It’s been four years since the Weekly, chef Peter Gordon and MasterChef New Zealand winners Karena and Kasey Bird were all crowded around a table at Peter’s iconic The Sugar Club, 53 floors up in Auckland’s Sky Tower.
Back then, Karena and Kasey had just won MasterChef’s fifth season and the Weekly was interviewing the awestruck and overwhelmed sisters about their achievement over dinner when Peter, who’d been a guest judge on the show, strolled out of the kitchen to congratulate them.
How things change – fast forward to now and Peter’s protégés have made it big on their own. Now the girls from Maketu are working alongside Peter for a very special cause.
“There’s certain things in life that pop up, and it feels like fate,” says Karena. “Like, you’re supposed to be included in these things, and every time we meet with Peter, it feels like that.
“This place,” she continues, gesturing around The Sugar Club’s opulent dining room, “always feels like a milestone place for us – every time we come back here we’re reminded how far we’ve come, and how we’ve progressed along our culinary journey.”
And Peter couldn’t be prouder of Karena and Kasey – so much so, he’s asked them to cook alongside him and other well-known Kiwi chefs at SkyCity Dining for a Difference, his bi-annual fundraising dinner for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC).
“They’re just brilliant,” he says. “I can’t believe it’s been four years since they first started all this.”
While the trio pose for our photos, the dining room is filled with laughter as they recall their first meeting, when the girls were tasked with making Peter’s famous crab linguine, which is still on the restaurant’s menu today, though Peter’s since swapped the crab for crayfish. “We didn’t do a great job,” Kasey remembers, chuckling. “That’s why, whenever I come up here, I always have it. It’s one of those touchstones for me.”
Karena, Kasey and Peter share a love of fusion food – Peter has been known for his ability to fuse flavours for decades, while the sisters’ passion for mixing traditional Maori and Kiwi flavours with those they’ve come across in their travels is quickly becoming their hallmark.
However, they’ll all happily indulge in life’s simple pleasures too – like a cheese board, which becomes apparent when all three try to sneak little bites of the impressive spread in front of them.
“Can we eat this? Is that being a diva, asking for a cheeseboard?” Karena asks, laughing.
Five minutes later, a beautiful board is delivered to the table, complete with quince and freshly baked bread, much to the sisters’ delight.
It’s a rare occasion that the girls have a spare 15 minutes to sit and indulge. Since they took out the MasterChef title, Karena and Kasey have been busy – cookbooks, a TV show and their latest project, their intimate The Creation Dinner tour, which is travelling around the country and will soon venture off-shore for the first time.
Peter is still dividing his time between Auckland and London, where he also runs The Providores restaurant. But the lauded chef always makes time to take part in Dining for a Difference, where 13 lauded chefs come together to create individual menus for 300 people. Each chef is in charge of two tables – table numbers are drawn out of a hat on the night and assigned to a chef – and Karena and Kasey can’t wait to serve their special brand of kai on the night, where all profits go directly to LBC – though they admit to a few nerves!
“What if people get us and they’re disappointed?” Karena asks Peter with wide eyes. He just laughs. “I think you’re safe on that one,” he replies.
With a menu featuring some traditional Maori flavours such as hangi and fresh Kiwi produce, it’s certain the girls will deliver – and the pair are excited to be in the company of chefs such as Peter, Al Brown and Nic Watt. Plus, it’s a cause close to their hearts, with two of their uncles passing away from leukaemia.
“They were young, fit athletes – it doesn’t discriminate,” nods Kasey. “It’s nice to be involved in an event that really gives back.”
Karena and Kasey after their MasterChef win in 2014
Karena and Kasey say they are always free to help Peter, having never forgotten the opportunities he’s given them since the show.
“To be taken under his wing like this, it’s just been incredible,” says Karena. “Everyone who knows Peter will tell you how generous he is. We’ve been looking up to him for our entire lives, and to be sitting on the same couch as him eating cheese… it’s pretty mind blowing, really. Whatever Peter asks us to do, we’ll do!”
“Oh really?” grins Peter. “We’re bungee jumping next!” he says, pointing at the window, where one brave soul has just launched themselves over the side of the Sky Tower. “See, I would do that for you,” Karena says, slowly. “But please don’t make me!”
