Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

The Monday Q&A with Kaiming 'Kelvin' Huang

Mike Tweed
By Mike Tweed
Multimedia Journalist·Whanganui Chronicle·
5 Sep, 2021 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Kaiming "Kelvin" Huang puts his own twist on "the classics". Photo / Supplied

Kaiming "Kelvin" Huang puts his own twist on "the classics". Photo / Supplied

Kaiming "Kelvin" Huang is originally from Guangzhou, China, and has worked as a chef in Whanganui for the past 10 years.

In July last year, he and his partner, Vy Nguyen, opened a restaurant of their own, High-Kut Bistro, on Victoria Avenue.

With the restaurant currently closed under Covid-19 alert level 3, Huang had a rare opportunity to answer 10 questions from Mike Tweed for this week's Monday Q&A.

What inspired you to pursue a career in hospitality?

When I was still in China I was actually planning on becoming a mechanic or an electrician. Then I went to a secondary skill-set school and cheffing was one of the courses. One of my teachers thought I had potential and told my mum, and she told me to go with it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We had the opportunity to come to Whanganui, and I've been doing it ever since. Funnily enough, the day we opened High-Kut Bistro was exactly 10 years to the day after I moved to New Zealand - July 22.

What's your favourite thing to do in Whanganui?

Since I've met my partner we've got dogs, so we like to go out to parks and to Kai Iwi Beach for walks. Before I met her all I knew was sleep and work, nothing else. That's been a nice change.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Do you think people's tastes changed over the years you've been a chef?

For the most part, no. Everything I do is based on the classics, but with my own twist on them to make something new. People seem to like it.

Discover more

The Monday Q&A with Shelley Loader

29 Aug 05:00 PM

Monday Q&A: Whanganui Musicians Club's Annie Keating

22 Aug 05:00 PM

The Monday Q&A: Whanganui comedian Dave Wiggins

15 Aug 05:00 PM

The Monday Q&A with David Tipi

08 Aug 05:00 PM

What is your signature dish?

That would be our eye fillet steak, and I think we (High-Kut Bistro) have made our name with it. That comes with confit duck fat potatoes, truffle mushroom sauce and seasonal vegetables.

With High-Kut Bistro proving to be a success, are you planning on opening another eatery in the future?

My partner and I are thinking about that, but not in the short term. We want High-Kut to have a really good name and reputation first, and we are working really hard for it at the moment. She's Vietnamese and I'm Chinese, so maybe one day we'll have a fusion place. People have said there isn't a really nice Chinese place to eat, except for Chinese takeaway, so maybe one day I can give it a twist. I just have to keep travelling, learning and tasting things.

Outside of High Kut, what other places do you enjoy eating at in Whanganui?

We really enjoy going to La Quattro to get some snacks and drinks. We're big fans of their drinks, especially. I always get their pork ribs. I've always been a 'pork rib guy', I just love them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

You can invite anyone to dine at your restaurant. Who would it be?

That would be Ian Harrex, a Whanganui local. I don't know how he got my phone number, but he messaged me in the first few days we were open to book a table. Ever since then he's come in every week with his friends or his wife. Ian is a lovely guy, and he's been really supportive of us. My partner actually asked him where he got my phone number from, and he didn't know either. I like chatting to him, and everyone here (High-Kut Bistro) likes him as well.

What advice would you give your 15-year-old self?

Back then I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. If I go back to myself then, I think I'd still do the same thing. Maybe I'd just open my eyes a little bit more, and learn more things.

That's what I'm trying to do now. When I have free time, and things are affordable, I get something in and try it out. If it works, I put it on the menu as a special. Before lockdown we were doing an ostrich steak. I got the idea from Little Savannah in Palmerston North, who do it occasionally. I thought 'I should do this in Whanganui', so I went to Chef's Choice and asked for some.

It became a pretty popular dish.

How do you think Whanganui has changed over the years?

When I first came here there didn't seem to many people around, even driving, but now there's traffic, especially in the last three or four years. I come from a big city in China, so people are around 24 hours a day. I want that feeling sometimes, so for me it's good to be in traffic.

You do see places come and go here, but most of the places to eat stay. That's definitely a good sign.

Are there any foods you don't want anything to do with?

As a chef, you have to try everything. The only thing I'll stay away from is something that's full of chilli, because I can't eat too much hot stuff. I'll try it, of course, but I won't go too hard.

There's a sea bug that they eat in China, and that's something I can't really do, just by looking at it. Because I'm a chef I had to try one once, but it was like 'OK, that's what it tastes like', and I didn't touch it again.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

17 Jun 03:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

16 Jun 09:12 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

Ngāti Rangi’s whānau housing push

17 Jun 03:02 AM

'This is an iwi-led solution – an investment in ourselves and our communities.'

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

Major North Island farming business appoints new boss

16 Jun 09:12 PM
Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

Family escapes devastating house fire as community rallies support

16 Jun 06:08 PM
Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

Whanganui East gains new GP clinic

16 Jun 06:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP