New Zealand's
BEST
Restaurants 2003-2004
- REGIONAL WINNERS -

Canterbury Winner:
COOK'N'WITH GAS

Kate Kennedy and chef Bruce Griffiths now have a big following amongst Canterbury food lovers, no doubt drawn by the awards they've picked up over the years. Right opposite the Arts Centre, the old renovated house is broken into different dining areas, the back room with its walls covered with black and white photos of famous French personalities such as Gerard Depardieu. There's also an outdoor courtyard with petanque and outdoor barbie for those summer nights. At Cook 'n' with Gas, between Monday and Saturday, you get sharp service matching in a relaxing atmosphere with good cuisine. You can enjoy Greenlipped mussels steamed in Cook's Spruce beer and glazed under gruyere and speck bacon with Swiss chard salad, or perhaps the Roasted lamb rump on rosemary and butternut gratin, parsley and pea salad and with horopito rubbed lamb shank with smoked paprika aioli. Recommended. Take $110. 23 Worcester Blvd, Christchurch,
(03) 377-9166.

(Eating Out magazine Summer 2004)

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The 2002 Tegal Good Food Awards in Association with Eating Out Magazine.
Canterbury: Runner Up - Cook 'n' with Gas, Christchurch

Cook 'n' with Gas
Contemporary
At last visit there were none of the pitfalls of a previous visit with sloppy staff. In fact our recent meals here have been very impressive, so much so it's runner-up as Canterbury's best restaurant.
The old renovated house is broken into different dining areas with quite a funky decor. There's also an outdoor courtyard with petanque and in summer they light up the outdoor barbie.
As for the food, if your into mussels try their mussels steamed in beer and glazed under gruyere and speck with a Swiss chared salad.
Other offerings include slow roasted pork belly over a mustard new potato salad, on turkey cannelloni. The food here is hearty and tasty. Take $100.

North & South Magazine - March 2003
Feeling Groovy
Elvis was in Christchurch the night we chose to visit Cook 'n' with Gas. The King was riding a unicycle and was wrestling a women in a red dress, who looked suspiciously like Norma Jean. Strolling through the crowd in the packed Arts Centre courtyard i couldn't help but notice Elvis had abandoned his penchant for blue suede shoes. He was now wearing jazzy little leopard skin slippers, the same type my aged uncle wore. He also looked a lot slimmer than the last time he was in public. Perhaps he had shaken his addiction for deep fried peanut butter sandwiches and found health food.

he certainly looked fit as he juggled five firebrands between Marilyn and himself. The only person that looked out of place was the poor chap who had Marilyn perched on his bare shoulders.

I could have borrowed one of Elvis' burning brands to re ignite the gas flare outside Cook 'n' with Gas, but a waiter beat me to it with a flourish of his primus blowtorch. This cosy slightly kooky, bistro in a villa with warm wooden floors and a petanque garden is located just across the street from the Arts Centre, and once belonged to the principle of Christchurch Boys' High.

Cook 'n' with Gas came highly recommended by my friend Tara. Ample prizes and certificates of excellence festooning the walls, along with funky artwork and trendy old beer prints, backed up this recommendation. I felt quite at home as the waiter showed us to our butcher-paper-covered table.

The menu had a confessional note to it: "Good food takes a little time to prepare. Please advise your waiter if you are in a hurry". We weren't in a hurry, but we were darned hungry, what with a juggling Elvis, and a long drive from the glaciers i was truly famished. We were the last table to arrive and the dishes wafting past our noses looked great.

Tara wanted pork..."The crackling, the apple sauce, mmm..."but john, her partner told her she could have pork any night of the week so she chose turkey breast wrapped in Parma Ham. John could have steak any night of the week also, but that didn't stop him choosing the double steak dish of medium rare fillet and porterhouse served on a bed of caramilised onions.

I'd spent the best part of the week stomping around the West Coasts Glaciers and had been eating hearty food to assist that physical work, so a light fish dish was for me. There wasn't a great choice - only one fish and one vegetarian dish on the short, well chosen but rather meaty menu- but seared salmon on a polenta covered potato croquette and vegetables sounded just fine.

I mentioned the fact that we were in a bit of a hurry to our friendly waiter (the tantalising views of food going past our noses, the appreciative noises from the adjoining tables, and the great little menu made us extra ravenous). He advised the mains would be a while, but he could immediately provide a selection of breads, and some entrees to keep the wolf from the table. tara chose tiger Prawns on vermicelli ($19.50), John the carnivore chose barbequed sugar-cured venison on eggplant and a red onion tart, ($18) and I couldn't go past the roast duck and beetroot soup served with fresh coriander ($12.50). A bottle of refreshing Pegasus bay Sauvignon Semillon ($38) was ordered ( a favourite, this Waipara Vineyard has the blend of grapes down to a fine art) and we soon tucked into our well presented entrees.

The tiger prawns were large and succulent and Tara could afford to give John and me one each and still enjoy half a dozen herself. John's venison was tender and cooked to perfection. When pushed he said it may have been a tad salty, but he never has salt so we dismissed that as a fad. My soup was "bloody gorgeous, a rich red masterpiece hand poured at the table and a flavour delight.

