"We eat like the millionaires we are not," artist Grahame Sydney writes in a chapter of Saffron, the cookbook inspired by the Arrowtown restaurant of the same name.
Sitting outside the bistro on a mild spring morning that turns to warm afternoon, you get the feeling Sydney's pride in the place is matched by others.
Several times restaurateur and chef Pete Gawron is forced to break off conversation in order to field locals' inquiries as to the progress of the book, the completion of which will be celebrated with a big party this Saturday.
Gawron is proud of his big red cookbook.
Published by Random House NZ, it features photographs by Aaron McLean and Sydney that are as sumptuous as the recipes within.
With its subtitle Food from the Central Otago heartland, the book also includes essays by Sydney (on what makes Arrowtown special) and Sam Neill (on Central Otago wine) and an introduction by Gawron in which he explains just why he and his wife, Melanie Hill, chose to leave Australia 15 years ago.
For someone not short of a few words and used to distilling the essence of various ingredients, Gawron admits he found his part of the book difficult.
"I wanted to encapsulate in a relatively small space - the introduction is not big - what it was like making the transition from living over the ditch to here and then coming to terms with the seasonality of the produce and just trading in this environment.
"It's very unique: it's like no other part of the world; it's like no other part of New Zealand.
"In many ways the book and the restaurant are similar. They are conduits that allow people to recognise what the area has to offer . . .
"From this restaurant we go out and gather and forage and that's what makes this a uniquely regional cookbook."
To further his point, Gawron turns his head and nods to a spot in the distance, in the hills that flank the Arrow Gorge.
A favourite track up that way has yielded a bounty of produce, including "about 10 different sorts of self-seeded plum", wild raspberries, gooseberries, snowberries and peaches.
All taste like nectar, he enthuses.
"There's this Asian spice called rau ram or Vietnamese mint, which grows into a colossal bush or small tree. This is stuff that was planted by Chinese miners more than 100 years ago. It still grows and self-seeds."
Gawron says Central Otago's marked seasonal changes have influenced him greatly.
Spring, summer, autumn and winter define the key chapters of his book.
They also shape his life and work.
"To make cooking down here really work and to feel real to the clients and to be a real reflection of the seasonality of the area, you've got to find out who's catching what, what's in season, what breeds of lamb are coming on early or late, what vegetables are on now ...
"I guess that's what makes the place work. People know we'll have oysters when the Bluffies come out and that asparagus is here now and the cherries will be here at Christmas. I'm at a loss to describe the number of things that rotate here over the seasons."
Gawron abides by the mantra "life is for living".
He's in his 40s, is father to two teenage girls, Chelsea and Tegan.
He's been to a few funerals this year; he has no intention of slowing down.
Fishing season opens today and the Mataura River is on the agenda.
Still, if he had to choose between fresh fish and fresh snow, the latter would win.
Like many who are drawn to the Wakatipu, he loves his skiing. But, he insists, he's no "lifestyler".
Having had more than 30 years in the cooking business, he has seen others try to take a step back.
"It always ends in tears," he says.
"If you want to be in the restaurant business, you have to be involved. I like what I do - that's the bottom line."
Saffron will mark its 10th anniversary next year.
It opened in November 1999, when parts of Queenstown were under water.
That flood was bad news for many, but good for Gawron.
Intentions of a "soft opening" went out the door as fast as the customers entered.
Now, the business has expanded to include pizza-pasta eatery Pesto and, more recently, The Blue Door bar, both adjacent to Saffron.
The staff roster numbers about 40.
"Hospitality is a very fickle business . . . The bottom line is you're as good as your last meal. Never take anything with your clients for granted. Nobody has to be in your restaurant. It's hospitality 101."
Hence Melanie's role in running the front of house is all-important.
The stream of questions from those who stop to chat to Gawron is a reflection of how the restaurant is run, he says.
"Mel has this sense of familiarity with the clients. Everyone is treated with the same amount of respect and courtesy. The restaurant is just a vehicle. It's a place for people to come and entertain themselves and their friends.
"A restaurant should be the heart of a town. Italy is a classic for it; France is, too. It's where people go.
"People who get their ego too attached to a restaurant miss the point. Even though you might own it, you are still, really, just a custodian of it."
Gratin of rhubarb & blood orange with Champagne & Grand Marnier sabayon
While most recipes for fruit gratins traditionally use white sugar, I find Thai palm sugar adds a lovely toffee-caramel depth of flavour.
1 bunch (about 8 stalks) rhubarb, peeled
4 blood oranges
nip of Grand Marnier
50ml Champagne or sparkling wine
1 tsp liquid glucose
1/2 tsp cornflour
6 free-range egg yolks
1/2 cake of softened palm sugar, crushed in a mortar or with a rolling pin1
Tbsp orange juice
Steam rhubarb for four or five minutes until tender but not collapsed.
Peel oranges and slice.
Toss rhubarb and orange segments in Grand Marnier and arrange in four shallow serving dishes.
In a bowl, mix Champagne, glucose, cornflour, egg yolks, palm sugar and orange juice.
Whisk over a double boiler (sit the bowl inside a saucepan full of slowly simmering water) until the mixture starts to thicken - a line drawn with your finger in the foam should hold its form.
Spoon the mixture over the fruit and brown under a hot grill, or use a blowtorch until golden.
Serves 4.
- recipe from Saffron
