THE BISTRO IN TAUPŌ is a restaurant built on a pile of notebooks. From his very early days, owner and chef Jude Messenger has noted down thoughts, tips and whatever has caught his eye, and 32 years later some of the notebooks have faded almost beyond reading. But the habit remains and planning ahead is just the way he works.

In his early days as a junior chef the pages were filled with recipes and techniques. Later the books accompanied him through stints at Taupō’s Huka Lodge (returning five times over the years), as head chef at Taupō’s award-winning Bach restaurant, a scholarship at the exclusive Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, US, and at Peter Gordon’s Sugar Club in London. Even when eating out, tiny snippets are noted such as the size of a coffee cup or the shape of a water jug, all feeding into the restaurant that The Bistro is today.

Located as it is at the crossroads of the North Island, Taupō has that sweet spot blend of enthusiastic locals and tourists, with enough hospitality to feed all tastes. In 2012 when visualising The Bistro, Jude thought carefully about what was needed and a bistro fit the bill – informal, decently priced, the quality of a fine-diner but unpretentious. “We’re not too fussy, but we try to do things accurately and honestly,” says Jude. “I take techniques that I love from around the world then I apply them to New Zealand ingredients and cook things really simply. It’s just Kiwi food cooked by a passionate Kiwi chef.” Today that classic bistro model is expanded to include a six-course dégustation alongside à la carte, but it’s an option not a must.

Jude grew up in a small beach town with his dad and two brothers and Dad’s garden featured big. “We used to eat out of our garden all year round. Dad used to trade vegetables with hunters, and so we really had this 100% seasonal approach to how we were raised, which is why it comes so naturally to me now.” It was seasonal living before it became fashionable.

Nowadays, though Jude has only a small plot at the family home, he practices a full regenerative system, composting vege scraps from the restaurant, making fertiliser and managing a worm farm, saving seeds and learning how to grow and care for the land and the garden in a natural, organic way. And everything is noted down, details recorded ready for next season’s planting.

Catch Jude on his lunch break and it’s a slice of homemade sourdough, biltong cured in his garage at home and tomatoes grown from seed in the backyard. That honest lunch represents everything he loves about food. Simplicity but with technical depth. Take a humble carrot for instance, around which Jude will base an entire dish, presenting seven different elements with different textures and techniques on one plate, creating complexity from simplicity. But far from being a tricksy cheffy show-off, this came from a zero tolerance for waste and a constant striving to use absolutely everything. For him, sustainability isn’t a trend and seasonality isn’t a selling point. They’re simply a continuation of what he believes. “I don’t do that kind of stuff for likes and clicks. No, it’s just because it’s what I love to do.” thebistro.nz TRACY WHITMEY