St Georges

Francky Godinho must be the hardest-working man in Hawke's Bay. Before creating the outstanding dishes for his busy restaurant, St Georges, he's spent the day in his market gardens harvesting 150 organic cauliflowers to be served up to diners in the next week and planting 240 broccolini, which will be ready in a couple of months. This fine-dining restaurant brings the idea of garden-to-table to the next level. Ninety-five per cent of the produce is grown in the four market gardens, and the restaurant also farms hereford beef. Diners can taste the hard work and care in every bite, and the heirloom vegetables mean that even simple dishes such as pumpkin soup, become the best pumpkin soup of a lifetime. Francky, who has won several culinary awards including being named Chef of the Year twice, grew up in Goa, India, and as a child worked on his family's waterbuffalo farm and rice paddy. His love of food took him to Dubai and then to New Zealand with his wife, Kathryn. “To me, it's not hard work. I'm so passionate about this,” he says.

452 St Georges Road, Havelock North. (06) 877 5356, stgeorgesrestaurant.co.nz