LIKE BEES TO HONEY
Chef and restaurateur Asher Boote talks to MiNDFOOD about celebrating quality ingredients and acknowledging those working behind the scenes to bring Aotearoa its food and drink.
Chef Asher Boote celebrates quality ingredients & those behind the scenes.
It’s been seven years since Asher Boote’s first ramen pop-up, and since then it’s been ‘all go’. The chef now has Wellington hot-spots Tinakori Bistro, Hillside Kitchen & Cellar, Karaage Burger and, of course, The Ramen Shop to his name.
Hillside, in particular, has been in the headlines for the decision to take meat off the menu in 2018, which Boote says was a “big call” that has paid off in spades.
“I just wanted to look at things from a different perspective,” he says. “There’s one really basic philosophy behind what we did and it’s the pure flavour of fruit and vegetables.”
Many of Hillside’s ingredients are grown in the kitchen garden, and Boote says he’s currently working to develop a block of land for the restaurant to grow more of its own produce. “We can plant a seed that we can then serve to a customer. That, to me, is really special and that’s more of the driver than anything else behind that decision [to go meatless].”
Although Hillside Kitchen has attracted attention for its move away from meat, Boote points out that the philosophy of respecting the produce extends across all of his venues. Having grown up on a farm, Boote has always had a close connection to food and a strong understanding of where it comes from.
“The philosophy has always been that we know our ingredients, what we use, what goes into everything. It’s very ingredient-driven food and we make everything that we can from scratch,” he says.
“We look at an ingredient and then create the dish, as opposed to the quite common practice of thinking of the dish you want, then working backwards and looking for the ingredients,” he explains.
“We’ll more often than not actually look for the raw ingredients first and then let that dictate the direction in which we head.”
“THERE ARE PEOPLE DOING REALLY GOOD THINGS OUT THERE WHO NEED TO BE CELEBRATED.” ASHER BOOTE
Boote has another venture in addition to his restaurants – he hosts his own podcast, Honeycombe, which centres around the people behind New Zealand food and drink. “One of the things that I think is really underestimated is how small a peer group we are as restaurant owners or small business owners,” says Boote.
“The whole idea was to start telling New Zealand food stories from the people that are leading them.” It’s a way to make sure chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, fishermen and more are front of mind when the media is focused elsewhere. “The problem with the news is that it presents the exception to the rule – nothing makes the news that’s normal,” he says.
“We do some really amazing stuff here in New Zealand and we want to celebrate that.” Boote says creating connections between the people who make New Zealand’s food and drink and those who consume it is more important than ever. “There are people doing really good things out there who need to be celebrated.” hillsidekitchen.co.nz honeycombe.co.nz