Chef enjoying 'gardening leave'

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He admits it is not an easy approach to cooking as it requires the chef to put all his skills to the test and come up with new dishes daily.

‘‘We can go through a few chefs. They like the idea, but the work . . . it’s a lot of work to make dishes from scratch and have consistency as produce changes. You have to improvise and make the best out of things — that’s the joy of cooking for me. It’s good fun.’’

Bareiter chose the name Titi because of its water associations, that muttonbirds nest in the hills around St Clair and because of the Maori legend behind them.

‘‘We liked the idea that they travel the world, but always come back to their birthplace. The name really resonated.’’

The aim is to continue to offer food picked locally in the morning and on a plate that afternoon or evening.

‘‘The whole concept only works if people don’t have a choice. You have to give them a menu and they have to eat what you give them or you have to start refrigerating or freezing food.’’

Staff will make all the food inhouse from fresh ingredients and the plan is to offer two evening versions of the degustation menus — one proteinbased and the other plantbased. How many courses is yet to be decided.

With the extra time due to the lockdown, he is still working out what they will offer at lunchtimes but is working on a concept that will allow people to have a simple, fresh dish in a lunch break for a good price.

Before lockdown, they were busy renovating with newlyfinished floors, black paint and natural wood featuring prominently.

The kitchen has been refurbished and his favourite appliance has arrived — an Italian gelato machine.

‘‘It’s just waiting to be installed. It’s always been my passion but I’ve never had the money to invest in a proper machine. I can’t wait to try it out.’’