Kelli is the editor and owner of New Zealand’s iconic and much-loved food and wine magazine Cuisine and Director of Slick & Sassy Media Ltd. An award-winning journalist and broadcaster Kelli sits on the judging panels for some of the world’s most prestigious restaurant rating lists and has been a guest judge on Masterchef NZ. She’s also Executive Chair of Aotearoa’s only national and independent restaurant awards. Kelli brings to the table a vast knowledge of the hospitality and media industry and a fierce dedication to promoting the evolving New Zealand food culture to the world, with a view to claiming a place for New Zealand as a premium food and drink destination. And boy does she eat at that table a LOT!

But wait there’s more - A fierce advocate for mentoring and supporting women into careers within her industry Kelli is the founder and director of Women In Food & Drink Aotearoa New Zealand a fast growing network that brings together professional women working within the many diverse layers of the food and drink industry to share ideas and knowledge.

1. Who taught you to cook, and what’s the first thing you learned to cook?

I taught myself to cook, my mum was always the star in our kitchen and I happily ate the results of every performance. As a youngster I travelled a lot and It wasn’t until I had a family of my own that I needed to learn to cook. OK, cone of silence now. I think the first meal I cooked for my husband was from a store-bought taco kit. And he’s still with me! Who’da thunk? 

2. What’s one of your most treasured food memories?

Food memories are so important. To this day whipped cream and jam take me back to the deep-fried donuts that mum used to make – just for us – after hours at her restaurant when no one was looking. A basil pesto transports me to a little family-run restaurant in Rome, kimchi to the bowls of somewhat slimy fermented veg in Seoul served alongside a delicious omurice (a fried rice-stuffed omelette dish). A simple spring onion finds 6 year old me wide-eyed as mum shreds it and submerges it in iced water to produce magical green curls, and the thought of a blue swimmer crab has me back in the estuary with my sister, crab net in hand, dreaming of the sweet white meat that we will soon devour with white sliced bread and butter and a squeeze of lemon.

We are so lucky to have these memories and the deeply positive emotions they can bring. I remember my horror when I first realised that not everyone has a life filled with good food and I remain extremely grateful that I have. 

3. Best and worst things your Mum or Dad cooked?

My mum religiously served me a big slab of liver once a week as she was determined to get in the B12. No sauce, no onions, no seasoning, just liver. There are no adequate words to describe this dish – and that says a lot coming from me. I can still remember chewing furiously and trying to stick big wads of it along the chrome edging of the Laminex table top when no one was looking.

4. Who would your dream dinner guest/s (alive or not) be and what would you cook for them? 

I’d give anything to have one more meal with my mum and I’d have to roast her a chook.

5. What are the ingredients or flavours you could not live without?

All of them. I eat for a living and respect them all in equal measure
Martinis, on the other hand, are not created equal.

 6. What’s the one ingredient you always splurge on, no matter the cost? 

Good bread and good cheese.

7. Name your best tip, trick or hack for entertaining at home?

Get the husband to prep the paella the night before.

8. What do you cook when you just can’t be bothered or when time is short? 

A grilled cheese sandwich. It never lets me down.

9. What’s currently on your playlist when you’re in the kitchen? 

Thanks to a spectacular dinner at Capitol in Wellington and a tremendous chat with co-owner Kate Hutchison, I’m currently listening to the playlists of Paul Schrader, Kyle Street and Christopher Tubbs – plus Kate’s personal playlist is on constant repeat. We had quite a convo about the importance of the playlist in a restaurant dining experience. The result was this article. It’s a great read.

10. What’s your ultimate food treat?

At the moment? Thick slices of juicy summer tomatoes on a Japanese rice cracker – those nice big thick round ones that are glazed with soy sauce – drizzled with Kewpie mayo and a sprinkling of finely sliced spring onion. Or fresh Lebanese bread with massive dollops of home-made tzatziki so I can use up all of the Lebanese cucumbers that the husband has grown.

