Bluestone Estate
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Lunch at Bluestone Estate: a platter of sliced beef with romesco and salsa verde passed along the oak table, a guest serving herself, wine glasses and olive branches on the table, no faces in frame.

Dining

Your table, your chef.

Dinner at Bluestone Estate is wherever and whenever you want it: your chef, your table, your people, no one else's. From a pantry filled before you arrive to a chef cooking at the Cookhouse, every stay is fed the way you choose.

Four ways to eat well here. Add any of them to your itinerary, or ask when you book.

A private chef in a grey apron plating lunch at the Cookhouse island at Bluestone Ridge, platters of salads and seafood lined along the brass-edged bench, glasses hanging under the rattan pendants, and the set oak table with hydrangeas in the foreground.

Private chef

A chef cooks for your party alone.

At any residence on Bluestone Estate, a private chef can cook for your party and nobody else: one dinner, every dinner, or the whole stay from breakfast on. The menu is built around your people and what the coast's growers, vintners, and fishers have that week, and the chef shops, cooks, serves, and leaves the kitchen as they found it. You decide how present they are, from a meal left ready in the oven to a chef at the pass all evening.

At Bluestone Main Estate the chef cooks in the Main House kitchen for the long table or the terrace, and for the Boat House and the Studio on their own decks. At Bluestone Ridge the chef has the Cookhouse, our private dining room beside the Farmhouse, with its oak table for twelve to eighteen and the wood-fired oven outside. At the Encampment it is the outdoor fire.

Tell us the occasion, the numbers, and any dietary needs when you book, and we will come back with a chef and a menu. Priced per evening on application.

Meet our chefs

Our private dining room

The Cookhouse, at Bluestone Ridge.

A separate building beside the Farmhouse, wrapped in glass on three sides with the Gulf as the fourth wall: 40 square metres of chef's kitchen and dining room, a recycled oak table that seats twelve to eighteen, a gas range inside and a wood-fired oven and barbecue outside. Offered with the Farmhouse or sole occupancy of Bluestone Ridge, and in the low season on its own for a celebration dinner or a board meeting. Bluestone hosts small private gatherings at the Cookhouse, seating 12 to 18. Larger celebrations are considered case by case; please enquire and we will confirm in writing what is possible.

More about the Cookhouse

The Cookhouse at Bluestone Ridge from the terrace: corrugated roof and cedar shingle gable, the glass doors folded back, a chef at the bench and a party of guests at the oak table inside, an umbrella and the barbecue outside.Lunch at the Cookhouse, Bluestone Ridge: guests passing dishes down the oak table under the rattan pendant, hydrangeas and platters between them, and the inlet and green hills through the open wall behind.The Cookhouse at Bluestone Ridge set for a meeting: the oak table with water glasses and notepads, a projector and screen at the end, rattan pendants under the white trusses, and the doors open to the terrace and the Gulf.The wood-fired oven on its concrete bench outside the Cookhouse at Bluestone Ridge, the glass doors open to the oak table and chairs, and the water beyond.

Catering

A barbecue, a dinner party, a long lunch, catered.

For the evening you want to host rather than cook: a catered barbecue on the deck, a dinner party at your table, or a long lunch on the lawn, prepared and served by chefs arranged by Bluestone Estate, and cleared away afterwards. Menus are built around the coast's growers and fishers and around your people, from a celebration for two to a table of eighteen at the Cookhouse.

Tell us the occasion, the numbers, and any dietary needs, and we will come back with a menu and a price.

Enquire about catering
A chef in a navy apron carrying a board of crayfish to the wood-fired oven outside the Cookhouse at Bluestone Ridge.
A chef picking herbs from the raised kitchen garden bed at Bluestone Ridge, sage and basil in the foreground, the lawn, the bush, and the water behind.

In-house provisions

The pantry, filled before you arrive.

Every residence comes with coffee, tea, and pantry staples. Beyond that, Bluestone Estate can provision your kitchen before you arrive: breakfast for the first morning, the makings of dinner, wine from the coast's vineyards, and whatever your party likes to find in the fridge. On Saturdays the provisioning comes from the Matakana Village Farmers Market, seven minutes away.

