Tauranga-based pop-up restaurant, Kitchen Takeover, has been nominated for the Best Lifestyle Event and Best Arts and Cultural Event in the New Zealand Events Awards.
Kitchen Takeover turns a traditional restaurant night into a destination event. People pre-purchase a ticket for a six course fine dining feast based on a new theme each time. One evening you might be in the forest for a Hunter Gatherer event where the food is hunted and foraged; next, you may be transported into a deeply cultural, modern Māori take on the natural world.
Eat Your Memories pop-up event by Kitchen Takeover was nominated in the Best Lifestyle Event category, while Taiao: Food of the Gods was noted as the Best Arts and Cultural Event.
Eat Your Memories became the world’s first crowd-sourced menu of memories. Future pop-up visitors had to share their strongest childhood food experiences – both good and bad! – through a content-driven marketing campaign. Hundreds of food memories were then turned into a six course degustation. The event ran for eight weeks from October to December 2020 and attracted over 1,000 people.
Taiao: Food of the Gods was Kitchen Takeover’s first-ever collaboration with celebrity chefs Karena and Kasey Bird. It brought diners a deeply cultural, locally-inspired fine-dining experience created by two of New Zealand’s culinary superstars. Each mouth-watering moment was inspired by Atua Māori and the Taiao. The event ran for eight weeks from February – April 2021 and attracted over 1,400 people.
Stacey Jones, Kitchen Takeover founder and avid foodie says: “It’s a real honour to be recognised and we are proud to be playing our part in putting the Bay of Plenty on the map as a culinary destination. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the country and diners are travelling from far and wide for the experience.”