Born to cook

Dietmar Sawyere strives for perfection in all his cooking. Photo / Supplied

Swiss-born Dietmar Sawyere is one of Australasia's top chefs. He made an impressive mark on the Auckland restaurant scene back in the eighties when he reinvented the Hyatt Hotel's Top of the Town, and then later, after setting up restaurants in Sydney, he returned to open Five City Road Restaurant, named by Conde Nast Traveller in their "Top 50 New Restaurants in the World 1999".

In Australia he is renowned as a culinary talent. His Forty One Restaurant in Sydney has won an incredible 45 Best Restaurant and Wine Awards, and he has breathed new life into the iconic Berowra Waters Inn (pictured) which was designed by the great Australian architect Glenn Murcott.

This Saturday Dietmar will be showing off his skills at Taupo's Huka Lodge.

What inspired you to become a chef? I grew up with restaurants, my father was a Maitre Cuisinier de Suisse and so it was always in my blood. I left Switzerland when I was a small child and grew up in England, although we returned to Switzerland every Christmas which was always a special family time together in the mountains. Still today we try to return to Switzerland each Christmas with our children and food plays a central role in any trip.

At 16 you went to work at The Savoy in London. What was that like? The Savoy was the cradle of classical cuisine back at the end of the 19th century when it opened, so to work in the famous kitchens was fantastic. The Savoy taught me how to work within a large brigade of chefs, there were around 100 in the kitchen.

Then at 19 you were named Young Chef of the Year in London. What did this mean for your career? It enabled me to get a transfer to the Connaught Hotel (owned by the Savoy Company at the time). This was an amazing opportunity as the Connaught held two Michelin stars in those days and Michel Bourdin, the executive chef, was a great teacher and inspiration. The Connaught, while still very classical in its approach, was about quality and technique, second best was just not an option in the Connaught's kitchen.

How is working in hotel restaurants different to working in a private restaurant? Except for a few of the great hotels around the world, most hotels run their restaurants by committee. Private restaurants tend to have more character and purpose as it is usually one chef or one restaurateur's vision. There is usually a lot more passion in a private restaurant, of course there are some exceptions but that is usually where the hotel has had the foresight to get a restaurant chef in to take over the fine dining room.

What brought you to New Zealand in 1983? The usual story... I met a girl!

How did you find the food scene here when you arrived? Surprisingly good. There were a lot of young chefs that had done the OE trip and come back to Auckland and opened interesting restaurants, guys like Warwick Brown, Steve Randell and John Campbell. They were cooking with a freedom that was interesting for me after having had such a classical background. Of course a lot of the ingredients left a lot to be desired in those days!

Describe what Top of the Town was like? The Top of The Town was a long established Auckland hotel dining room and when Hyatt International took over and refurbished the hotel they wanted to try a new concept of having an "independent" restaurant within the hotel and approached me to pioneer this for them. It was a great success, we put together a strong team and the restaurant with its amazing views over the harbour became the place to dine in Auckland, winning Restaurant of the Year a couple of times.

How has being in Australia influenced your approach to cooking? My approach to cooking and food has never changed, it was drilled into me as a young cook learning at my father's side, never compromise on quality at whatever level you are cooking, remember that no task is to small that it can't be done wrong and second best is not an option.

Within all of that, of course my style has evolved and refined over the years. As more varied ingredients become available, cooking evolves. As more advanced equipment becomes available it enables us to innovate in different ways.

My cooking style is a reflection of my life, it has a strong European classical background and has been refined and enhanced by my travels around the world. I cook with whatever the best produce is that is available to me and treat the produce with respect.

What is the secret to the success of your Sydney restaurants Forty One Restaurant and Brasserie Cassis? Forty One is 17 years old this year which in the Sydney market is a rare achievement. I believe its success is the attention to detail and the quality of the product, from the girl who answers the phone to take the reservation right through until the guests get back in the lift to leave. Forty One, and likewise Cassis, have a very clear vision of what they are and I believe that all successful restaurants have to be congruent. They have to believe in what they are doing and have a clarity of purpose.

Tell us about Berowra Waters Inn? Berowra Waters is a beautiful location on the Lower Hawkesbury river situated about 45 minutes drive north of the Sydney CBD. It is quintessential Australia, a beautiful creek surrounded by sandstone cliffs to which the gum trees hang. Where the Inn is located was an Aboriginal "midden" or dining place going back 10,000 years! The restaurant has no access by land. Diners are ferried across the river by boat to a pontoon below the entrance - or the more adventurous arrive by their own vessel or sea plane.

As the Berowra Waters Inn is a destination dining experience, we offer a degustation or tasting menu. However, as this traditionally leaves little flexibility and choice we have reinterpreted the traditional degustation menu concept and instead have crafted a menu of smaller dishes so you can create your own degustation or tasting menu. We try to use as much organic produce as we can and we change the menu every week to reflect the market.

What will you be cooking at Huka Lodge? We will be starting with a chilled vichysoisse laced with oscietra caviar and served with crisp beignets of oysters. This will be followed by a small ragout of saltwater brined quail and yabbies with jerusalem artichoke and shiitake mushrooms, then roast snapper fillet with a pastilla of peppered oxtail and a puree of French onion soup. The meat course will be a lamb shank that is braised and deboned and wrapped in a bone marrow dumpling with spinach and steamed, the braising juices are enriched with a little tapenade. And to finish a dark chocolate tart, poached pear and mascarpone sabayon laced with Poire William eau de vie.

What in particular are you enjoying cooking with at the moment? Anything that is fresh and in its prime, wood mushrooms are beautiful in autumn, we are getting fantastic organic pork from a local producer, the marrons from Kangaroo Island are wonderful and the Australian truffle season is just starting and promising to be great.

What plans for the future? Next month we are adding a small guesthouse to the Inn at Berowra, which is exciting, and also we are currently in the stages of planning a couple of new brasseries here in Sydney ...who knows - maybe a return to NZ - I have always wanted to do a restaurant in Queenstown!

* Dietmar Sawyere is the guest chef at Huka Lodge, Taupo, on Saturday 6 June. From $730/person for accomodation, pre-dinner drinks, a five-course dinner, country breakfast and use of the Lodge facilities. To book, ph: (07) 378 0427.