Contestants Dan Redman (left), Aaron Aisher, Sara Barnes and Danny Walker take instructions from host Zoe Marshall. Photo/Supplied
Contestants Dan Redman (left), Aaron Aisher, Sara Barnes and Danny Walker take instructions from host Zoe Marshall. Photo/Supplied
Hawke's Bay's culinary tastes and Art Deco buildings will be the inspiration for this Sunday's episode of The Great Food Race.
The episode's theme is "Eating with our Eyes" and features two teams, Sara and Danny and Dan and Aaron, during their two-day challenge from Te Mata Peak to MarineParade for the cook off.
The TV3 show involves eight teams of two from around the country trying to impress the judges, Wellington restaurateur brothers Leonardo and Lorenzo Bresolin. Their amateur cooking and hosting abilities are put to the test in locations around the world to win the grand prize of $10,000 worth of Countdown groceries, 10,000 Air New Zealand airpoints dollars and $20,000 cash.
"Napier being an art deco city inspired us and challenged us at the same time when trying to come up with new dish ideas," 29-year-old contestant Sara Barnes said. "Napier is a lot like my home town Nelson and is very peaceful and relaxing."
Danny Walker, 31, said the couple, engaged to marry this May, enjoyed the spectacular views from Te Mata Peak and also experienced a tandem bike ride, which he said seemed like the thing to do in Hawke's Bay.
"We did have a chance to sample some of the local wine after the cameras stopped rolling which was nice," said the man from Manchester.
The couple were friends for about four years before falling in love a year and a half ago and said they enjoyed learning new cooking techniques on the show but their main objective was to win.
"We love food and wine and really enjoy going out and trying new food, new restaurants. Whenever we travel that's always one of the things we really like to do. But we want to win this thing," Sara said, who works as an arts administrator.
Episode six of The Great Food Race, hosted by Zoe Marshall, wife of former rugby league star Benji Marshall, airs Sunday at 7pm where Sara and Danny will compete for a spot in the overseas legs of the race.
