Head Chef - Chris Bindon
Head chef Chris Bindon was raised on an Avocado orchard in Whangarei, Northland. His school holidays were spent tending the orchard and the tomato plants which he grew to earn money for his winter snowboarding adventures.
The long summer days spent tending the fruit have given him an insight into the hardships, trials and tribulations produce growers and farmers face to provide our chefs with the quality products which are the building blocks of their dishes. This experience drives Chris as a chef to show each ingredient and its unique flavour in the best possible light.
His hospitality training was completed at The Northland Polytechnic, after which he travelled extensively through Australia honing his cookery skills in areas such as the Gold Coast, Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday group and the food mecca of Perth in Western Australia. He has had the privilege to work under some of the best and most experienced chefs in each region, and has used those opportunities to develop his knowledge and abilities.
His cookery philosophy is to make culinary stars of the top quality products of New Zealand, with a strong emphasis on the premium local products available in the deep South, using organic, artsian products where available. He is very passionate about fresh products, and believes a chef’s first priority is to showcase a product's original flavour.
The aim for the food at The Winehouse & Kitchen is to reflect New Zealand’s pastoral and culinary heritage, and provide hearty, wholesome comfort style foods with a influence from French and Italian country style cookery. Wine and food matching is of the utmost importance to the chefs at The Winehouse & Kitchen, and Chris and his team take great pleasure in creating dishes to reflect the flavours and textures in the award wining wines.
