“Trust the Chef”. How many out there would? Would you leave the selection of your dining up to a complete stranger? For me, nothing delights me more than leaving the decision of what to eat to the chef and luckily my fellow dining companions all food journalists are of the same thinking. We are at Amisfield Wine Company in Queenstown, New Zealand for their popular Trust the Chef menu. Somehow we innately know that we’ll end up with the best of the menu but just to be on the safe side, I make a special request for the Bluff Oysters. Just because some things shouldn’t be left to chance 
When you visit a winery it would be remiss not to do a wine tasting. A few of us give the wines a try before heading into the restaurant area which is full on this Saturday afternoon. I’ve had quite a bit to drink so far on this trip so I try with a restrained hand but that doesn’t stop me from admiring the pretty bottles.
A limited edition bottle of their Lake Hayes pinot gris
Bluff oysters, aged balsamic and shallots $22
We sit down to eat curious to see what the chef will pick for us. The bluffs here are slightly smaller than the ones at Whare Kea and they’re served with a shallot and red wine vinaigrette sauce although to be honest I prefer bluffs with a simple squeeze of lemon to bring out the brininess to them as an aged balsamic although gorgeous is a bit too sweet for the oysters.
Prosciutto, marinated tomatoes, NZ buffalo mozzarella and rocket $17
There were some changes to the menu as this dish was originally supposed to have prosciutto in it. Nevertheless, this is a really pleasant, refreshing dish for the warm sunny weather with some local buffalo mozzarella and marinated tomatoes with a variety of flavoursome tomatoes.
Fresh fig, beetroot, radicchio and roquefort $17
As this dish was set down there was a chorus of ooohs and aaahs. There’s nothing prettier than the colour palette of figs and prosciutto. Again this dish was supposed to have a few components like radicchio, beetroot and roquefort but instead there are fresh white figs, prosciutto and reggiano shavings and peppery watercress which went superbly together covering sweet, salty and peppery flavours.
Fried salmon with French green lentils $28.50
The fried salmon comes with French puy lentils which are flavoured with the stock from cooking the salmon. We did find that the salmon is a tad overcooked although we enjoy the lentils.
Roast ribeye with spiced eggplant and lemon ricotta $28.50
The roast ribeye is a thing of beauty-an enormous thing of beauty in fact. A very generous serve the meat is wonderfully tender and ringed with juicy fat and it is paired with fabulous spiced Japanese eggplants and piquant lemon ricotta. Oh how I wished I could have taken the leftovers home to make myself a sandwich the next day!
Fried halloumi with peppers and mint $9
It’s probably a good thing that this side came right at the end as I am a halloumi freak. These have a translucent, light coating of batter much like agedashi tofu does before it is fried and the result is deliciousness. We lament not being able to finish the enormous serve and harbour fantasies of taking this and the beef home to Sydney to fill a roast beef sandwich.
Steamed potatoes with dill mascarpone $9
The steamed potatoes are very large and the mascarpone has become a creamy buttery sauce with little fronds of dill. They’re not bad although I think I would have preferred mascarpone and dill on crispy potatoes rather than steamed but that’s a personal preference.
Feijoa friands with vanilla anglaise $13
The thing about the Trust The Chef menu is that apart from the special request for the Bluffs, everything that came out was what we would have ordered. Including these friands which are marvelously soft with small cubes of feijoa fruit which are all over New Zealand. It comes with a very vanillaey vanilla custard and we marvel at how most and moreish these are.
Chocolate, walnut and brandy cake $13
The chocolate cake looks to be made with a nut meal, perhaps a walnut meat and is quite crumby. I prefer chocolates cakes that are a bit darker and moist although others seem to like it although out of the two desserts the feijoa is the pick although I do love a good retro brandy snap.
So would we trust the chef again? As long as there are bluff oysters included, absolutely!
So tell me Dear Reader, would you order from a trust the chef menu? Or do you prefer to decide what to order?
‘
NQN dined as a guest of Amisfield Wine Company and travelled to and explored New Zealand as a guest of Relais & Chateaux and Qantas
Amisfield Winery and Bistro
10 Lake Hayes Road, RD1 9371, New Zealand
Tel: +65 (03)442 0556
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40 Comments | Add your own
I would definitely trust the chef, but only in certain restaurants!
It’s slightly similar to Eleven Madison Park in New York, where you only choose the main ingredient (but they don’t tell you how it’s going to be cooked). I quite enjoyed the mystery.. 
Looks scrumptious! Happy to trust the chef but, let’s face it, most have much better things to do with their time than to come up with a gluten-free, vegan option for me so, for now, I’ll try to make everyone’s lives a bit easier and stick to choosing my own.
In some restaurants, there is no choice but to leave the decision making to the chef. I prefer it this way but sometimes, I do love ordering from the menu.
Trust the Chef. What a fab concept. New to me. And it looks like it worked out fine–the food looks very nice indeed.
Oooooooooooh you’re in one of my very favourite places! Love that part of NZ. I’d love a chef to prepare a lovely surprise meal for me
Quite a pleasant Sunday morning journey! Yes, if I trusted the restaurant and chef I would very much leave the menu to him/her – obviously you would get the best and freshest available cooked to the best fo the chef’s ability
! The lovely fresh fig salad and the ribeye with spicy eggplant would have suited me admirably. The salmon looks dry and uninspiring even on the photo 
!
