Private dining at Heron Hill

Individual croquembouche from the kitchen at Heron Hill - recipe at end of this article. Photo / Leigh Bramwell

A few years ago the most spectacular way to have a celebration was to take over an entire restaurant and throw a private party.

These days, though, that rather ostentatious 1980s concept has been overtaken by a new model known as private dining.

Simply, comprise your guest list, find your chef, consult on the menu, the wine and the decorations, and present yourselves for an evening of food, wine and music designed to your specifications.

Keith and Miranda Pasley of Kerikeri have been offering such a service at their upmarket lodge, Heron Hill, and it's proving a winner both with overseas guests who are staying at the lodge, and with locals looking for a different way to celebrate a special occasion.

Dinner takes place in the Lodge's elegant dining room with its twin glass-topped tables. There is access to the terrace, gardens and the lounge area with its open fire.

The family came to Kerikeri because Keith and Miranda wanted to use their skills in the food and wine area, but 'without Keith having to work in a restaurant, because they are rather family unfriendly', Miranda says.

Heron Hill falls somewhere between a classy B&B and a hotel, and its point of difference is its fine dining. 'I guess it's like a very small restaurant attached to a very small hotel,' Miranda says.

The idea has proved the perfect way for Keith to use his skills - having spent most of his career in small restaurants, he was totally accustomed to a small kitchen and small staff. 'In that situation you have to be able to do everything well,' he says.
His career began in the 1970s at the ATI cooking school, and he later worked in hotels and restaurants in the UK and Australia. Interspersed with cooking were stints as a landscaper and gardener, and those skills have been combined to provide food which is largely grown and prepared on the property.

Heron Hill has an orchard which supplies citrus including limes, lemons and mandarins, as well as figs, quinces, plums, grapes, nectarines, apples and a whole range of herbs and vegetables.

'We make everything we can - our own breads, jams, chutneys, fruit pastes, pickles, pastry and syrups, and we cure own sausages and bacon.'

What can't be found in the garden is almost always sourced locally, and Keith considers it fortuitous that they arrived in Kerikeri on the crest of a wave of interest in locally grown food.

That's exactly what diners are looking for - simple, locally grown seasonal food, prepared and served with passion, and excellent New Zealand wines which Miranda sources and matches with the menus.

The process of private dining involves discussing the occasion, preferences in food, drinks, music and decorations, and then designing a menu which suits everyone's needs. Just about anything is possible - even a menu for several meat eaters, three vegetarians and a wheat and lactose intolerant guest. At this time of year, clients' preferences are for warming foods, so Keith favours braises, rich meats, gratins, stews, and full, flavoursome desserts that are 'all richness and warmth'.