Send us a list, or tell us how you like to eat and let us choose. Provisioning is priced and confirmed in writing before you arrive.

Enquire about provisioning

Dining out

The coast's tables, booked for you.

Matakana Village, seven minutes from the estate, and the coast around it hold some of the best small restaurants in the country: vineyard lunches, a sculpture park with its own dining room, the village's cafés and wine bar, and the long beach lunch up at Te Arai. Bluestone Estate books your table, arranges the drive there and back, and tells you honestly which nights are worth going out for and which are better spent at home by the fire.

Ask when you book, or add a restaurant evening to your itinerary and we will suggest where.

Ask us where to eat
Two guests in straw hats sharing rosé and a grazing board on the lawn at Bluestone Estate.

Where we send people

Our short list.

A few places on the coast we would send our own family to. Hours are the usual ones; ask us and we will check the day and book the table.

The Rīngawera Baker shopfront in Matakana Village: a sage green sign under the verandah of the ornate mint-green building, breads, cakes, pastries, and coffee lettered on the window, cherry blossom in the foreground.Bread at Rīngawera Baker, Matakana: seeded mixed grain rolls and cheese-topped buns in a wooden crate, ciabatta lined up in the crate behind, handwritten price tags on string.

Rīngawera

Matakana Village · Open 6am to 3pm, seven days

The locals' bakery: sourdough and pastries out of the oven from early, and the first good coffee of the day. Go before the village wakes up, buy more bread than you think you need, and take a pastry back for whoever is still asleep.

Visit their website
Summer plates at The Farmers Daughter, Omaha: anchovy and tomato toast on a black plate, a burrata and tomato salad, a noodle salad with radish, and two cocktails on a pale timber table.The garden at The Farmers Daughter, Omaha: timber picnic tables on gravel under festoon lights, raised beds of herbs and lavender, the lawn running to the estuary and the hills beyond.

The Farmers Daughter

Omaha Flats Road, Point Wells · Open 7am until late, seven days

Easily one of our top picks. A relaxed coastal restaurant on the flats between Matakana and Omaha, with menus driven by what the farms and boats around it produce, served from breakfast through lunch to dinner without a break between, and water views from the table. The kind of place you book for one meal and go back to twice.

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The Matakana Village Pub from the air: the white weatherboard hotel with its verandah and sign, the garden bar with pergola and tables on the lawn in front, cypress trees behind.Four friends raising cocktails across a table in a leather booth at The Matakana Village Pub, a flatbread between them, dried magnolia in a vase and a painting on the wall behind.

The Matakana Village Pub

Matakana Village · Open from late morning until late, Tuesday to Sunday

The village pub, and a proper one: a gastropub with a garden, a long bar, live music on the right nights, and a menu that runs from a good burger to the Tuesday asado. Where the coast goes on a Friday. Easy with children in the daytime, easy without them after dark.

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Ocean Restaurant at Te Arai Links: a timber boardwalk through planted dunes to the cedar pavilion, with the blue Pacific and the Hen and Chickens Islands beyond under a clear sky.A bartender at Ric's at the Ocean, Te Arai Links, placing a sprig of lavender with tweezers onto a pink cocktail in a coupe on the bar, face out of frame.

Ric's at the Ocean, Te Arai Links

Te Arai Links, forty minutes north · Breakfast to dinner, seven days, reservations only

For the long lunch or the special occasion dinner. The restaurant sits on the eighteenth fairway of the South Course with the whole Te Arai coastline and the islands in front of it, all-day menus of fresh, vibrant flavours, and a cocktail list to match the view. Reservations only, so book well ahead; Bluestone Estate arranges the table and the drive, or the helicopter.

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Inside the Smoko Room at Sawmill Brewery in evening light: three friends at a table by the tall timber-framed windows, rattan pendants glowing above, and the paddocks and hills beyond the glass.Lunch at the Smoko Room, Sawmill Brewery: a diner reaching for shared plates on the table, two glasses of Sawmill beer beside them.

