GOING PLACES

Guided by chef and Casanova Paul Patterson, Claire Chitham finds plenty to love in Waiheke Island’s bounty of local produce

When I f i rst met Paul Patterson i n Melbourne ten years ago, he was en route to Paris to cook food and chase a gi rl . The romance didn’t l ast l ong but Paul’s l ove af f ai r with t he cit y began, and he’s been cooking and consulting i n t he French capital for t he past si x years.

After winning awards at t he BBQ World Champ’s i n Memphis Paul had his si ghts set on t he US. He had l i ned up his next venture and was on his way to open a restaurant i n New York when Covid- 1 9 hit . The rent he’d al ready paid went up i n smoke along with any plans to open i n t he foreseeable f uture, so he came home for t he f i rst t i me i n years to f i gure out what to do next.

He’d been peacefully bunking down on Waiheke I sla nd but was growing rest l ess when someone sl i d i nto his DM’s and asked i f he’d be i nterested i n being a contestant on The Bachelorette. A l one Romeo on a small i sl and af ter a year of l ockdowns, what’s a guy to do? And t hus “Hot Jesus” l anded on our screens.

He’s al so opening a new restaurant on Parnell Road soon; Va Bene will of fer small plates with a French, It al i an and New Zealand i nf luence. The cocktails are designed by hi s f r i ends f rom Le Syndicate i n Paris, worth t he visit j ust for t hese.

It ’ s a f ul l - ci rcle move for Paul, who began his career i n Parnell when he was 1 5, t ra i ni ng with Nick Honeyman of Paris Butter.

Si nce Paul didn’t f i nd l ove on national televi sion, I t hought I ’d t r y and woo hi m i nstead with my of fer of a lu xury weekend together on hi s i sla nd paradise being chauffeured around by moi i n t he sexy E- PACE SUV f rom Jaguar, where we’d source l ocal produce so t hat he could cook us a meal i n a private kitchen. I was gunning for a rose, but not t he ki nd t hey dish out on t hat show.

Taking t he E- PACE over on t he fer r y was a breeze, and t he sleek SUV was r i ght at home amongst t he picturesque greenery and winding roads. With our mission to explore to produce of Waiheke, t he E- PACE was up to t he t ask of navigating vi neyards, beachside and everywhere i n between.

So t hat we could add t hose al l - i mportant f i shi ng photos to our dati ng profi l es we sta r ted our t r ip of f with t he most epic day on t he water t hanks to On The Hunt f i shi ng charters. Leon i s a t hi rdgeneration Waihekian; t he son of a commercial f i sherman, he has f i shed our waters for over 30 years and i s passionate about sustai nabilit y and education so t hat f uture generations will enjoy t he same experiences we do. Within moments of dropping our l i nes, we were hauling up snapper and t revally as t he gannets ci rcled. On our ret urn t r ip, we stopped of f to f i l l et our haul and di spose of t he ski ns and bones i nto t he patiently waiting mouths of f ive glor i ous bronze whaler sharks. They gently swarmed around us as Leon fed t hem anything t hat wasn’t goi ng back to t he l ocals or on our plates . Utterly majestic, and a memorable moment for al l of us on t he t r ip.

After putti ng our f i l l ets on i ce, we snaked our way to t he bottom end of t he i sla nd i n t he E- PACE to collect oysters f rom Te Matuku Oyster f arm. These l ocal heroes are making it on to many a restaurant t able t hese days and we i nstantly knew why. Clean and plump yet delicate — Paul t aught me to shuck t hese j ewels, with t he f l i ck of a wrist t hey went f rom f arm to our ‘ t able’ i n minutes, served with nothing but f resh l emon. We even had t he ult i mate aperit i f — Waiheke Water t hat i s pulled f rom an aquifer on t he i sla nd, drawing water t hat ’ s over 170 years old and using nothing but UV l i ght to clean it . The st i l l bottle i s designed by good mate and fel l ow Jaguar f an, art i st Otis Fri zzell .

Paul’s charm has al so won over t he l ads f rom Stonyridge and we were lucky enough to swoop i n with our beautiful beast and drive t he E- PACE i nto t he vi neyards t hemselves, j ust i n t i me to watch t hem harvest t he l ast of t he precious Petit Verdot grapes for t he 2021 vi ntage of t heir hero wine — Larose. Now, t his i s t he rose I was af ter.

We t hen slu nk of f to our secret hi l ltop accommodation for t he ni ght. Vil l as Waiheke has recently been t aken over by new owners and t hey are out to stea l your heart with t he views and at tention to detail i n t heir gorgeous private vi l l as. I n our perfectly stocked kitchen, Paul sashimi- ed our t revally and pan- f r i ed our snapper with delicate l ocally- sourced t r i mmings.

We declared our romance with Jaguar and Waiheke to be t he winner on t he day, but will remain closed as an un- shucked oyster when it comes to spi l l i ng t he secrets of how our f ai r y- t ale ni ght i n Waiheke paradise ended.

Look out for Va Bene f rom Paul Patterson opening i n Parnell soon and check out BBQ Revolution, a cookbook Paul g uest feat ures i n written by his Pit master mate Meat Mitch.

Claire Chitham can be seen on our screens and has a recipe book of her own on well- being and g ut health out now, GOOD FOR YOU available at bookstores and online.