The restaurant Queenstown’s Sherwood, as we know it today, was established around 11 years ago. The juxtaposition of the mock tudor exterior and what we offer inside is a bit of fun to play with. People are often pleasantly surprised by the interiors, the service, the food. We call it casual excellence. We have no interest in being a fine dining restaurant, but the experience still needs to be exceptional, every time. Sherwood was sold to RF Corval Ltd around 18 months ago, and we’re about to embark on a refurbishment of 78 rooms, elevating the guest experience while staying true to the property’s character and community-focused ethos. see capThe recently refreshed dining room at Sherwood. Photo: Jono Parker The chef Chris Scott is a Kiwi chef who grew up in Hamilton. see capChris Scott, head chef at Sherwood, Queenstown. Photo: Jono Parker Tell us about your career? I started my career in New Zealand before heading to the UK on a scholarship programme through a cooking school in Waikato, which placed me at Adnams Hotels in Suffolk. That was the foundation. Then London and a real, raw introduction to Michelin-starred kitchens at 21. Hard lessons that I still work by to this day. But I always knew I’d come back. There’s something about cooking in your own country, with your own ingredients, that you can’t replicate anywhere else. [Missing Credit]The kitchen garden has grown under chef Chris Scott's tenure. Photo: Jono Parker How did you come to be at Sherwood? Post-Covid, I found myself drawn to something simpler — a different pace, a different way of doing things. Sherwood wasn’t like anywhere I’d worked before. But that was exactly the point. The potential was obvious, and sometimes that’s all you need. What is your food ethos? To be creative with a close supply chain. We’re a nation built on ingenuity, and that shows up in how we take simple, local ingredients and create something unique and memorable. The landscape isn’t a backdrop — it’s the supplier. How has the restaurant changed? When I arrived, the bones were already good — the community-led thinking, the commitment to doing things properly. What we’ve built over six years is the rigour around it. The kitchen garden has grown. The supplier relationships have deepened. The menu has gotten more confident. We take the details more seriously now, because that’s what makes a Sherwood experience stick with you. see capSherwood's kitchen garden overlooks Lake Wakatipu. Photo: Jono Parker How important is the kitchen garden? It’s everything. Seven hundred square metres of produce that tells us what goes on the plate before we’ve even picked up a knife. The garden keeps us honest; you can’t fake seasonality when it’s growing 20m from your kitchen. What is your favourite dish on the menu? At the moment, it is the Butter Fish with Seaweed Butter and Winter Brassicas. see capSherwood's spring garden tart with whipped avocado and buttermilk. Photo: Jono Parker What do you hope visitors experience? To be inspired by seasonal food. And I want them to feel like they’ve been here before, even on their first visit. You won’t need a jacket, a reservation made months in advance or a menu translated for you. What you’ll get is the best meal of your New Zealand trip, in the same room a local has on a Tuesday. That’s the New Zealand way — not fussy, but you don’t forget it, and you come back like family. What does the Michelin Star mean? For me personally — we earned it. Now we work harder for our guests every single service. But the biggest win is for the team. Having been in Michelin kitchens before, the way I operate has always made sense to me. Now it makes sense to them too. The Sherwood way — the sum of many moving parts — has a Michelin Star behind it now. The switch is on. It gives the whole team a real boost to show up and perform at that level every day, and it opens genuine doors for their careers going forward. How much pressure does it put you under to achieve it again next year? The benchmark is set. That alone has shifted the mindset across the whole team, I can see it. We’re all immensely proud, and that pride drives us to keep delivering at this level. Every service.
