TOAST & OAK is a restaurant and wine bar on Shotover Street in central Queenstown, built around a simple conviction: great dining begins long before a plate reaches the table. The team celebrates the very best of Aotearoa, guided by European technique and hospitality, with menus shaped by the seasons and a deep respect for the producers behind every ingredient — from the vineyard, the farm and the orchard to foraged ingredients and native botanicals that connect each dish to the landscapes around them.
The restaurant was founded by a group of hospitality professionals from different corners of the world: Giulio and Nathaly Barducci, Romain and Casady Cunat, Hayden Davison and Chad Cleaver. Giulio, originally from Florence, leads the culinary direction as executive chef and wine director; Nathaly, from Brazil, is the sommelier and service leader; Romain, from France, runs guest experience; Casady, from the States, leads brand and creative direction; Hayden, from Australia, holds operations together; and Chad, a New Zealander of Ngāi Tahu descent, was a believer in the project from the very start.
Service runs with snacks from 4pm and dinner from 5pm, and the kitchen's cooking has taken shape through menu formats including Expressions, Essence and à la carte. Everything moves with the seasons, so the sample menu online is just that — a sense of their style rather than a fixed offering. Alongside the food sits an equally considered wine programme: a long, ever-evolving list of classic vintages and new discoveries, presented not as a test but as a journey, one glass at a time.
That approach has earned serious recognition: a Two Hat rating at the Cuisine Good Food Awards 2026 (up from One Hat in 2025), selection in the Michelin Guide 2026, two placements in the Louis Roederer Top 100 Sommeliers 2026, Three Silver Stars from Star Wine List 2026, a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2025, a Silver Star on the 2025 Best Newcomer List, and second place in TVNZ's Taste of Art 2025.
On Shotover Street in the heart of Queenstown, TOAST & OAK pairs a season-driven kitchen with a wine programme that now ranks among the most decorated in the country. The idea behind the restaurant is stated plainly: great dining begins long before a plate reaches the table. It begins in the vineyard, on the farm, in the orchard — and with the producers who dedicate themselves to exceptional ingredients.
The food celebrates the very best of Aotearoa, guided by European technique and hospitality and by a deep respect for the seasons. Foraged ingredients and native botanicals tie the menus to the landscapes around Queenstown, and the kitchen works to use ingredients responsibly — celebrating local producers and minimising waste. Menus change frequently with the harvest and the chefs' latest creations, so the sample menu published online is exactly that: a sample.
Service runs with snacks from 4pm and dinner from 5pm, and the cooking has moved through several shapes — Expressions, Essence and à la carte — a reflection of a kitchen that treats the menu as something alive rather than fixed.
TOAST & OAK was founded by a group of hospitality professionals from different corners of the world, brought together by a shared love of food, wine and genuinely memorable experiences. At the heart of it are Giulio and Nathaly Barducci, Romain and Casady Cunat, Hayden Davison and Chad Cleaver.
Giulio, originally from Florence, leads the culinary direction as executive chef and wine director — a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers who says pasta is in his blood but loves highlighting New Zealand's produce in every way he can. Nathaly, from Brazil, is the restaurant's sommelier and service leader; her curiosity about wine took her to Italy, where she met Giulio, and the rest is Queenstown's good fortune. Romain Cunat, who studied catering in France and ran venues in France and Australia, is Director of Guest Experience, while his wife Casady leads the brand and creative direction. Hayden Davison holds operations together, Chad Cleaver — Māori, of Ngāi Tahu descent — believed in the project from the start, and a floor team led by restaurant manager Joe Daniels and bar manager Max Mallinson completes the picture.
Wine is half of TOAST & OAK's identity, and the team is refreshingly clear about it: wine shouldn't be intimidating, but a journey. The list is long and ever-evolving, showcasing classic vintages alongside new discoveries, and guests are encouraged to ask questions and leave having tasted something they have never had before. 'Come explore the world, one glass at a time' is the standing invitation.
The accolades back it up. Two of the team placed #13 and #35 in the Louis Roederer Top 100 Sommeliers 2026, and the list earned Three Silver Stars from Star Wine List in 2026 — including Best By-the-Glass List and Best Italian Wine List — plus a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2025. A weekly wine series in the Journal digs into the bottles currently exciting the cellar, from an original Super Tuscan like Luce 2000 to Marlborough's Hans Herzog Mistral.
The wider dining world has taken notice. TOAST & OAK is a Selected Restaurant in the Michelin Guide 2026, and at the Cuisine Good Food Awards — New Zealand's most respected restaurant rating system — it moved from One Hat in 2025 to Two Hats in 2026, a rating reserved for kitchens delivering food, service and hospitality of exceptional, sustained quality, judged by anonymous professional judges. Add a Silver Star on the Best Newcomer List in 2025 and second place in TVNZ's Taste of Art the same year, and you have a remarkably decorated young restaurant.
You will find TOAST & OAK at 15 Shotover Street in central Queenstown — a room of checkered stairs, a chef's table and a wine cellar guests see plenty of. Reservations can be made through the website, gift vouchers are available online, and there is a functions offering for private events. Given the room's growing reputation, booking ahead is a sensible move; and if a particular bottle has caught your eye on the online list, the team suggests calling ahead, as good wine tends to dance out the door. Reach them at info@toastandoak.nz or on 03 442 TOAST. Come at 4pm for snacks or from 5pm for dinner — and come curious.