Kika owner James Stapley said the recognition, where the restaurant appeared in the annual San Pellegrino world’s top 50 discovery list, was a very pleasant surprise.
"There’s a few lists about, but that’s the one that’s got the most weight because after Michelin guides, that is the list now — the San Pellegrino top 50 is how restaurants are judged now."
Mr Stapley was not sure how Kika had been discovered.
He speculated the international awareness might have grown after high-profile guests, including Gordon Ramsay and Tom Cruise, visited a few years ago.
After an extensive culinary career, Mr Stapley opened the restaurant in 2017.
"I trained in London and actually worked for Gordon Ramsay for a little bit, and then worked in some Michelin star restaurants in London," he said.
He came to New Zealand and continued honing his skills in the industry.
"I was the head chef in Pegasus Bay Winery in Christchurch, and when I took over there we won restaurant of the year in Cuisine magazine," he said.
That opened further opportunities, where a job at Whare Kea brought him to Wanaka.
"It was a luxury lodge, so I did a six-course tasting menu every night for eight years," he said.
Mr Stapley has established several restaurants locally and across the regions since then,
including Francesca’s, Kika, Arc, Wee Tart and most recently Paloma.
"Kika has always been my kind of outlet. This is the closest to exactly what I want to cook and eat, so it’s very natural — I find it very easy to create stuff here," he said.
Quality was the priority, which started with good produce, and he designed menus based on that.
He credited his team, whose ideas helped in the collaborative process.
"... a lot of the time when you’re working in a restaurant as a head chef, you’ve got all the day-to-day stuff to do that you can’t actually move forward. That’s the advantage here, because I have got a brilliant team.
"When it comes to it we can put them [menus] all together and actually have the time to work on them and get them right," he said.
Many of the staff had been at the restaurant for years.
The goal had always been about bringing people into Wanaka.
"As a whole, making Wanaka a food destination, everyone’s going to win — that’s my goal.
"I’d love people to be like, you need to come to Wanaka because there’s so many good restaurants and I think we’re in a really good place here," he said.
The top 50 recognition was not the most important thing, but it was nice to be recognised by peers or international judges, he said.
"It’s nice to know where you sit, which is a real boost for all the team."
