Chef gives managed isolation meals a makeover

A man in managed isolation is transforming every breakfast, lunch and dinner he receives in his Wellington hotel from a boxed meal to a plate that would not be out of place in a fine dining restaurant.

• This story was first published by RNZ

Sam Low returned home from Melbourne almost two weeks ago.

He told Morning Report it was a creative outlet and a way of making food look way more delicious.

"It started as a joke with my friends in Melbourne and as a farewell gift I was given a really nice chef knife and tweezers and was just 'why not just re-plate every single meal that I get and make it look boujee (a slang word that is an abbreviation of the word bourgeoisie)'.

"The breakfast stuff has been my favourite - you can actually eat those things cold."

Low has been in the coffee industry for the past 10 years but food has been his "side passion".

"I used to run a contemporary Chinese pop-up in New Zealand. The pandemic made me re-evaluate my career in coffee."