Meet Your Chef, Ivan Savae
/25 February 2022
From Auckland To Alpine
Ivan Savae’s passion for cooking started in his humble family kitchen on the outskirts of Auckland. From a young age Ivan’s mother and family taught him the value of independence and learning basic life skills. An important component of these skills involved cooking traditional Polynesian cuisine such as oka, fresh fish marinated in coconut cream and lemon, similar to ceviche. Another dish was Faiai fe’e which is slow-cooked octopus with coconut cream and onions. Cooking and enjoying food together remain an integral part of Ivan’s family and community.
“Cooking traditional Polynesian food directed my path by allowing me to explore food. It opened my eyes to different cuisines and created a passion that eventually led to a career.”
In the early 2000’s Ivan’s professional career as a chef started in Auckland working in restaurants creating modern cuisines with French, Mediterranean, and South Pacific flavours. Through these experiences, Ivan was granted the opportunity to develop and expand his skills in various other countries, including Australia and Japan. Upon returning to New Zealand in 2010, Ivan’s culinary journey ventured into private dining and catering until he was welcomed to the Minaret Station family in 2018.
Minaret Station provides a unique setting for chefs to express their creativity. With no set menus, Ivan thrives on having the opportunity to innovate and dream up new dishes to fit the season with some of New Zealand’s finest ingredients. It truly is a culinary journey our guest’s experience, and our chefs are your guide. Showcasing seafood, such as crayfish (lobster), in its freshest form sourced from the West Coast of New Zealand and surrounding Fiords as well as local Lumina Lamb and farmed venison from Minaret Station’s own working high-country station, food transparency is an important value of Minaret Station’s food story.
“Knowing where our food is sourced is key in our line of work. Providing guests with knowledgeable information about the products, growers and the different techniques used is all part of the experience. Having a relationship with local suppliers and knowing the effort going into the produce helps with my creativity and excites me about the opportunity of what can be created”.
Having a strong connection to the farm, being heavily involved in sustainability initiatives at the station and knowing exactly where our produce comes from provides further inspiration to Ivan in preparing dishes to share with guests.
“What I enjoy most about being part of the Minaret station family is meeting guests from all walks of life. Guests are always interested in knowing about the dishes I have created for them and I like to take them through the experience of being in my world and take them along on the journey. There is no better feeling than seeing our guests leave happy and satisfied after every course”
Life Outside the Lodge
When not cooking for guests at Minaret Station, Ivan enjoys dabbling with landscaping, interior decorating, keeping active at the gym, playing sports such as volleyball, basketball and socializing with friends and family. Our region affords the luxury of endless adventure, both at Minaret Station and in the surrounding landscapes, which continuously provide a canvas to captivate creativity and inspiration.
