New Zealand chef: Al Brown
Alister Brown - chef, TV presenter, writer and Wellington restaurant-owner - is one of the best known faces of New Zealand cuisine.
With his Wellington business partner restauranteur Steve Logan, Brown has been co-owner of the capital’s celebrated Logan Brown Restaurant & Bar since 1996.
Logan Brown received New Zealand’s highest restaurant honour - Cuisine Restaurant of the Year - in 2009.
Hunger for the Wild
Away from Wellington, Brown and Logan are best known as co-presenters of the award-winning television food series, Hunger for the Wild, which introduced great Kiwi characters and tracked New Zealand’s finest wild food to produce dishes of game and seasonal delicacies.
Brown’s latest television foray Coasters celebrates the people and stories of New Zealand’s coastal regions.
Al Brown grew up in the Wairarapa region, in the southern half of the North Island, on a sheep and cattle property.
His passion for the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing, developed early in life when he went on regular hunting holidays with his family to the coast.
After completing a culinary arts degree at the New England Culinary Institute, USA, then cooking in restaurants in North America, Europe and New Zealand, Brown returned to New Zealand and opened Logan Brown Restaurant.
Cuisine awards
Al Brown’s flair in the kitchen has earned the chef widespread recognition, including both runner-up (2006) and restaurant of the year (2009) in Cuisine magazine's annual awards.
As a New Zealand Trade & Enterprise ambassador chef, Al Brown has also represented New Zealand internationally since 2003.
In 2005, he cooked for more than 850 guests at the prestigious International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon, USA. In 2007, he was invited to present at the highly prestigious Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Master Class Series.
Award-winning author
Brown is also the author of the award-winning Go Fish (October 2009) whihc is based around his love of fishing and seafood.
Go Fish won ‘Best Single Subject’ book at the 2010 IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Cook Book Awards in Oregon, USA. It was also a winner at the 2010 NZ Post Book Awards, picking up the 'Readers' Choice' and 'Best Illustrative Non Fiction' awards.
He is currently writing a new cook book - a follow-up to Go Fish that focuses on meat cookery and outdoors cooking. Stoked is due out in late 2011.
Simple food - cooked perfectly
Al Brown says he enjoys eating just about anything but most of all, simple food cooked perfectly.
There’s nothing better, Brown says, than trout fishing, snorkelling for paua and other seafood, then sharing a barbecue with friends and family.
When not fishing or cooking, Brown and Logan are likely to be found indulging in their passion for rugby.
Restauranteur: Steve Logan
Steve Logan, manager and co-owner of Wellington’s Logan Brown Restaurant & Bar, has 25 years experience in the hospitality industry.
After graduating with a hotel and catering administration diploma in 1981, Logan gained international experience in restaurants in England, USA and Sweden working as sous chef and restaurant manager.
In 1988, Steve Logan established two successful Wellington restaurants - Brer Fox café and Café Laffite.
In 1996 Logan got together with friend Al Brown to open the 80-seat Logan Brown Restaurant & Bar. With Brown’s prowess in the kitchen, Logan concentrated on using his management skills and business experience, and in 2003 won the Felix award for 'Best Restaurateur'.
Logan says he grew up in a family that, while eating breakfast, would enthusiastically discuss what they would be having for lunch and dinner.
He says he loves cooking and best of all, sitting down to a generous spread of wonderful food and wine with great company.
"Bliss is a delicious five-course dinner matched with red wines and great friends, followed by a rugby test match against the Aussies on the box!" he says.
More information
'Wild' hosts win supreme restaurant award
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