Believe it or not, Australian-based celebrity chef Sean Connolly has never been to Queenstown.
''I've been to every part of New Zealand but never to Queenstown - there's sure to be song in that,'' he said recently from the airport in Melbourne.
He will rectify that oversight when he travels to the tourist resort for the Gibbston Wine and Food Festival this weekend.
''It sounds like a lot of fun. There are great restaurants, fantastic creative people. I'm excited.''
Fitting the festival into his jam-packed schedule was a challenge for the chef who only three months ago opened his fourth restaurant in Adelaide, a New York-style brasserie called Sean's Kitchen.
Mr Connolly, who was born in West Yorkshire, was the executive head chef at Astral, a Sydney restaurant he steered to receive five consecutive chefs' hats, from 1995 to 2000.
In 2009 he hosted the award-winning television series My Family Feast and the cookbook released to coincide with the series won best ''celebrity chef'' cookbook in the world at the 2011 Paris book fair.
He then opened the doors to The Grill by Sean Connolly, in Auckland, a process which was followed by television cameras for a six-part documentary called Under the Grill and won Best Restaurant 2012 in the New Zealand Cuisine Awards.
Mr Connolly later developed The Morrison on George St, a New York-style restaurant and oyster bar, in Sydney, and more recently the authentic Italian restaurant Gusto at the Grand at Auckland's Skycity.
The transtasman nature of his work meant he clocked up the air points between his home in Sydney and Auckland, and now Adelaide, but he enjoyed the work.
''I'm half-chef, half-businessman these days.''
That meant people were unlikely to see him doing service in a restaurant.
''Creating food, styling menus, yes, I'll always. I'm always on the look out for the new and interesting.''
His passion was opening new restaurants and creating new environments for dining.
''Finding new ways to cook and reinvent food and collaborating with my chefs.
''I get a real adrenaline kick out of opening new restaurants.''
Despite what people might think, he believed the food was only 25% of the success of a new restaurant and rated below ambience and service in importance.
''We've all become more knowledgeable as consumers, a lot more smarter. As a diner people know what they are looking for.''
Television shows such as MasterChef had helped bridge the gap between fine dining and fast food, he said.
''It's made things exciting.''
It had also helped people's understanding of what went on behind the scenes and the effort which went into creating and presenting dishes from chefs and front of house staff, he said.
The most concerning thing was the development of what Mr Connolly calls ''keyboard warriors'' - those people who do not complain in a restaurant but are quite happy to complain online.
''A lot of work, effort and commitment has gone into it. People need to tell them. [They should] not be shot down in flames by someone who fancies themselves as some sort of journalist.''
This year, the latest trend looked likely to be Korean barbecue and in Australia southern fried chicken was becoming quite a trend.
''Burgers are also having a resurgence in Australia but I think they've always been big in New Zealand. Kiwis own the burger and pavlova too.''
Mr Connolly will be supported in Queenstown by his award-winning head chef Carl Maunder and plans to feature dishes such as steak tartare and duck fried chips, an Italian dish from Gusto and maybe the Italian desert zabaglione.
He was looking forward to showcasing some of the quality local produce Gibbston had to offer alongside its world-class local wines.
''I'm incredibly passionate about food and wine, the two go hand in hand, and there's nothing better than sharing that with people who are equally enthusiastic - we're going to have a fantastic time.''
Alongside Mr Connolly, Queenstown chefs John Pickens, from Artisan Catering, and Brendon Downer, of Brendon Catering, along with Masterchef finalist and local cake shop owner Jaimie Stodler, will take part in the festival's food masterclass programme.
