Riverstone Kitchen Restaurant, a Place to Celebrate

Kia Ora!

 Riverstone Kitchen is not a well kept secret, at least with me. This is our favorite restaurant in central east South Island and without a doubt one of the best in all of New Zealand. The location is just outside the town of Oamaru about 50 kilometers south of Timaru. As the site includes an extensive vegetable and herb garden, one enjoys fresh produce from the gardens as well as selected local meats prepared to perfection. My favorite meal is to indulge in the Chef's Tasting Menu, a five-course feast with or without wines to complement the flavors (poor KC as the designated driver gets just one glass of wine. I go for the whole thing). Compared to restaurants in this class, the prices are very reasonable. The wait staff are familiar with the menu and the preparation of the food. They can recommend appropriate wines if one is ordering off the menu. Furthermore, they remember you when you return.

So this is how our guests independently chose to bring their 3-week holiday in New Zealand to an end. (Sarah was browsing in the cookbook section of a Timaru book store and picked up one of Chef Bevan Smith's cookbooks. The clerk then extolled the restaurant and the idea was set, independent of my influence. This is where they wanted to go.) We were the guests of Sue at a wonderful meal at the Riverstone. We brought with us a bottle of Port Molyneux from Aurum Winery, which perfectly complemented the blue cheese on wheat cracker finale (yes, even after indulging in the wine selections for each of the five courses, we drank just a little more.) Sarah gifted the remains of the fortified dessert wine to the wait and kitchen staff, who sipped it as we left. We were the last customers at the end of the evening.

It is also how KC and I chose to end this 6-month assignment in New Zealand a week later. We had the same lovely server, as we have had many times. We enjoyed an extraordinary meal--actually for this restaurant, extraordinary is the usual. When it came time to leave, I waved farewell at the other server, a man who has also served us well in the past, but our server was no where to be seen. I had wanted to thank her again and say good-bye. We went out and got in the car. Then she appeared at the restaurant door and ran out to wish us a good return trip. What a sweet love, she is!

Thank you, Riverstone.

Kiwi Traveler