Mary Shanahan Five fabulous chefs wowed the crowd at Sileni Estates on Thursday night, celebrating the winery's fifth birthday with a gala dinner. The event featuring the celebrity chefs was a sell-out, with 250 guests attending. Organised in conjunction with Air New Zealand, it brought together a star-studded team to mastermind a menumatching five courses with Sileni wines. Winery chef Paul Condron's contribution was canapes featuring seafood - crayfish on seared beef, oysters set in semillon jelly and baby paua in a saffron froth. The entree of duck confit served on a sweet potato and ginger rosti was by the culinary team of the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows in Los Angeles. Rex Morgan of Wellington's Citron Restaurant devised the main course of aged beef fillet topped with oxtail ravioli and served on truffled broad bean puree. Tony Adcock of Auckland's Harbourside Restaurant & Grill was responsible for a course featuring three cheeses - gouda, a blue and brie. Peter Gordon of The Providores in London and Public in New York was inspired by the tropics in designing a dessert of passionfruit panna cotta served with grilled mango and coconut sandwich with banana cream. The cuisine team was not slaving over a hot stove, however. They sat down with other guests for the dinner, and the dishes were prepared and served by Sileni staff and EIT tutors and students. While owner Graeme Avery, en route to Russia, was unable to attend, he welcomed guests with a video-taped recording. Mr Avery said wife Gaby was representing him in mind and spirit at the dinner, which celebrated all that was good about Hawke's Bay Wine Country. Having worked hard for five years to establish Sileni, Hawke's Bay Wine Growers and the Farmers Market, he believed Hawke's Bay now needed to lift the bar in producing good products and provide traction to extend the region. Hawke's Bay still had unrealised potential for economic development and certainly tourism, he said.