As I hate red meat (apart from ham/bacon) and shellfish I think ‘trust the chef’ would be disastrous for me
Totally leave it up to the chef kinda gal I am. It actually shows the chefs are amazing at what they do if they offer to do it. It’s too risky otherwise. Great review, love the oysters. Mmmmmmm
Among all these dishes, I fell in love with the fig dish… looks sooo good and I want to make it at home! I can’t go to nice restaurants as often as before because of the kids, but thanks to you, I’m enjoying all kinds of food!
I love leaving the meal in the hands of the chef. It’s kind of nice sometimes not to have to make decisions, and even better to be surprised by glorious dishes that the chef truly feels are his/her best.
Sometimes trusting the chef is a great thing to do! But I usually don’t do it as I can be quite picky with the food that I eat!
I love trusting the chef – We used to do it all the time at Zushi (Kings cross and Darlinghurst) and were never ever disappointed and always ate things we never would have thought to order. Now we have our tried and true favs we do try the new things but always return for the favorite dishes
Everything looks so…so…vibrant and fresh. It’s just basically popping off the plate! White figs…I don’t think I’ve tried that before, but it does set off a nice contrast with prosciutto!
Of course you should trust the chef, we’re such nice people after all- well some of us anyway
Those oysters are amazing and I love the fejoa friends, yumm…
What a lovely meal.
The rib eye and eggplant looked amazing with the lemon ricotta!! What a flavour combination!
Absolutely I would leave the selection up to the chef, especially if I couldn’t choose between a few nicer sounding dishes.
Oh, figs figs figs! Glorious figs! And feijoa friands? Only about four billion times better than the standard raspberry friand offering
I’m very happy to trust the chef – they know what they do best, after all! I love the idea of the lemon ricotta – I have some homemade ricotta just begging for the same treatment!
I would havw been very happy to eat whatever this chef chose for me.
Oh I’d definitely trust the chef! I’d actually love to go to any great restaurant and just say, “Bring out whatever you’d like to eat most.” I hate deciding!
But I’m a pretty easy dinner guest, I’ll eat pretty much anything as long as it’s been well cooked.
Trust the chef , absolutely! Love surprises and what chef worth his weight in Truffles would not give you the best? It’s a win,win situation!
Trust the chef definitely. Went to David Thompson’s favorite restaurant in Bangkok in 1996 and just said ‘bring food’ and it was the best meal of my life. I will never forget the crispy catfish salad! Sublime. So I trusted 2 chefs. Still have the SMH article where he talked about the restaurant too.
We planned to go to Amisfield when in NZ last year but we ran out of time and we ended up at Fergburger. I’ll be sure to order the rib eye if we make it there next time.
Wow, that prosciutto, tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket dish looks amazing….so refreshing, just what I feel like. Oh & I’d so trust the chef, love that idea
although if they miss menu items I’d love I’d be a bit miffed! But oh well, good reason to come back.
Heidi xo
the spiced eggplant looks generous… mmmh NZL <3
On the contrary, I would never leave the choice of ordering completely to the chef no matter how good it may be.
To be honest, it would make me nervous letting the chef choose for me. Hate to sound like a control-freak but I do like to order my own food – a bit like how I like to choose what I watch on TV.
You had me at the figs. And then you had me again at the fried halloumi. Two of my absolute favorite dishes in the same sitting. Lovely!
so many dishes I would love the try! The oysters.. brandy cake.. I might I usually order that is trusted from the chef
that fig salad looks delish! never tried bluff oysters before. they look fainter in colour than the usual pacific and sydney rock you get here
I love trust the chef. Takes all the pain out of choosing between lots of great options. Looks delicious!
Ah, Queenstown. Fabulous. Love those desserts.
Hey Lorraine, Amisfield is my favourite place in Queenstown – when we lived there that’s where we’d go for any special occasion! Although it looked nice I feel like you were a bit unlucky, we’ve never so much as had a whiff of anything overcooked, out of stock or not quite right. My favourites there are their buttery mashed potatoes (better than the steamed ones you got) and Trifilati (not sure how you spell it?) which is thinly sliced sauteed courgette on ciabatta with goats’ cheese – yum! You’ll just have to go again : )
A year or two ago I would have hated this but now I quite often ask the waitor what I should order. As long as they know the few things I absolutely will not eat I’m happy with a surprise.
Shame about the salmon! But the rib-eye does look mega-tasty
My jaw dropped when I saw those oysters. Oh. My God.
It’s definitely on my to-do list to learn how to shuck oysters and how to cook mussels – too good not to have at home on a special occasion!
Not a huge fan of trust the chef as in the past I have been served a bit too much offal which I just don’t love. However this one looked ah-mazing. Honestly I would have ordered everything you were served. Yum!
With that kind of meal the chef is certainly ‘trustworthy’:) I’ve had good experience with pre-set menu’s and sometimes bad experiences with waiters recommendations:) Trust the chef but not always the waiter/waitress!
YUM! This looks awesome. I’m heading to NZ at the end of next month, cannot wait to try the different tastes! We’re going to Auckland and Tauranga.
I think it depends on my mood – AND the chef. A good chef I know will get the balance right. But sometimes chefs(and there is nothing wrong with this but my palate is not as adventurous as others’) might be a bit too adventurous and show offy). I don’t do raw well. I can manage seafood if it’s really fresh and done well, but because I rarely eat meat (but I would have nommed on the meat you had here, LOL) I can’t manage it raw, I can’t leave that at the chef.
But usually if I tell the chef all that, I’m delighted to be surprised.
There’s nothing better than a chef’s menu generally, because they give you the best of what’s available and cooked to the best of their ability.
Bon appetit!
I had a fabulous chef-chosen meal at a Sardinian place in Melbourne. It was fantastic, exciting when you don’t know what’s coming. I’d definitely do it again
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