11. What’s the most memorable thing you’ve ever eaten, and where did you eat it?

A super-fresh sardine, speared on a stick and grilled over an open fire on a beach in the South of Spain. Skin that crackled and popped, smokey, soft, sweet-salty flesh. So simple. And yet, I’ve never tasted anything like it again. 

12. Name a favourite destination for food/dining?

As in a country? Christ. How to pick. So many. Top favourite? Japan. Why? Because of the constant element of surprise. The complexities of their culture can hit you in the face through their food. The crossover of the new world and tradition at every turn. I just LOVE that. In fact, I love it so much it is the theme for our next issue of Cuisine and the first of a deep dive into exploring the diversity of our global table with new eyes.

As in a restaurant? Well, that would just be rude! They are all my babies…

13. What's the dish you'd travel across the world for? 

I’m currently intrigued by this… 

An attempt by Rasmus Munk to create the perfect omelette that involves a brittle egg yolk membrane that is shaped in a 3D mold, filled with egg yolk and Comte cream cheese and topped with a 0.5 mm thin slice of jamon – apparently that’s the optimal thickness for that melt-in-the-mouth moment – and finished with a brush of butter that has been infused with black pepper using ultrasound.

But I’d settle for a grilled cheese sandwich with Massimo Bottura at Osteria Francescana. He told me he would make it for me with his famous Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano. I should have probably followed up on that, huh? He is an incredible human. If you have a moment grab a listen to this little convo we had in Melbourne back in 2012. So much has changed. Or has it? 

14. Where's one food destination you're yet to visit? 

It is a great tragedy – for me – that I still haven’t been to Mexico. Decades ago in Dubai I worked with an incredible Mexican chef at a time when I thought Mexican food was little more than Tex-Mex. OMG his sauces. I mean O-M-G! He taught me how complex and clever – and mind-blowingly delicious – authentic Mexican cuisine can be. At the time I couldn’t believe how many layers of flavour he could pack into just one bite. I was thrilled to dine at Flatiron hotspot Cosme in New York a few years ago while Daniela Soto-Innes was still leading their kitchen. Her razor clam tostada with peanut salsa macha had me on a gloriously knife-edged balance of umami and acidity.

I’m still to have my trip to Mexico, but when I do top of my list will be a visit to Daniela’s new baby Rubra closely followed by Quintonil and Pujol. If I can get in.

15. As Cuisine editor what is one of your most memorable moments?

Just one? Oh God sooooo many…

• Being told - 3 weeks into the job - by senior management at Fairfax that their audience no longer valued brands, which devastated me at the time, but ultimately led to me pursuing the option to purchase Cuisine.

• Listening to Al Brown - just after I had arrived in NZ - talk about the intense flavour volume of NZ ingredients.

• Meeting Lauraine Jacobs - Petrifying! (Ed - fact check… true)

• Breakfast in a tiny bar outside Tsukiji Fish Market with Josh Emett, Tetsuya & Shannon Bennett 

• Developing Women In Food & Drink Aotearoa, New Zealand

• Suggesting to Wolfgang Puck that he might need to change the main ingredient in his signature Bigeye tuna dish. Which led to the group sourcing a more sustainable fish species.

• Calling out the free-range’ chook

• This was one of the best lunches ever

There’s not enough room here can I come back? (Ed - yes, you need to do a part 2)

What I’m loving at the moment…

At Cuisine we are continuously working with some of the best recipe developers in the biz to create unique ideas that will inspire home cooks to roll up their sleeves with glee and immerse themselves in the diverse flavours of Aotearoa. To name my all-time favourite would be impossible, still, I am currently totally in love with this feature written for our latest issue by the very talented Fiona Hugues - one of our TOP 50 WOMEN IN FOOD & DRINK for 2024 - who is not only a talented photographer, stylist and cook but a writer who I think has incredible potential for growth. Fiona articulates ideas and thoughts that are a terrific read and refreshingly – sometimes brutally – honest. I love that. 

And anyone who can give me a bitter and twisted salad with a side serve of chips, dip and champagne is a good friend indeed. Click to view Fiona’s recipes.