The Shed’s head chef, Yutak Son, orders entire beasts, breaking them down himself in order to use the whole animal for the restaurant’s changing Nose-to-Tail option. The special cut always changes — on a day we went, it was lamb shoulder — and so do the house-cured meats and the butcher’s skewers. It’s a reflection of their pride in knowing exactly where everything comes from — for some produce, that’s The Shed’s own backyard. The menu has a map of Waiheke Island and wider Aotearoa detailing the ingredients’ provenance.
It’s a cliché but not untrue to say food tastes better when you have some understanding of the story behind it. The Pakaraka pickles come from Pakaraka Permaculture, a regenerative farm near Thames, and the baby carrots, turnips and radishes were some of the tastiest pickles we’ve had. Fermentation shows up again in the fried bread with sambal, coriander and sauerkraut, which is a must-order — the tangy sambal is delicious.
Though the menu has plenty of meat, we love the dish of ViaVio scamorza, which tasted like a heavenly vegetarian boil-up. A broth was packed with umami and dough boys, plus cheese lying in wait at the bottom, all melty and stretchy. All of which is to say: while there’s plenty of fantastic wine here, and elsewhere on the island, believe us when we say the food alone is worth the ferry round trip