KIER IBAÑEZ

Pre Roses, Karl was ticking away at Cooked Plates and did a one-off dinner at his old stomping ground Coffee Pen. Somehow Kier caught wind of it and brought a bunch of his lovely mates to come and try some of Karl’s food. That is when we first met Kier. He was so enthusiastic about our dinner and we loved his genuine curiosity about what we were doing. We have kept in touch ever since. 

Kier moved to Aotearoa when he has 21. His mother is a true home baker, with a passion for baked goods running so deep in her bones that she ran an unofficial tuck shop from her house in the Philippines, supplying their village Cebu with all her favourite treats - classic, bakery icons like brownies and mousse cakes. Kier was of course the natural sous chef to his chief mama baker (check out his food Instagram here).

With food and cooking being such an integral part of his upbringing, it is no surprise he knew exactly what direction he wanted to go in when it came time to decide what career path to take and so in his early 20s, he enrolled in culinary school. His first job was a classic first job - where he cooked food in a rest home. He then worked at a city cafe called fond(ou), where he found another food family in his employers. We feel it speaks volumes to people's character when the employee and the employed manage to blend a working relationship into a lifelong friendship.

After Kier visited Karls Coffee Pen dinner, he said was inspired to do his own - and so, The Long Table was born. The Long Table is what it says it is - it is long tables in different locations bringing people together over delicious plentiful food. Kier has now done 3 iterations of The Long Table with the last being a wildly successful sell-out event at Williams Eatery. Kier often mentions us as some of his first inspiration and although we would love to take credit for the later part of his food journey, I think Kier has been dreaming up these menus and events long before we came on the scene, it's in his blood. 

One thing we never thought our chefs would have much interest in was a preference for the elements of a dining experience beyond the food. We (should!) all know a good meal is more than just a tasty plate, it's the ambience, the wine, the crockery, the flowers, and the music - it's a big symphony. Unexpectedly for us, lots of our chefs do have preferences around these details and Kier is no exception - for his dinners, he contributes to every detail, he raids friend's gardens for his favourite flora and fauna and always has a colour palette in mind but first and foremost he always makes the plates to share because ultimately, that is what food is for. 

As we mentioned earlier, Kier is an enthusiastic person - and so is his food. He doesn’t do anything in half measures, everything is abundant, joyful and bold. Kier’s dishes are an amalgamation of his life, elevated iterations of his Filipino roots, friendly and celebratory just like him. Our favourite thing about Kier is his unrelenting ability to over-enjoy food and drink (he is known to have up to 3 dinners in one night!) and his absolutely relentless ability to bring people together en masse. Kier has created such a special community of dining lovers around him and he cooks to nourish them and bring them joy - together. So come for dinner with Kier and join them, guaranteed all arms will be open.

Kier’s favourite flower is the Sweet Pea.