There was a goodly wait for the mains so we went back to the excellent Canterbury-dominant wine list and each ordered a glass of the delicious Babich Pinot Gris. The waiters did that thing that good waiters do...the mystery move. Water appeared magically, appropriate cutlery appeared and disappeared, and wine glasses were filled to the correct level, without obsequious interruption.

Finally our mains were presented and they well justified the wait. tara's turkey fillet ($27.50) was so good she didn't want to share it. Johns portion of sirloin and fillet ($29) was cooked ever so slightly rarer than medium, but that didn't faze him. The meat was of such quality my toothless uncle could have enjoyed it. My salmon ($27.50) was delicious: seared to hold the juices and full of flavour, especially the delicious texture of the polenta-dusted croquette. Topped with snow peas and assorted veggies this dish nearly stopped me in my tracks.

There was enough room for just for a shared dessert, Choc Lovers delight, $10.50. A trio of chocolate dainties it was the perfect short sweet ending to a meal which had featured excellent food, professionally presented in a pleasurably loose and groovy environment. We paid our bill for $220, said fairwell to the stuffed beer drinking Himalayan that over the bar and headed out into a warm canterbury night. By now, Elvis and Maralyn had cycled off home and I felt it was high time to do the same, feeling totally replete and happy.
Gareth Eyres

VIP Magazine - Summer 2003
Interview - Bruce Griffiths- Restaurateur, Cook 'n' with Gas
Enthusiastic, energetic, dedicated, talented and a great sense of humour sums up Bruce Griffiths. Bruce has been involved with the hospitality industry for 25 years (although I must say to look at him he must have started at about age 5! ed.) He trained as a chef at he Hyatt in Queenstown, then on to London. Back in New Zealand he worked at 'The Sign of the Takahe' for five years before taking the plunge and buying his restaurant, Cook 'n' with Gas in 1999.

What changes have you observed in Christchurch cuisine over the past five years?

Over the past five years the food scene in Christchurch has become more cosmopolitan. Canterbury is the 'food basket' for the South Island of New Zealand and I favour a provincial style that changes with the seasons.

What do you see as the difference between Christchurch food style and the rest of the country?

Christchurch tends to be more seasonal. We make the most of what is available in season. This means a frequent change of menu, which I think is a huge advantage as we are able to provide the best of seasonal produce, served in our own style.

The life of a restaurateur is a very busy one. How do you like to spend your leisure time?

I spend it with my family. Max is 8 years old and Isabella is 5 years old and they keep me on my toes, particularly since we bought a puppy. Kate is my partner in life and love. We are both kept busy running the restaurant and the family. On days off we often have an early dinner with the kids, perhaps do some gardening or watch a video.

What do you have to say about your staff?

"They're a bunch of pirates really - refugees from fine dining"! (A huge grin accompanied this statement). The staff is top line - professional, honest with a high integrity towards their professionalism. Most of the staff members have been with us on average two to three years. Head chef, Scott Baker is naturally talented, passionate and keeps seeking ways to add to his knowledge. His ambition is to be a legend chef! Paul Hawker our restaurant manager spent 8 years with the Waitakere Licensing Trust- a restaurant man from way back. He's a real professional.

Do you have a dream?

my dream was one of independence and I think I have achieved that when we bought Cook 'n' with Gas. I was a career chef and now I am a career restaurateur. I think the other part of my dream is a good life with Kate and the kids and to continue growing the business. This is my passion.

What do you consider special regarding your restaurant?

The people. Both the staff and the customers are great! We have our own special way of dining with a warm, welcoming atmosphere and people recognise this and want to return. Also the boutique beers. We specialise in imported beer, which tend to take the place of an aperitif - you know - were almost to the point where we've swapped the white bubbles for the brown bubbles. The ladies who usually don't tend to drink beer are fans of the boutique beers - particularly something like the Peach Beer.

Pair Revive a Masterly Brew (ChCh Star 16th July 2003)
Jocelyn Johnstone

Captain James Cook was not only a great navigator, but also an excellent brewer of beer, say two Christchurch men who are moving to launch a new beer made to the explorer's own recipe.

Restauranteur Bruce Griffiths and writer and scientist Mike Bradstock have spent three months replicating the spruce beer Cook brewed during his voyages of exploration in the Pacific in the 1700's.

"Cook never lost a single person to scurvy on his travels because he was big on green vegetables and beer", says Mike Bradstock, who discovered the description of making beer flavoured with rimu and manuka while reading the journal of the Endeavour voyage.

He said it was exceeding palatable and esteemed by everyone on board". It must have been wonderful for those guys who also got a whole lot of vitamins. They would have loved it, says Mike.

He and Bruce Griffiths of Cook 'n' With Gas on Worcester Boulevard, have been experimenting with the hop-free 4 percent alcohol beer, which is making its debut to poach a Cook's Coalfish (Blue Cod) and scurvey grass dish in the current Monteith's Wild Food Challenge.

When Icook up the infusion the whole house is perfumed by the rimu and manuka, Mr Griffiths says.

With a clean, astringent quality and slightly honey-like taste, the beer is part of the two men's new range of products, Heritage Foods. "Our range will have dozens of different items - It's a celebration of our colonial heritage."

 

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