A daring journey through fire, wilderness and imagination, Amisfield showcases the raw beauty of New Zealand through one of the country’s most innovative tasting menus.
In Queenstown, where jagged mountains plunge toward crystalline lakes and green meadows colour the landscape sits Amisfield. This is a restaurant embracing the drama of its surroundings with equal boldness under the direction of Chef Vaughan Mabee. The experience becomes a cinematic exploration of New Zealand’s landscapes: wild, expressive, deeply rooted in place and executed with a rare blend of precision and raw imagination.
The evening begins with a quiet sense of wonder. The first bite, a tawaka mushroom presented in a sculptural, flower-like form, feels like a small piece of enchanted forest placed gently before you. It sets a tone of natural elegance and curiosity. This is followed by asparagus subtly charcoaled and tied with a strand of leek, eaten with chopsticks in a gesture that feels both playful and reverent. A delicate pumpkin flower arrives next paired with same-day-pressed pumpkin juice, a refreshing expression of purity and restraint.
These opening tastes feel like an introduction to Mabee’s world: gentle beginnings that hint at the creativity, wilderness and technical mastery soon to unfold.
From here, the menu evolves with a confident and deliberate escalation. A warm bread course appears alongside house-made charcuterie including an unforgettable abalone boar-fat sausage, a concentrated burst of ocean umami announcing the shift from delicate to bold.
A silky smoked eel follows capturing the essence of New Zealand’s waterways before guests are presented with fresh abalone still gently moving – an homage to life, freshness and the ocean’s persistent vitality. Next comes New Zealand king crab served entirely on its own to highlight its natural sweetness. Its simplicity is intentional: perfection requires no embellishment.
A richer turn arrives with duck and hare coated in a raspberry reduction that melds forest notes with just a touch of brightness. Then comes a moment by the fire where diners are guided outside to Amisfield’s open-air fire pit, flames flickering against the dramatic Central Otago sky. Here a course of fallow deer is served straight from the fire: smoky, impossibly tender and deeply aromatic.
It is a sensory experience that engages more than taste: crackling wood, cold air, glowing embers and the primal pleasure of meat cooked over flame.
Returning inside, the progression continues with a luxurious pairing of crayfish and sweetbread, a surf-and-earth composition that epitomises Mabee’s ability to straddle refinement and rusticity with complete confidence.
Then comes perhaps the most whimsical creation of the night: a caramelised lamb taco wrapped in a cloud of candyfloss. As the sugar melts away it reveals the lamb beneath – a playful interpretation of the animal’s wool that is humorous, surprising and undeniably delicious.
Dessert continues in this vein of curiosity and craftsmanship, highlighted in particular by deer milk ice cream, a silky and subtly wild expression of the region’s agricultural heritage.
A Wine Programme With a Sense of Adventure
Amisfield is not only a celebrated restaurant but also one of the country’s most respected organic wine producers crafting approximately 35,000 cases annually from its 92 hectares of vineyards. Established in 1988, the estate sits in the dramatic landscape of Central Otago, the world’s southernmost wine region defined by cool nights, sharp alpine light and ancient glacial soils that impart unmistakable character to every bottle.
A menu of such scale and imagination demands an equally thoughtful pairing and Amisfield rises to the moment with this in-house wine production showing remarkable finesse. The estate’s own wines form a natural backbone to the experience such as playful and aromatic Pinot Gris, elegant mineral-driven Chardonnays and refined Pinot Noirs that embody the purity of Otago.
These wines are complemented by selections from around the world creating pairings that feel adventurous yet deeply intentional. The result mirrors Amisfield’s culinary philosophy: unexpected, expressive and profoundly rooted in place, allowing the wines and the dishes to speak in harmony.
A Chef at the Edge of Instinct and Innovation
The combination of innovation, artistry and a profound sense of place positions Vaughan Mabee as one of Oceania’s most daring and influential culinary figures. His style embraces a hunter-gatherer ethos evident not only in ingredients but in its raw yet elegant presentation and philosophy.
Flavour-wise, Amisfield connects directly to the roots of human desire: the pull of smoke, the satisfaction of richness, the brightness of acidity, the allure of salt and the primal comfort of fire-kissed foods.
It is perhaps not a menu intended for beginners. It is for diners who seek to be challenged, moved and reminded of where food comes from and why it matters.
Amisfield stands as a bold, poetic expression of what nature can offer when treated with reverence and courage. The excellence of this expression has placed this award-winning venue on the world map for its precision. By the end of the evening, you don’t simply leave satisfied; you feel transported back to landscapes untouched, ancient instincts awakened and a celebration of life’s most elemental pleasures.
Only a few restaurants in the world offer a moment so immersive and so rooted in place.
