Hawke’s Bay along with his wife and daughter.

“Working alongside Tetsuya was definitely a career highlight for me,” says Thorsten. “I look forward to presenting his dishes to our patrons, together with our exceptional Church Road Cuve wines.”

Each course and the matching wine will be personally presented by Thorsten and Church Road winemaker Chris Scott.

Chris says he looks forward to the possibilities created by matching the Church Road Cuve wines to such renowned dishes.

“We make our wines, and especially the Cuve Series wines, to our own individual style. They’re good food wines, though not always what people expect. The Cuve Series is where we get a bit experimental, trying new varieties, winemaking techniques or wine styles. They’re always very interesting wines, representing the leading edge of what we do here at Church Road.”

The dinner on 23 October will begin at 7.00pm with the first course served at 7.30pm. Only a limited number of tickets are available for this unique event, at $140 per person.

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