The Green is an intimate 8-seater chef's table in Hamilton, overlooking the Waikato River, built entirely around the region it sits in. The daily-changing tasting menu showcases Waikato suppliers, growers and artisan producers, with the restaurant describing its aim as building a network of small independent businesses while delivering an intimate, unique dining experience.
The kitchen is led by chef Karl, who returned to Hamilton to open the restaurant after working in some of New Zealand's best restaurants and lodges, most recently as Executive Chef at Huka Lodge. Before that, he was Chef/Patron of the Old Downton Lodge Restaurant in Ludlow, England, which achieved four AA Rosettes, placing it in the top 3% of restaurants in the country, and earned a place in the 2017-2020 Michelin Guides. Sommelier Drew, who spent six years at Huka Lodge in Taupo, oversees the wine programme and pairings.
The restaurant's five guiding elements - the Waikato, people, local produce, sustainability and the seasons - shape a six-course degustation menu that changes daily, built on ingredients picked that morning wherever possible and sourced from an extensive network of regional growers, farmers and producers.
The Green is an 8-seater chef's table in Hamilton, overlooking the Waikato River, built around a simple idea: showcase the very best the Waikato region has to offer, one small, intimate seating at a time. The restaurant's tasting menu changes daily with the seasons, built to highlight local suppliers, growers and artisan producers rather than following a fixed, unchanging menu.
The restaurant describes its food as shaped by five core elements: the Waikato, people, local produce, sustainability and the seasons. Those elements drive a six-course degustation menu that's rebuilt daily, with an emphasis on ingredients picked that same morning and served the same day wherever possible. Rather than treating suppliers as a distant supply chain, The Green works closely with growers for guidance on what's genuinely at its best each week.
Chef Karl leads the kitchen, having returned to Hamilton to make the restaurant a reality after working in some of New Zealand's best restaurants and lodges, most recently as Executive Chef at Huka Lodge. Before returning to New Zealand, he was Chef/Patron of the Old Downton Lodge Restaurant in Ludlow, England, earning four AA Rosettes - placing the restaurant in the top 3% nationally - and a listing in the 2017-2020 Michelin Guides.
Alongside Karl, sommelier Drew oversees the wine programme, having spent six years fine-tuning his knowledge of wine at Huka Lodge in Taupo after finishing university and travelling abroad in pursuit of a sommelier career. Together, they build a menu where food and wine pairings are considered course by course rather than as an afterthought.
A typical tasting menu at The Green might open with a Bacon, Egg Pie snack, followed by local honey bread with cultured butter, a Tomtit Salad with smoked cheese curd, and a fish course of kingfish and eel with miso, dashi, kohlrabi, kaffir lime and shiso. The main course centres on lamb with carrot, mint, black garlic, buckwheat and hay, moving through a tamarillo and crème fraîche pre-dessert into a dessert of apple, bay leaf, fennel and sorrel, and finishing with a white chocolate and hibiscus fudge. An optional cheese course supplement is also available for anyone wanting to extend the meal further. At present, the kitchen is unable to accommodate vegan diets or egg allergies.
The Green's supplier list reads like a map of the Waikato's small producers - Tomtit Farm and Innerwild, Magills Butchers, Oak Range Wagyu, Dream View Dairy, Over The Moon Cheese, Cambridge Distillery, Raglan Chocolate, Bootleg Brewery, Matangi Truffle Lodge, Hunter and Gatherer Bee Co, Te Aroha Spring Water, and dozens more spanning meat, dairy, produce, drinks and condiments. It's a deliberate choice by the restaurant to build a visible network of small independent businesses rather than sourcing anonymously.
Dinner service runs Tuesday to Saturday, with drinks from 6.30pm and dinner from 7.00pm. Lunches, and a version of the experience delivered as "The Green at Home", are available by enquiry via email rather than as a standing offering. Given the table only seats eight, booking ahead is essential for anyone wanting to experience the restaurant's daily-changing take on the Waikato.