Paris Butter is a creative fine dining restaurant on Jervois Road in Herne Bay, Auckland, built around a single evolving Evolution Menu that changes regularly with the seasons. The kitchen is led by Chef Zennon Wijlens, named Cuisine NZ's 2023/2024 Chef of the Year and Best Chef 2025 at the Metro Restaurant of the Year Awards, who was also honoured with two Chef Knives at The Best Chef Awards 2025. Co-owner and chef Nick Honeyman splits his focus between Paris Butter and the restaurant's sister venue, Le Petit Léon, in the south of France, where he recently earned his first Michelin Star.
On the floor, Restaurant Manager and Beverage Director Joe Costello brings experience from a Michelin-recognised restaurant in Ireland and hatted restaurants in Sydney and Auckland, including Sidart and The Wine Room, shaping a wine and beverage programme built around both local and international pairings.
The Evolution Menu is offered as a 6 or 8 course tasting experience, with optional Local or International wine pairings alongside. The restaurant can cater for most allergies with advance notice given at the time of booking, and diners are asked to note dietary requirements when reserving.
Paris Butter is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30pm, and closed Sunday and Monday.
On Jervois Road in Herne Bay, Paris Butter has built a reputation as one of Auckland's leading creative fine dining rooms. The restaurant describes its style simply as "Creative New Zealand Dining" — a single evolving tasting menu built around seasonal, local produce, served in a considered, story-driven format.
At the helm is Chef Zennon Wijlens, named Cuisine NZ's 2023/2024 Chef of the Year and awarded Best Chef 2025 at the Metro Restaurant of the Year Awards. His work was also recognised internationally at The Best Chef Awards 2025, where he was awarded two Chef Knives among the world's top culinary talent. With more than two decades in kitchens, Wijlens builds dishes designed to evoke emotion and tell a story, drawing on local ingredients and their textures and flavours.
Co-owner and chef Nick Honeyman has helped steer Paris Butter's transformation from bistro to creative fine dining, while also running the kitchen at sister restaurant Le Petit Léon in the south of France, where he recently earned his first Michelin Star. Honeyman's ideas, shaped by memory and travel, still show up on the Evolution Menu today.
On the floor, Restaurant Manager and Beverage Director Joe Costello brings experience from a Michelin-recognised restaurant in Ireland and hatted restaurants including Sidart and The Wine Room, and leads the wine and beverage programme.
The restaurant's food is served as a single tasting experience — the Evolution Menu — offered in 6 or 8 course formats and updated regularly to reflect the seasonal produce available. Past courses have included bread with kiwi onion dip and Northland olive oil, tuna with butternut, yolk and radish, crayfish with yuzu and chardonnay, lamb with pine nut, apple and caviar, a dedicated duck course, beef with asparagus, ponzu and mustard, and desserts such as blood orange with vanilla and koji, and pear with saffron and praline.
Diners can add a Local or International wine pairing to match each course, curated by the beverage team, or choose from a cocktail list that includes the Kiwi Negroni — made entirely with New Zealand spirits — and Oysters & Champagne, a martini-style cocktail finished with Champagne foam.
Paris Butter can cater for most allergies with prior notice, and guests are asked to flag dietary requirements when booking to ensure the kitchen can prepare accordingly. Without notice of a late arrival, the restaurant cannot guarantee the full menu selection will be available, so timely arrival matters for the tasting format.
Paris Butter is located at 166 Jervois Road, Herne Bay, and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30pm, with Sunday and Monday closed. Reservations can be made directly through the restaurant.