Summer dreaming – where wonderful wine meets fabulous food

Press release: 18 December 2023

The Marlborough Wine & Food Festival has taken a delicious leap forward this week, confirming more top chefs and – in a ‘festival-first’ – adding pop-up restaurants to the programme.

Wine Marlborough Ltd General Manager Marcus Pickens is delighted to announce Michael Meredith, Matt Lambert, Andy Hearnden and Sam Webb are firmly on the festival menu. These award-winning, celebrated chefs are set to inspire, entertain and share a few new culinary tricks in the Culinary Pavilion throughout the day.

“The Culinary Pavilion is a destination in itself, a place to sit back and see these super chefs work their magic with amazing local Marlborough produce and artisan foods,” Marcus says.

“Matt Lambert is an absolute legend with New Zealand kaimoana and will demonstrate the preparation of locally grown Ōra King Salmon.

“We are also very excited to bring Michael Meredith to Marlborough, to see what he does with local produce and food products.

“Andy and Sam will put on an excellent show – Andy’s 10 million social media followers love his home cooking videos, so don’t miss the chance to see this dynamic duo in real life.”

Andy will team up with top Marlborough chef Sam Webb – from Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery – in the Culinary Pavilion, something Sam is looking forward to.

“Andy and I have been friends forever and we are really looking forward to putting on a great show for people. We will find the perfect local food producers to partner with so the products will be something home cooks have access to and will enjoy preparing too,” Sam says.

Presenting a festival first - pop-up restaurants

For its 37th year, the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival is adding a new type of culinary experience to its classic festival menu – pop-up restaurants.

The idea to innovate comes from Dion Brown, Deputy Chair of Feast Marlborough, who has been a member of the festival committee for the past 11 years. Dion is delighted to announce pop-up restaurants by:

· Gramado’s Restaurant & Bar, which will serve dishes incorporating its signature Brazilian flavours, paired with Giesen wines.

· Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery will also be on site showcasing some of Marlborough’s best produce.

A third pop-up restaurant will be announced in the near future.

“Chefs are busy planning their festival menu – they are very clever, very resourceful and know exactly how to create a signature dish that will work at this kind of scale where they might make as many as 1,000 servings,” Dion says.

“The idea is to have everything set up for a chef, the equipment and space they need, and they can just walk in and do what they are so good at.”

2024 will be the first time Sam has brought Frank’s to the festival.

“The focus will be on oysters, in a snacky way with loads of flavour, and the turnaround will be fast so you don’t queue too long,” Sam says, adding that Andy will join him for a ‘cameo’ appearance and a spot of oyster shucking at the pop-up restaurant, after their Culinary Pavilion show.

Bringing food to the fore alongside great wine

Dion first got involved with the festival as a committee member when he worked with Cloudy Bay Clams and could see the opportunity to showcase Marlborough’s fresh foods and artisan products.

“Marlborough produces fantastic food, and our producers leap at the opportunity to show it off at the festival. For some smaller producers, who rely on cellar door and market sales, this is their chance to impress a large crowd and visitors to the region, and they do exactly that,” Dion says.

Dion’s advice to a Marlborough Wine & Food Festival newbie is to have a good wander for the first hour, having a taste here and there, before deciding to settle in a little longer at a particular winery, food producer or music zone.

“There is such a huge variety of wine and food on offer, and the festival is famous for its atmosphere, so take the time to look around and then come back to your favourites,” he says.

For the ‘festival regulars’ – and there are lots of these – Dion challenges them to try something new.

“It’s our job as a festival committee to keep things fresh. We bring back the ‘best of the fest’ each year, but we try something new each time and every festival has a different line-up of wineries and food producers.

“You have the chance to talk to the person who grows the grapes, makes the wine or both. Winemakers love talking about their craft, so ask them ‘what’s new’ and you might just find a new favourite varietal or a brand-new release.”