5 Minutes With Chef Ryan Henley

QT Queenstown’s chef Ryan Henley has opened a new, experimental pop-up restaurant at the luxury hotel. Arriving just in time for winter après ski, Lil Red at QT combines casual flair with a cosy fireplace setting to deliver some seriously stylish alpine d

What was the inspiration behind Lil Red at QT?

The inspiration behind Lil Red is all about the ingredients; we wanted to showcase the very best of New Zealand producers. We’ve designed the menu around our relationships with sustainably-minded suppliers, with a focus on ingredients, for a simple and casual yet delicious dining experience. Expect lots of seasonality, foraging, fermenting and preserving.

What’s one of your favourite dishes on the menu?

The Kurobuta pork is a personal favourite. It’s dry aged pork loin chop, served with a rich plum sauce we make out of fermented black doris plums at the end of their season and finished off with thyme. I love it because it’s a QT twist on a classic.

What kind of experience do you want guests to come away with?

A night of quality food in a relaxed atmosphere, with fantastic drink pairings. Each dish has a story and we’re excited for guests to come away with an appreciation of not only delicious food, but the suppliers behind them – like Black Origin, our wagyu suppliers, who have a closed loop feeding system where everything is grown on the farm.

What are your favourite seasonal ingredients to cook with at the moment?

I love cooking with winter vegetables – the caramelised cauliflower tagine is a delicious take on a classic winter warmer and the buttered carrots in the Cloudy Bay clam ragout orecchiette add a lovely sweetness to balance the dish.

How do you incorporate sustainability in your cooking?

We have a focus on sustainability and building relationships with our suppliers so we have transparency around where the produce comes from. Gravity Fishing is a great example of this – I am on the phone with the fisherman daily, and I love supporting him because he’s a great guy who creates a great product. We also have a no-wastage philosophy – we use the whole animal, or buy the offcuts from suppliers like Leelands Lamb that we can use to make items like sausage.