Bringing people together with kai in the southernmost town in Aotearoa

Hayz @ The Anchorage was established just over three years ago, eight months before our first lockdown. I’ve been in the hospitality industry for over twenty years, and I’ve worked alongside some amazing chefs, but I was always frustrated that there were very few establishments in Southland serving a range of kaimoana and tītī. I wanted to challenge myself and showcase what we have in Bluff and Murihiku, using nostalgic kai dishes from my childhood modernised for a restaurant setting.

When the previous owners of the Anchorage closed the café and bar, I made the decision to overhaul not just the name and premises but also the menu. I changed it gradually. As we grew, we could afford to bring more high-end dishes onto our menu, utilising specials and showcasing seasonality. Growing up in Bluff, there was always an abundance of kaimoana – crayfish, pāua, blue cod, shellfish, and much more – so it made sense to include this traditional local kai on the menu.

Our menu is about changing the way that we eat, shifting people from a meat-and-three-veg mindset and giving them a Māori cuisine experience that they often don’t have access to. The majority of our dishes have a whakapapa, therefore the use of our cultural ingredients, flavours and cooking techniques needs to be protected. Our values are important, and we pay respect to our food resources and our ecosystems, preserving the practices involved with procuring, producing and connecting with our kai.

I specialise in kaimoana, but we also showcase sweetbreads – another nostalgic dish that isn’t on many menus – and tītī, which we source ourselves. My whānau harvest tītī from Kaihuka – one of the muttonbird islands near Rakiura Stewart Island. Our customers who are new to tītī are fascinated by the story I share about traditional harvesting – from capture, to process, to the plate.

My attraction to kai is influenced by growing up within a large whānau. I come from generations of cooks (chefs in their own right) and harvesters, hunters and gatherers. At a young age, my siblings and I learned to garden, fish, gather kaimoana off the rocks and forage for food. I learned a lot from my mum, she made amazing dishes out of simple ingredients and never wasted anything. Mum could cater events, including whānau gatherings, creating nutritious platters and three-course meals using basic resources and on a shoestring budget.

For the past two years I have been growing vegetables and herbs to assist with the restaurant’s demand, as well as being sustainable where possible. All our waste, which is minimal, is given to farmers to feed livestock. We also support local businesses – all our fresh fish, mussels, paua, and crayfish are sourced from local providers, along with whitebait and cocktail pāua that are produced all year round without touching our wild resources.

I descend from Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Raukawa. I was born and raised in Bluff and am a solo mother of four children – Izaya, 19; Adrian, 12; and I have twin daughters, Manaia and Lilliana, who are nine. They’ve been part of my culinary journey; they’ve been surrounded by kai their entire lives, and traditional Māori kai plays a big part in our whānau. I take them foraging with me and teach them to identify edible native plants. It is not very often you have kids who would choose codfish eyes over a bar of chocolate. Like me, they don’t waste anything. Even our leftovers are repurposed. They’re also part of all the community initiatives that I have driven, such as the Christmas hamper drive where we fundraise over the year and make hampers for the elderly in our community.

Overall, I am fortunate to have a big, close whānau, friends, and a community full of incredible people who support me. Since my separation, this journey has also been about finding out about myself and what I wanted to do in life. Building on my interest and love for traditional Māori kai has exceeded my expectations. I want to remind women in business who are struggling to keep going, to keep persevering, you’re stronger than you think. If you feel like it’s right, don’t worry about all the negative. Just keep pushing through, because every small bit of progress leads to big progress. Keep aspiring.

Glossary. Kaimoana, seafood. Tītī, muttonbird/sooty shearwater. Whakapapa, genealogy, lineage. Whānau, family.