Spy: Bachelorette star chef opens BBQ spot in paradise

Reality star Paul Patterson. Photo / Supplied

Reality star Paul Patterson once delighted Bachelorettes with his passion for barbecuing and now the star chef is delighting customers on Waiheke Island.

The 38-year-old has just opened Paulies Kitchen inside the Surfdale Bowling Club and is the latest in a flurry of boutique offerings on the Island.

“It’s exactly like you would imagine the inside of a bowling club or RSA would look like, which was half of the appeal to me,” says Patterson.

“Why would you not visit? Twilight bowls, sea views, cheap drinks, gold yarns and good food!” he says.

In last year’s double series of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor, Patterson appeared in both. First, he vied for the attention of Bachelorette Lexie Brown in The Bachelorette and made a special appearance in a mash-up of contestants when bachelor Moses Mackay was looking for love on The Bachelor.

Patterson taught the contestants a thing or two about cooking meat.

He’ll draw on those skills for his new Waiheke establishment which offers good old pub food - with American BBQ thrown in - alongside cheap handles and good wine. He says it is a meat-lover’s paradise with a few vegetarian choices to satisfy the locals too.

The island’s unofficial mayor, Sir Peter Leitch - aka The Mad Butcher - has given Paulies Kitchen his tick of approval, and good friend actor Claire Chitham has shouted out to her celebrity friends to check it out. Patterson says mates from the Kiwi Bachelor franchise are bound to pop in, including Brown when she’s in town.

Patterson was mentored by Nick Honeyman of Auckland’s Paris Butter fame, and then spent six years working his way up the culinary ladder in Paris in at least 12 Parisian restaurants of note. Stints in the UK and New York followed.

“Life has definitely slowed down since Paris. There are definitely no more six-day week, 5am run-arounds. I think I’ve matured in all aspects of my life. "

Barbeque is hot right now and Patterson was in his element earlier this year when he spent a couple of months in the US with Kansas City mate and US All-Star Pitmaster Mitch Benjamin.

Patterson, Benjamin and crew competed in the “Memphis in May” BBQ world champs where they picked up 1st equal in wings and some solid spots in seafood, ribs, beef and exotic categories.

While back in the US, Patterson was looking for spots to set up an establishment stateside. His idea is to live the dream of an endless summer eating and drinking across the two countries, a similar balance his former mentor Honeyman does between New Zealand and France.

For this summer Patterson is looking forward to cooking up a storm for customers and moving in with his “lovely lady” Sarah Day, a friendship rekindled after 20 years.

As for appearing on another reality show, Patterson says “never say never”. Perhaps TVNZ should cast him as a judge for a second season of Cooks on Fire.