No other country can hold a knife and fork to New Zealand's wild ingredients, yet every other country has plundered the New Zealand larder of fruit, vegetables and dairy products. What would Sunday lunch be without New Zealand roast lamb? Where would nouvelle cuisine be without the kiwi fruit?I begin my culinary odyssey in Auckland At a glance, the city is a strange nut to crack. The fifth-largest urban sprawl in the world, it has a population of about one million, spread between clusters of interconnecting villages. Think Sydney minus the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, and then turn down the volume. Right down.Look closer and the first thing you notice is that Auckland is on a caffeine-induced high. But New Zealand has more to offer than just its hottest culinary export, chef Peter Gordon, who owns Providores restaurant on Marylebone High Street in London and now a second restaurant, almost 12,000 miles away in his home town. On the other hand, Rex Morgan, one of New Zealand's other pre-eminent chefs, owner of Citron restaurant in Wellington and The Spire in Queenstown, still laughs at the idea of New Zealand cuisine "There's no such thing," he told me "Only 'beef, lamb, chicken, fish or duck' It's the meat-and-two-veg syndrome.
While it is the pristine panoramas that will be inspiring many to head south this winter, certain New Zealanders are looking to enrich the mix by presenting a new face to the world: Kiwi gastronomy. Many people probably still think of New Zealand cuisine as something of an oxymoron, lightly pan-seared and served with a massive pinch of salt and a non-sequitur coulis. Book ahead.Gordon Ramsay at Conrad Tokyo, 1-9-1 Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 105-7377, Japan (00 81 3 6388 8000; www.conradhotels ). New Zealand has reaped the benefits over the last few years of a massive PR windfall in the form of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. And in December, tour operators and travel agents are braced for fresh outbreaks of Kiwi-mania when Jackson releasesKing Kong and Andrew Andamson his Chronicles of Narnia - both shot in New Zealand and starring, once again, its haunting scenery. Invite seven of your closest clients to eat at the chef's table, which occupies a privileged front-row position beside the open kitchen.
The sizzling show laid on by Cook contrasts nicely with the skyscraper calm of the city through 7m floor-to-ceiling plate glass. Laid out at your feet is Tokyo Bay, the glittering office blocks of some of the world's most expensive real estate sprouting all around. Arrive early evening to watch the sun set in a liquid red ball over the Bladerunner high-rises Nihon Television and the Shiodome Tower.THE BILLDinner is £35 for two courses, £45 for three courses, £65 for six courses and £95 for eight courses Lunch is £27 for three courses Open daily 11.30am-2.30pm; 5.30-10pm. Instead, the restaurant is in the hands of his aptly named acolyte Andy Cook.