Residents and local businesses replied welcoming the kitchen star to the Bay, with many extolling the virtues of the region saying "welcome to paradise" ; "best place to live".
Winter already has Bay connections, with her father Mark Winter living on Marine Parade in the Mount.
Her brother Simon and sister Dana and their families also live in the Bay.
Back in 2014 when Winter launched her second book of recipes, Everyday Delicious, she told the Bay of Plenty Times she had dreams of opening a restaurant here one day saying then, "Since most of my family is down here, it would definitely be the place where I would do it."
Winter grew up a farm girl in both Hamilton and Kumeu, but said recently when she launched her fifth book Eat, that she was the "ultimate beach baby, having spent her childhood summers between Great Barrier Island, Raglan and Mount Maunganui".
Since MasterChef New Zealand in June 2012, Winter has won the hearts of thousands of fans, many of them following her on social media, with 370,000 Facebook followers.