A pop-up restaurant has opened on the remote Blue Duck Station in the central North Island, accessible only by 4WD or helicopter.
Blue Duck Station, on the border of the Tongariro and Whanganui national parks, is a 7,200-acre farm and conservation project. The Chef’s Table at Blue Duck Station is the latest challenge for rising British chef Jack Cashmore, who has worked in two Michelin-starred restaurants (Sat Bains in Nottingham and In de Wulf in Belgium) as well as serving as head chef at Anglo in London.
The menu is a ten-course degustation menu inspired by and largely sourced from the station itself, with the aim to eventually be entirely self-sustainable. Ingredients include foraged native products like wood ear mushrooms, native herbs and farm meats.
The restaurant itself affords diners views of Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe on a clear day, and at night diners can enjoy the sounds of native bats and kiwi and enjoy the show put on by the glow worms.
Pop-up dinners are being held over summer until March 9. A permanent location will be built on the site over the winter and will open in summer 2020.
