The stars will be shining brightly on Rotorua’s culinary scene once again this winter, with eateries across the town entering the Matariki Dish Challenge.

The challenge will run for five weeks over Matariki, from June 12 to July 16, and was officially launched at Te Pā Tū on Tuesday.

The launch is designed to both excite and educate local eateries before they set off to plan and create their culinary creations.

Event organiser Vicki Ravlich-Horan says the launch was awesome and Te Pā Tū was a beautiful spot to hold it.

She says they had a great turnout of local producers at the launch, the aim of which was to showcase what wonderful local ingredients chefs can incorporate in their dishes.

Chefs were also able to participate in a workshop to gain more understanding of Matariki, while eatery owners and managers could participate in a workshop run by HospitalityNZ on leveraging their entry into the challenge through social media.

“We had some very excited and eager eateries come along to take part.”

Vicki says it was also great to have Isabel Ronquillo from takeaway shop River’s Catch there to talk about her experience with the challenge last year.

“We wanted to highlight that the challenge is open to, and can work for, every eatery business, not just fine dining [establishments].”

The Rotorua Matariki Dish Challenge, supported by RotoruaNZ, is designed to both showcase the region’s food offering at this special time of year and to help eateries grow and improve.

She says the launch was held well in advance of the challenge to give eateries wanting to enter plenty of time to prepare, as well as to consider how they could use the challenge to improve their business.

Local eateries could use it as a team-building exercise, and throughout April, the challenge would be hosting a range of professional development workshops for them, she says.

Ambrosia restaurant's Matariki Dish Challenge champion dish from last year. Photo / Supplied

The 2022 Matariki Dish Challenge champion was Ambrosia Bar & Restaurant with their dish of Mamaku venison, Kākano harekeke and foraged Mamaku kawakawa pesto, celeriac puree, and hāngi purple potato with Lux Organics micro-greens.

Taking out the 2022 People’s Choice award was River’s Catch with their dish of pickled New Zealand mussels, Treetops Lodge mānuka honey and eggplant hummus and Lux Organics purple potatoes on rēwena flatbread.

Vicki says this year, as well as the Challenge Champion and People’s Choice awards, there will be a couple more awards to give out. These include Best Food on the Go, Spirit of Matariki and Best Customer Service.

“Rotorua has amazing offerings, and especially when it comes to telling Māori stories. We would love for locals to get among it and be part of what’s on offer in the region.

“This year, Rotorua is the only region running the challenge, and it’s an opportunity for the region to own it and say, ‘This is us, look at what we can do’.”