Chef Bevan Smith says staying true to beliefs, consistency and just plain hard work day in and day out are the key ingredients to Riverstone Kitchen's success.
On Monday night, the North Otago restaurant was named runner-up best regional restaurant in the 2014 Cuisine NZ Good Food Awards, previously known as the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards.
Hamilton's Chim Choo Ree was named KitchenAid best regional restaurant, while the supreme award of restaurant of the year went to Sidart, in Auckland.
Mr Smith and wife Monique, who opened Riverstone Kitchen, 12km north of Oamaru, in November 2006, said being named runner-up was a reward for their team's hard work, commitment and dedication across all aspects of the restaurant.
In brief, judges, who assessed a short-list of about 80 restaurants throughout the country, described Riverstone Kitchen as ''fresh, local and brilliant''.
''Bevan Smith's food is exemplary, much of it sourced from the restaurant's extensive vegetable gardens and orchards,'' they wrote.
''Seasonal salads are a delight, crispy-skinned salmon with champ and olive tapenade and bitter greens a revelation and the blackcurrant souffle with lemon ice-cream sublime.''
Each restaurant was visited anonymously by judges who paid for their meals, and the top-scoring restaurants were then revisited to determine the winners of the awards.
Mr and Mrs Smith employ 20 staff, with additional part-timers, and it was through their ''hard graft day in and day out'' that they celebrated such success.
''It's a great win for the staff. It's something for them to feel proud of,'' he said.
Riverstone Kitchen is one of 20 restaurants in the country to have ''One Hat'' rating under a new rating system and the highest scoring South Island restaurant.
Mrs Smith said the award shattered any illusion that a restaurant's location could hinder success and proved that a casual-style restaurant could be among the country's best.
Riverstone Kitchen was the supreme winner in 2010.
