MATUA MURUPAENGA

Karl met Matua on smoko break on K Rd. Each lent up against a grimy wall, apron probably still on. You only have to look to your left to spot another cook, the mutual nod of acknowledgement before chugging back the rest of your respective duzza. Matua and his mates used to head to Candela and buy up all the last cheesecakes after doing their radio show, Karl was the one making those cheesecakes and every time Matua cleared them out Karl had to go in early the next day to make another batch. RIP to Karl’s sleep-in. Matua had also been fan-girling Cooked Plates but hadn’t connected that the infamous CP was in fact just our very own KB - until he came to Karl’s dinner at Coffee Pen. On leaving the dinner Matua noted Karl might have needed some help (which he did need) and put himself forward for the job should we ever do another one and so we have worked together on and off ever since. 

When Matua’s better half Immy spoke about Matua and his relationship to food she talked about the way his whole world revolves around it. What are we eating next, what’s in season, where’s the closest supermarket…even what’s this week’s McDonald's app deal and we realised whenever we see Matua or even talk to Matua he is doing something connected to Kai. Be it eating it, on route to it, planning to go to it or satisfied from just consuming it. No doubt that guy has a very happy puku. 

When Matua was a young teen his parents split and he was thrown into the deep end of the kitchen when he got assigned to cook for the family a few nights a week. His dad had some of the classics down, a curry, a bolognese - the solid allrounders but we aren’t talking pataks and the dolmio bro’s, Matua’s dad was doing everything from scratch - proper bases and spice mixes. So from an early age Matua understood the fundamentals for pretty much any meal. On Matua’s shifts in the family kitchen had free reign at the supermarket, and that combined with some informal education from copious amounts of the food channel led him to unearth culinary curiosities while revelling in the meditative qualities cooking can reveal to us. 

Hesitant to try his hand professionally in the kitchen and ruin the joys of cooking, Matua started a nursing degree. It’s funny because when we first found that out it felt like quite a random segway but actually on reflection despite sounding like quite different professions both cooking and nursing hold the same core values of care. Halfway through his degree, we were in and out of lockdowns and learning was 100% remote. Then suddenly the world started opening up and Matua’s not feeling that 24/7 screen time so he parks himself up working for Matt Lambert at The Lodge. His favourite part of the job was using the fancy pasta extruder. 

One evening he went to Pici for dinner and spotted the same fancy extruder he was using on the daily. A few days after that he was at a rave, where he met Chef Jono (of Pici). They geeked out over Pasta on the D floor. Stars aligned (in a way I think they often do for Matua, I can only credit some karmic shit) and Pici have a job going - and that's where he has been (well a bit of OOH-FA too) ever since. I asked him if he still loves it. He replied, if I didn’t I wouldn’t still be there. Matua spoke generously to his working environment and the crew he works with, a good reminder that good bosses do exist and that a tight ship with good people makes all the difference to a working week. 

Pici have a big emphasis on wine and wine education and through James, their sommelier, Matua started to get interested in how that all works. Matua decided to do a vintage at Domain Thompson with Tom of 15 Minute Bottles (the other half of Dave, who we have hosted before) where he got to “follow the grapes” e.g. travel from vines to the winery. Zoom (literally) ahead and he meets Amy (of Halcyon Days who we have also hosted), they chatted about food and wine and their respective reo journeys and through recognising their shared kaupapa’s and through Matua interest in wanting to learn more about wine and Amy being the discerning and generous character she is, she offered to help guide Matua into that process. And so sometime this August Matua and Immy’s label Tawhiti will release its first-ever wines!

Matua is Maori, te reo was his first language and culturally he grew up with food being the biggest gesture of love and to serve it reflects the utmost respect. Like all good chefs, his menu will be a remix of his experience to date, plentiful and thoughtful like a hakari, a hint of Italian gusto and we can only presume - loose, relaxed and kinda just free, like Matua himself. 

Something we can relate to in Matua is his ability to wear many hats and to have many a passion on the go. He’s halfway to becoming a nurse, he’s a chef, a budding winemaker, he is a hot dog connoisseur, he’s a DJ (shout out), he's a biker (the push kind) and he’s always with whanau. Whenever we see Matua he will either be on his bike or with a bunch of kids. Since we met Matua he has helped us out with a bunch of different gigs (something he does for lots of people!) and now he and Immy are our first and foremost our friends. Given Matua has always been the one helping us out it feels like a nice reversal to put him, his manaakitanga and his kai up front and centre for all to enjoy.