LOCAL GROWERS’ CELEBRATION
A change in priorities after the lockdown has influenced a new style of menu at Alex Davies’ restaurant.
When chef Alex Davies opened Gatherings in Christchurch, he had a simple idea in mind. “It came from wanting to show people the beauty outside of the broken city, and to show them how beautiful this region is if we do it well and we do it properly,” he says.
Before opening the restaurant, Davies had spent his time in Christchurch’s street-food scene. “I started doing my own street-food projects in the middle of the broken city because it felt needed and relevant.”
A year before Gatherings, he took a break from the kitchen to work on a vegetable farm and learn about local agriculture. It was there where he cultivated the idea of Gatherings, a restaurant that would put the focus on agriculture and celebrate local suppliers.
It’s clear in the way he speaks that Davies has a genuine love for the region. “There are some amazing people doing amazing things. I want them to be supported as much as I can and encourage them to grow, because what they’re doing is relevant.” An example of this is his partnership with Invercargill fisherman Nathan Smith, of Gravity
Fishing, who supplies fresh seafood to Gatherings. “Kaimoana is such a big part of the New Zealand food story,” says Davies.
“People here always engage with the shores and coastlines of the country. We felt we should be including that if we’re going to be a New Zealand restaurant.”
It’s Nathan’s sustainable ‘hook-toplate’ fishing style that caught Davies’ attention. “What he’s doing is incredible. He cares deeply for what he’s doing, so we have to support people like that because we want them to work and thrive in this country. We want people to see that good seafood is not some filleted thing in a cellophane packet on a supermarket shelf. Good seafood is a beautiful whole fish, cooked well and fished properly.”
To him, Gatherings is about getting people to look at food differently and engage with the story of where it came from. “It’s to celebrate vegetables and growers, the people who are honouring our land and showcasing their ingredients,” he says. “Raising awareness that something as simple as an onion, if grown really well, can make a beautiful dish.”
This idea underpins everything that’s done at Gatherings, and remains at the heart of the restaurant, as they pivot in a new direction. Departing from the set-menu style, the restaurant now offers a seafood or vegetarian main, with the choice of side dishes to work with the meal.
“I’D NEVER BEEN AT HOME IN THE EVENING THAT MUCH AND IT MADE ME RETHINK WHAT I WAS DOING.” ALEX DAVIES
“There’s a big centrepiece sitting in front of the table, then you’re given side dishes to sit around that,” he says. “That might be oysters, kina on toast, or celeriac that’s cooked in brown butter, a beautiful green salad, or some shaved beetroot.”
In part, this shift was influenced by his time in lockdown, as he began embracing home cooking and the atmosphere that comes with it. “I’d never been at home in that evening that much and it made me rethink what I was doing,” he says.
“I want everyone to come together and sit around a table, have food in front of them and eat and drink and be with each other, as opposed to before when we would do tasting menus and interrupt them every 10 minutes with the next dish. I didn’t think that was relevant any more.
“A lot of people’s priorities have changed now, I want to express that as well and show that through my restaurant, how my priorities have changed and how I want to give people that homely comfort.”
Complementing the food are natural wines that are organically grown and minimally processed. “Being connected to North Canterbury and Wairarapa connects us to the wine region and makes food and wine very much intertwined,” he explains.
Davies is also dedicated to opening up Gatherings to the wider community. This means menu pricing that’s intended to be more accessible. “We want more people to come and experience what we’re doing, so we’ve priced everything as fairly as possible. We’re paying the fisherman the best we can and making sure we’re running a sustainable business, but also able to feed the wider community.”
As with the ingredients, the menu at Gatherings is constantly evolving. “We let the menu move spontaneously, letting everything around us gauge what happens here,” Davies says. One day, they might source some freshly dived kina, the next a producer could turn up at the kitchen door with a new herb or vegetable.”
It’s this fluidity that excites him the most about cooking, embracing a style that puts the ingredient and the grower first.
5/2 Papanui Road, Merivale, Christchurch gatherings.co.nz