words ALANA SCHETZER
DELICIOUS
DUNEDIN
Y
ou may not have heard of the New
Zealand town of Dunedin, but it
packs a lot of avour. Located at one
of the southernmost points of the
South Island, it is the sort of place
that seems designed for hearty
drinks in front of a re, a gourmet
picnic in its green woods and experimental
degustation.
With a population of just under 130,000
but sprawling across 3,314 square kilometres,
Dunedin is small enough to feel like a genuine
getaway from big city life, but not so small
that your options are restricted. Dotted with
19th-century buildings, an NRL stadium
and university, it’s a big city bundled into this
southern pocket of New Zealand.
Along with food, Dunedin’s natural
environment is its calling card for visitors. Be
prepared for bracing fresh air while wandering
the intense greenery of the surrounding hills,
where huge parcels of land are dotted with trees
and bushes, or take a scenic train ride with Dunedin
Railways through Taieri Gorge, a 40-kilometre-long
canyon of exceptional natural beauty in Central
Otago’s wilderness.
Dunedin is emerging as a fresh foodie destination,
where local produce is mixed with international avours
and a broad range of creative culinary in uences. One of
the town’s newer restaurants, Moiety, illustrates this “local
but global” approach. Created inside the historic Terminus
building, a former 19th-century hotel, Moiety has a strong
Japanese in uence that is expressed through its dedication
to using fresh, local ingredients.
Chef Sam Gasson, along with partner and head of house
Kim Underwood, opened Moiety in 2018 a er spending
six years abroad, including stints in Europe and Australia.
Both Dunedin natives, they returned home to create
something that re ected their own approach to food.
“I’ve always really enjoyed Japanese food, with some of
the chefs I worked with during my early days being really
big on Japanese, so that came through to me. When I
travelled to Japan, it really rea rmed what I loved about
the food, their techniques and respect for the ingredients,”
says Gasson.
TASTE