Michelin star chef Casey McDonald joins Craggy Range

Casey McDonald is Terroir's new head chef. Photo File

Michelin star chef Casey McDonald joins Craggy Range as the new head chef of Terroir at Craggy Range.

Mr McDonald takes up this appointment, having returned home to New Zealand with his young family after 10 years abroad, bringing his extensive experience from working at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in London and San Francisco and more recently highly-rated restaurants in Melbourne.

He worked for Andrew McConnell in Melbourne as group head chef encompassing six 'hatted' venues including Cumulus, Cutler & Co, Supernormal and Meat Smith Butchery. Previously he worked at Michelin two-starred The Square Restaurant in London, at Gary Danko in San Francisco and with Wellington chef Rex Morgan.

The cook brings a wealth of passion for locally sourced products and has already spent time visiting local farms, creameries and suppliers, prior to his start date, to source the best produce which will be used in his brand new menu, launching on Wednesday, September 13.

Craggy Range has been working for the past two months with acclaimed New Zealand chef, Josh Emett and designer Paul Izzard to develop and enhance the customer experience at both the Craggy Range Cellar Door and Terroir Restaurant. Both will stay on as strategic advisors during further development at the Giants Winery site during the next 18 months.

Craggy Range CEO, Michael Wilding, is elated with the appointment "We are on a journey to create a world-class dining destination, which celebrates the best of Hawke's Bay. We are so blessed with the quality of produce and wine that this province produces and Casey will be showcasing the best of our region in his new menu."

"We have been working closely with Josh and Paul to develop a strategy for the evolution of Terroir Restaurant and look forward to having Casey take on this new project, and making it his own, creating an experience for guests like no other", Michael said.

Terroir will be undergoing a full renovation and refit over the 2018 winter period. The restaurant was recently named within the Cuisine top 100 restaurants in New Zealand.