Food at Winetopia
Amongst the 50 wineries sharing their top bottles, you'll find chefs delicious morsels to eat are peppered through Winetopia like a fantasy tasting trail.
From artisan producers sampling their treats, to pop-up restaurants, and Auckland's rising star chefs leading food & wine matching demos — we've grown the Winetopia edible lineup to satisfy the most adventurous of foodie cravings! Secure your tickets now and arrive hungry!
Pop-up Restaurants
Reset your palate with European-style raclette from Bistro Saine, Hotel Indigo's resident restaurant and a newly awarded Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide, remarkable for a kitchen just over a year old. Warm, melted cheese softens the tannins in a bold red and leaves it feeling silkier on the palate. Indulgent in the best way.
Bistro Saine
.png)
Loco Bros serve smoky, tender tacos that pair beautifully with a crisp white or light red, the acidity cutting through the richness while the citrus notes play off the smoke. Their Beef and Lamb Birria Tacos took out a Fork and Fame Award in 2025. Gloriously indulgent, gloriously messy, and worth every napkin.
Loco Bros
This award-winning eatery brings bold plant-based Thai that sings alongside a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, the herbaceous notes echoing the fresh herbs in the dish. Loved enough to have grown across Ponsonby, Milford and the CBD. At Winetopia, you'll have to try their Iconic Eats 2026 winner Yum Gai Zap!
Khu Khu Eatery
This is the space to introduce the Services section. Briefly describe the types of services offered and highlight any special benefits or features. Encourage site visitors to learn more by exploring the full list of services offered.
Service Name
Over the last few weeks, we’ve handed six of Auckland's rising star chefs a surprise wine each and 10 minutes on the clock to build a dish worthy of an incredible NZ pour.
You've seen them rise to the challenge in our Chef v Wine series, now grab a front row seat to catch the action up close and personal.
Chef v Wine live
Food & Wine Matching chef demos
Each session, two chefs take the stage for a 25-minute demo. See who's on when below.
Get in early to grab a bar leaner, a pour of the wine match and of course a plate to taste! Be one of the first to arrive and only watch it but also taste it yourself. Our Chef v Wine Live demos are all included with any Winetopia ticket.
One of Cuisine Magazine's Taste Curators, Nicola Chan (the food judge, reviewer and storyteller behind @chan_can_eat) is hosting Chef v Wine Live, walking you through the dish, the wine and keeping the energy high.
.png)
One of the Michelin Selected restaurants in the Guide, East wows with a plant-powered modern Asian menu. Exec Chef Hyokeun Choi rises to the occasion creating a mushroom bulgogi dish to pair with Gibbston Valley 2019 Le Maitre Riesling.
Session 3 - 7pm
.png)
Head Chef Kritika Mahajan leads the kitchen at one of the Michelin Selected, Mr Morris, known for modern Pacific flavours. To match the 2020 Pask Declaration Cabernet Merlot Malbec, she crafted a beef tataki with mushroom & artichoke.
Session 1 - 5:30pm
.png)
Newly awarded a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide, Cazador has wild game and fire-driven cooking at its centre. Chef Uiljam Grifi switches it up, pairing a tamarillo salad with the Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2024.
Session 2 - 12:30pm
A cult favourite on K Road, Pici keeps it simple with terrific award-winning handmade pasta. Chef Jono Thevenard has passed the baton to Sous Chef Paige, crafting a surf'n'turf with kaimoana and boil up stock, paired with Josh Scott's Deal with It Natural Pinot Noir 2025.
Session 2 - 1.50pm
One-hatted and a Michelin Selected restaurant, Advieh specialises in a vibrant mix of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours. Sous Chef Jasper Pritchard prepares a trumpeter fish wrapped in leaves with aromatic onion weed, matched to the Brave Roots Albariño 2025.
Session 3 - 5:30pm
Tucked into Westmere, Ragtag has built a name as a local gem and now Michelin Selected, with Chef Daniel Freeman's duck tacos among 2026's Iconic Auckland Eats. For Chef v Wine, he creates a prawn taco with house-made mayo, to Postage Stamp Wines Ariki Chardonnay 2024.
Session 1 - 7pm
ARTISANS
Mahurangi Oysters
Grown in the pristine waters of the Mahurangi Harbour just north of Auckland, these Pacific oysters are sweet, plump and shucked to order for that vital hit of briny liquor. Oysters have their own version of terroir, and few things pair more beautifully with a crisp glass of New Zealand white. And lucky us, it's their 6th year at Winetopia!
Foundry Chocolate
Crafted in micro-batches in Silverdale, these award-winning craft chocolate bars are made from only two ingredients: the world's finest cacao beans and organic sugar. Each single origin carries its own personality, with tasting notes like honey and tropical fruit to warm spice and caramel, ready to meet a glass of something red.
Savour Vegan Creamery
Savour crafts cultured cashew cheeses the slow way, aged in a cheese cave by an artisan cheesemaker and finished with everything from activated charcoal to toasted spice. Award-winning and completely plant-based, they earn their place on any cheeseboard, dairy or not.
Besos Margarita
Proudly made in NZ by Mexican chef Luis Cabrera and is currently "The most awarded ready to serve Margarita in the world" with 16 international medals in San Francisco (2), London (6), New York (1), Michigan (2), Hong Kong (1), Melbourne (1) and Auckland (3).
Pretty Fancy Chocolate
This artisan from Muriwai truly transforms chocolate into edible art, infusing tablets, bars and bonbons with real botanicals, citrus, spice and vanilla bean. Think nostalgic Kiwi flavours like Afghan and lemon meringue, handcrafted and almost too beautiful to unwrap.
The NZ Rum Co.
An award-winning Auckland-based small-batch craft distillery launched in 2020 by a former superyacht skipper. Breaking from tradition, they ditch molasses in favor of natural sugarcane jaggery to produce a distinctly clean, modern line of rums.
