It is that freshness and dedication to home-grown and zero waste that saw his restaurant at the Sherwood, in Queenstown, gain a coveted two "hats" in the recent Cuisine Good Food Awards, indicating it is "excellent, up there with the best".
His food is described by the award’s judges as a "salve for the soul".
"Chris Scott brings thoughtful flavour to this restaurant overlooking Lake Wakatipu ... Here you can sit back and reconnect with nature."
Scott and wife Hayley have only run the restaurant for a couple of years but are big believers in appealing to a local following and building on that.
It is that focus that has seen them through the past tough couple of years.
A big part of that has been making a feature of the permaculture garden and orchard and using all its goodness in the restaurant.
"What is growing out there, we think about how we are going to use it in the restaurant. It’s hyper-seasonal.
"We put it on the menu when it’s in its perfect state and when it’s gone, it’s gone."
It forces the kitchen to be creative and more fluid than they might otherwise have been.
As a result, the growing number of plant-based dishes on the menu also taps into a growing demand for those dishes from diners.
"We harvest that day and eat it that night. You can look out over the garden, take a walk through it and then see it on your plate. It’s something special."
As a chef, Scott says it is pretty cool to watch the garden come away in September and flourish until March with the assistance of a horticulturist.
Having grown up in a household where his father grew vegetables and with his first restaurant having its own vegetable planters, it is something he has always enjoyed.
At the moment he is waiting for the butter beans and for Sherwood’s tomatoes to ripen. The courgettes are in full swing and the raspberry canes and blackberries are always prolific.
Making use of all the garden has to offer also means being skilled in the arts of pickling, fermenting and dehydrating.
The garden also features a range of herbs, many of which are used in their cocktails and drinks, as well as food.
What they cannot grown they bring in from local suppliers including their meat and fish.
"It’s making the best use of what is on our doorstep."
He likes to see if he can convert hardened meat-eaters with his plant-based dishes.
"It’s just so fresh. We do simple things to enhance the natural state and flavour. It’s simple but not easy."
Scott, who does not follow a plant-based diet himself, also includes the best local meat and fish on the menu.
"We use iconic New Zealand ingredients from good suppliers, cheese from local cheesemakers, mussels from Bluff. We’re pretty lucky here."
He remembers when he first started training as a chef in Hamilton, where he grew up, there was not the availability of such a range of wonderful ingredients.
Even years later when he returned from working in Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe, it was still hard to get ingredients that aretaken for granted today, such as celeriac.
Scott and his wife, who are parents to Lola (12) and Weston (9), ended up in Queenstown after he was asked by celebrity chef Josh Emett to open his kitchen at Rata.
He followed his wife to Sherwood after a stint at Jacks Point and has been working hard to raise the bar.
"To get that recognition from your peers and have that success for the team just solidifies why I do what I do."
Like Mabee and Stewart, Scott is also keen to see Queenstown become known for its food, not just its scenery.