The Smoko Room at Sawmill Brewery

Leigh Road, Matakana · From noon until late, Thursday to Monday

The brewery's own restaurant, in the old sawmill on the road to Leigh: beer brewed on the spot, food made to share, and a menu that names the farmers, growers, and fishers of the Mahurangi it comes from. Straightforward and generous, indoors by the fire or outside under the trees. Book the inside for dinner; the garden is first come.

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The Vineyard Row at The Glass House, Brick Bay: a server in a grey apron pouring rosé at a long timber table under the pinot gris vines, wildflowers along the row, and the glasshouse roof behind.

The Glass House at Brick Bay

Brick Bay, on the way into Matakana · Brunch, lunch, and grazing from 10am, seven days; dinner on Saturdays

A glasshouse cantilevered over the lake at the end of the sculpture trail, with contemporary New Zealand cooking from the farm, orchards, and gardens around it, Brick Bay's own wines, and a row of tables under the old pinot gris vines. Walk the trail first and arrive hungry.

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Rothko at Bluestone Estate. Photograph to come.

Rothko

Sculptureum, Omaha Flats Road, Matakana · Lunch and dinner, Thursday to Sunday

One of the most beautiful settings on the coast: a restaurant among the gardens and the art at Sculptureum, so lunch comes with a walk past seven hundred works. Chef Neil Sapitula cooks with fire and ferment, shared plates with bold flavours, and the room holds a Hat in the Cuisine Good Food Awards and Metro's Best Destination Restaurant for 2025. Book the lunch, stay for the galleries.

Visit their website
Rusty Pelican at Bluestone Estate. Photograph to come.

Rusty Pelican

Matakana Road, on the way into the village · Dinner from 5pm weekdays, from noon at weekends

Pizza from the wood-fired oven, a restaurant menu that suits everyone from grandparents to toddlers, and a sports bar with the game on. The unfussy night out: a table for the whole party, no dress code, and the pizzas travel well if you would rather eat them by the fire at the residence.

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Viet Q at Tramcar, Matakana Village: the green tramcar with its bifold windows open, paper lanterns strung along the awning, stools at the counter, and two customers at a table outside.A bowl of crispy turmeric chicken salad topped with spring onion and edible flowers at Viet Q, Matakana, held over the timber table, with a sesame-bun burger on a plate beside it.

Viet Q at Tramcar

Matakana Village · Open 8am to 5pm, until 8pm Thursday to Saturday

A local favourite for fresh Vietnamese food, rice paper rolls, wonton noodle soup, and bao out of the old tramcar in the village, and the answer when the whole family wants different things: agria fries, proper burgers, and thick shakes for the ones who did not want pho. Easy, quick, and so good.

Visit their website
A table at Jin Jin, Matakana: fried rice topped with a fried egg, chilli, and herbs, a bowl of soup, a salad with chopsticks, a tray of sashimi, a bowl of rice, and two cocktails on the timber table.A chef at Jin Jin, Matakana, sprinkling the finishing touch over a bowl of squid salad on the gold counter, a crystal chandelier above and the kitchen soft behind.

Jin Jin

Matakana Village · Lunch and dinner, seven days, from noon until late

A busy little Asian restaurant in the heart of the village, and the one to book when the party is hungry: generous Asian fusion dishes full of flavour, shared down the middle of the table, with local beer and wine to go with them. Good for a big group, good for a takeaway night back at the residence.

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The bar at The Vintry, Matakana: the lit sign above shelves of local wine and spirits, pink blossom along the timber beams, a chalkboard wine list, and a glass of rosé on the counter in front.Inside The Vintry, Matakana: guests at the bar beneath ring lights and blossom-hung beams, the chalkboard wine list of local pours behind, and the taps in the foreground.

The Vintry

Matakana Village, in the cinema complex · Open from 11am until 10pm

A cosy little wine bar in the village that pours only local: every family-owned winery within fourteen kilometres, by the glass or by tasting. The place for a Friday night wine with the locals, or a bite and a drink before a film next door at the cinema.

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The entrance to Matakana Market Kitchen from the riverside deck: the sign over the verandah, a chalkboard, a wine barrel, terracotta pots of flowers, a bicycle, diners under umbrellas, and the village bridge behind.The counter at Matakana Market Kitchen: homemade slices and cheesy muffins under glass cloches with handwritten labels, the wine shelves and wall lamps soft behind.

