Chef, creator, and innovator—a proud New Zealander—Vaughan Mabee is the Head Chef at Amisfield (Queenstown, Lake Hayes).
Amisfield has been making waves internationally, placing New Zealand fine dining on the global map. Just last week, it was featured in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 51-100 list for 2025, marking the first time a New Zealand restaurant has received such high acclaim. This follows hard on the heels of another significant award for Amisfield in April, where it was named the world’s third-best restaurant of the year by Food and Wine’s third annual Global Tastemakers Awards.
We were fortunate to spend an hour with Vaughan recently; his energy and passion were infectious, and we came away believing that Aotearoa New Zealand has the potential to be one of the best food destinations in the world!
And the connection to Dilworth? Vaughan spent his intermediate years at Dilworth’s Junior School. He is an old boy from the Class of 1998, but more about that later.
Amisfield’s Success
Vaughan explained that these latest accolades for Amisfield were fantastic to receive; however, they represent just one of many awards the restaurant has gained in recent years, steps along the path to sustained success.
“We got a Three Knives award - only 90 restaurants worldwide got that, we retained our Three Hats, Cuisine Good Food Guide Award, and we’ve been the best restaurant of the Year in NZ for four years.”
Vaughan believes that these recent wins, brilliant for Amisfield, are also great for New Zealand:
“It is good to be recognised through awards as it means New Zealand is getting traction globally now – here we are at the bottom of the world and it is just great to be in these lists.”
A Love Affair with Food
Vaughan’s passion for food traces back to his childhood. His mum was an excellent cook, and his love for cooking began early. In fact, he states he loves it so much that he can’t imagine wanting to do anything else in life!
Unsurprisingly, Vaughan’s memories of his time at Dilworth are also characterised by food! “Chicken Cordon Bleu, Bolognese, Pasta, Bumper Bars on our breaks – the food was good and I loved going to dinner,” he recalls. He mentions covering a lot during his intermediate years—sports, piano, art classes, and singing in the choir.
Then his mum remarried, and he attended Grammar, so we can’t claim Vaughan Mabee as totally ours, but we are so proud of all he has achieved and will go on to achieve for Amisfield and for ‘brand New Zealand.’
He left New Zealand for overseas in the late 90s, starting out in California and then heading to Europe, where he trained, he says, “Under my idols in top restaurants trying to grow and learn.” He mentions it wasn’t an easy life: “You really have to love this job; long hours require fire, passion, and drive to keep it up—it is part of the job.” He laughs when he says, “The world is more gentle these days!”
He returned to New Zealand for his brother’s wedding with no intention of staying, but he did. Of course, it was a good experience that drew him back—catching fresh snapper and eating it with Tip Top white bread and butter.
He says, “I can’t remember eating anything so good, and I had an epiphany.”
As part of that trip, he headed to the South Island. He stepped onto the grounds at Amisfield, and that was that. He comments, “I walked in, saw this garden, connected with the land the food comes from, saw this special building, and thought—this is it”.
He joined the Amisfield team fourteen years ago in 2011. He says, “I love it down here.”
Vaughan credits John Darby, Amisfield’s owner, with providing him with so much support and vision. He comments that, like any restaurant, they have had their ups and downs, wins and fails, and then there was Covid… But he says, “John has given me the canvas to create splendid food and pair it with amazing wine”.
Belief in Aotearoa, New Zealand
He believes that Amisfield just gets better every week, and now the “Whole world is watching us”. He also passionately believes in New Zealand:
“The untold story of the beauty and bounty of New Zealand food paired with beautiful organic wine is mind-blowing.”
He remarked that many people who love fine dining have never travelled to New Zealand. Still, it remains on their list. Vaughan is driven as he puts it, to make Amisfield “One of the best restaurants in the world and a small spike to New Zealand tourism.”
A self-described “Father, husband, and hunter,” Vaughan states that the day he doesn’t feel excited to go into the kitchen is when he gives up.
The search to be better each day is what drives Vaughan. “He said, “I have been a chef for 25 years, but I still love it. I am still super excited to walk into that kitchen. The art, the creative side, and the hospitality side. I love that someone from some weird corner of the earth will come into this place and leave so happy. How people feel when they leave here matters to me.”
This world-renowned chef's magic ingredients aren’t simply his skill and innovative talent for creativity and cooking, but also his passion for ‘brand New Zealand’ – “We have so many special flavours that we just take for granted here.”
After an hour with Vaughan, we came away thinking about endless possibilities—he might just be the tonic for brand New Zealand!