KIRK LAFFERTY

In 2016 I was invited down to cook for 'Wellington On A Plate.'  Wellingtons yearly food festival. Short works of my fiction added to the event. I created banquets for the  second week of the festival  in 30 Upstairs Art Gallery  Courtney Place Wellington, Lamb smoker hanging out the window, hotplate on a shelf, all without a kitchen.    A Cook A Gallery A Painting A Feast The Event ran over a week with diners enjoying banquet meals  each night presented as 'Art Cuisine' in their own right.  I was asked to base it all on Abby Meakin's still life painting  which hung in the Gallery behind the Diners. The Middle Course was served on long banquet boards,  each person received a scroll of my short fiction and poetry  to indulge in and converse over. This Dessert the finale of the night was Audible. Wasabi and Coconut Panne Cotta  Ginger Soil / Lemongrass Jelly Yuzu...

After watching a masterchef episode I thought I would play with egg white rafting to get a really clear oxtail soup. This was the result I could have thinned it down a bit for transparency but sometimes the photo has to suffer when you are trying to be honest to the dish . Many oxen died in the creation of this dish .  Notting Hill Kitchen Parnell Auckland

Chambord Red velvet cake                    As the new year arrives new and exciting prospects arrive with it . 2012 was an eventful year with lots of challenges in running the kitchen in a exciting and eventful theatre. 80,000 people came through our doors.At the end of last year just as we were setting up shop we jumped in head first catering events including cooking for The All Blacks and Japanese rugby teams around 'The World Cup'. There was bustling music theatre and burlesque all with their demands small and large catering events from 20 to 450 .The little kitchen, and I really do mean little, had my supportive and talented staff pumping out food which many commercial kitchens would find a challenge all to great response.The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra  came into their Green Room to find in addition to their complimentary catering a Ukulele carved out of a watermelon. A travel trip to africa was ca...

This Photograph from a recent photo session in Mexico city was taken by a very talented Argentinian Photographer Mario Martinez Celis and captures much of what I aim for in my fiction based Art cuisine . The plate is a calamari ink pasta with morels Prosciutto and a queso azul creamed sauce with a sharp kick of chili oil . The dish itself, especially the way it has been captured to me alludes towards a dark island exotic and colorful with sunset meandering sauces weeping across the plate . It has many varied textures and flavors and begs for a menu to pull you into its flavors and story.An ideal candidate for fusion fiction. Lemon tartlette mixed forest berries and a white wine poached pear with saffron threads bows to the almond tuille biscuit 2004 Sint Marteen

Castles of chicken liver pate , reduced basil and queso azul , forboding and mythical ,rich and strong like a grand in some other time monument seeping into history. On Charter early in the morning on MY/ Impulsive we passed a beautiful island just north of Naples Italy where the guests all brought out there cameras trying to capture the mornings sunlight gleaming through some castle ruins. I did the same at dinner time .