Matakana Market Kitchen

Matakana Village, by the river · Open from 9am until late, seven days

Riverside dining at the edge of the village, sourced locally and open all day: breakfast on the deck, a long lunch under the trees, dinner as the light goes over the water. The easy choice on market day, when the stalls are a few steps away.

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The Superette at Omaha Beach: the shop sign above the pink and green striped awning of the ice cream counter, four children with cones in front of the green counter, and staff scooping behind the glass.Four children with ice cream cones in front of the green counter at The Superette, Omaha Beach, staff scooping behind the glass under the striped awning.

The Superette

Omaha Beach · Open 7am to 7pm, seven days

The beach store at Omaha, and much more than one: specialty produce and goods, the things you forgot, and a pizza kitchen that delivers to the door by Uber Eats. Wednesday nights are curry night, freshly made. Worth knowing on the evening nobody wants to cook.

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Six children in a row on a picnic bench under a red umbrella at Charlie's Gelato, Matakana, each with an ice cream cone, grapevines behind them.The round red Charlie's Gelato sign, handmade in Matakana, on timber posts at the gate, with the Slow Blooms pick-your-own flowers sign below and the paddock and trees behind.

Charlie's Gelato

Sharp Road, Matakana · Open from 10am, seven days

Gelato made in the garden on the edge of the village, from fruit grown around it, with a courtyard to eat it in and wood-fired pizza on the right days. The afternoon stop with children, and the excuse for adults who claim it is for the children.

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Ravish at Bluestone Estate. Photograph to come.

Ravish

Matakana Road, at the Sharp Road corner · Open 6am to 3pm weekdays, from 7am Saturday and 8am Sunday

Traditional New Zealand baking done properly: fresh rolls, tasty pies, croissants, and a cabinet full of the things you grew up with, with good coffee to go. The stop on the way to the beach, and the box to bring back for the boat.

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Questions about dining

Is a chef included in the nightly rate?

No. Every residence at Bluestone Estate is fully self-catered, with coffee, tea, and pantry staples waiting. A private chef, catering, and provisioning are arranged on request and priced separately, so you pay only for the evenings you want cooked for.

Can a private chef come to any residence?

Yes. At Bluestone Main Estate the chef cooks in the Main House, or for the Boat House and the Studio on their own decks. At Bluestone Ridge the chef has the Cookhouse beside the Farmhouse. At the Encampment it is the outdoor fire. Tell us the occasion, the numbers, and any dietary needs, and Bluestone Estate comes back with a chef and a menu.

What does a private chef cost?

Priced per evening on application, depending on the menu, the numbers, and the chef. Bluestone Estate confirms the price in writing before anything is booked.

How does provisioning work?

Send us a list, or tell us how you like to eat and let us choose, and the kitchen is stocked before you arrive: breakfast for the first morning, the makings of dinner, wine from the coast's vineyards. Provisioning is priced and confirmed in writing before you arrive. On Saturdays it can come from the Matakana Village Farmers Market, seven minutes away.

Can we hire the Cookhouse for a dinner or a meeting?

The Cookhouse is offered with the Farmhouse or sole occupancy of Bluestone Ridge, and in the low season, from May to October, on its own for a celebration dinner, a board meeting, or a workshop at one table. Bluestone hosts small private gatherings at the Cookhouse, seating 12 to 18. Larger celebrations are considered case by case; please enquire and we will confirm in writing what is possible.

Are bookings necessary at the restaurants?

Not always, but highly recommended, and over the summer months essential: the coast fills from December to February and the best tables go early. Ric's at the Ocean and Rothko are reservation only. Tell us the night and Bluestone Estate books it for you.

Will you book restaurants for us?

Yes. Tell us the night and the party and Bluestone Estate books the table, arranges the drive there and back if you would like one, and tells you honestly which places suit the occasion. Most of our short list is within ten minutes of the estate; Te Arai is forty minutes by car or ten by helicopter.

Can we bring our own chef?

Yes. Every kitchen is equipped for it. Accommodation for a guest's own chef, nanny, or security is available on Bluestone Main Estate by arrangement.

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