Kia mākona! (That’s ‘bon appétit’, or ‘enjoy your meal’ in Maori) Millennium Seoul Hilton recently welcomed New Zealand culinary ambassador Chef Mark Harman to the hotel for the week-long New Zealand Food Festival at the hotel’s Cafe 395.

The chef from the New Zealand city of Palmerston North (in the North Island), was named culinary ambassador by the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, and invited to headline the food festival which was organised by Millennium Seoul Hilton in partnership with the New Zealand embassy and the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise office in the South Korean capital.

Chef Harman is well-known in his home country, having won multiple culinary accolades, and has also served Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 2002 and cooked for the likes of Hollywood stars such as actor Bruce Willis and singer Alicia Keys.

For the food festival in Seoul, Chef Harman created 15 Kiwi-style dishes, made with fresh New Zealand produce. At the food festival, guests were treated to a delicious spread of New Zealand cuisine, and Chef Harman himself also helmed a live cooking station.

Highlights at the buffet included marinated New Zealand green lip mussels marinated with New Zealand avocado and lime oil, manuka honey roasted pumpkin and kumara (the Polynesian name for sweet potato), and grilled rosemary and garlic New Zealand lamb cutlets with salsa verde. New Zealand’s favourite desserts such as pavlova with New Zealand kiwi and cream and chocolate raspberry torte with New Zealand butter also made an appearance.