Clearview Estate restaurant recognised as a Good Egg

31 August 2011

MEDIA RELEASE

Clearview Estate restaurant recognised as a Good Egg

The question of who are the good eggs of the food industry has been cracked – and Clearview Estate Winery and Restaurant at Te Awanga, is one of them.

A keen supporter of organic and sustainable food use, Clearview was one of 38 businesses nationwide that was awarded at the inaugural Good Egg Awards in New Zealand. (Tuesday 30 August.)

Not only are free-range eggs used for its culinary fare, but all Clearview Estate award-winning red wines are fined with egg whites from cage-free hens.

The Royal New Zealand SPCA Blue Tick and Compassion in World Farming have partnered to present the awards to recognise food industry businesses that support animal welfare and act in sustainable and responsible ways by sourcing cage-free eggs throughout the supply chain.

Helma van den Berg, co-owner of Clearview Estate has been instrumental in developing its Good Egg approach. “As a vegetarian for over 30 years, I have always looked for ways to incorporate alternative food options. Initially it was hard with little available, but now we only use free-range eggs, and source as much produce as we can locally. More recently we’ve incorporated organic food and our diners are savouring this,” says Ms van den Berg.

The Good Egg award was in the restaurant category and Clearview was in the company of Dine by Peter Gordon, Rebo Café & Bar and Terraces Restaurant at the Grand Hotel, and Andiamo Restaurant & Bar in Auckland; Logan Brown and Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant in Wellington; and The Commercial Hotel in Murchison.

In 2009, Clearview Estate’s certified free range eggs featured in a twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflé that took on meat dishes as a finalist in the Hawke’s Bay signature disk award. It is still a popular choice on the restaurant’s menu.

Clearview head chef, Kerry Mackay says that the restaurant’s philosophy is to know the people who grow their meat and produce, and in the case of meat, to use as much of the beast as possible, not just for economy but because every cut has a unique flavour.

Clearview is a member of Food Hawke’s Bay and endeavours to support local artisans and food producers. “When we first started our ethical food sourcing approach, it was very hard to find anything suitable locally so we had to bring it all into Hawke’s Bay. Now there is so much quality food at our doorstep, and that helps with our carbon footprint as well.”

Ms van den Berg is a pioneer in ethical foods, having 30 years ago set up a wholefoods store, Calico Pie, which was part of the Square Edge collective in Palmerston North.

The Good Egg Awards are open to food industry organisations and farmers based in New Zealand sourcing and producing eggs only from cage-free hens. Producers, bakeries, cafés, restaurants, caterers or manufacturing businesses that improve the lives of layer hens raised in the supply chain may enter.

ENDS

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