From our farm to fork feature.

To dine at Inati  (meaning to share in Te Reo Māori) is to have a unique culinary experience to remember.

Chef Simon Levy, who was born in the U.K., and his Kiwi wife Lisa opened Inati in 2017, offering a fresh take on fine dining.

Located on Hereford Street in central Christchurch, the restaurant has a theatre–like ambiance.

A long polished table gives guests a front-row seat view into the kitchen.

Food is exquisitely prepared, and seasonal shared plates reflect the provenance of the local ingredients on a menu split by Earth, Land, and Sea.

Levy's passion for food began as a teenager in the U.K.

"My journey as a chef began when I was 13, and school wasn't my forte.

"I went to work at Waterloo Fire Station with a T.V. chef from Australia.

"I got the taste for it very quickly, and sort of started skipping school to go there, and I basically ended up working there instead of places I should have been."

From there, Levy's career took a steady upward trajectory fuelled by a passion for food.

After a few years working at Waterloo Fire Station, Levy joined Claridge's under esteemed chef Sir John Williams, currently executive Chef at the Ritz.

From there, Levy joined The Ivy, which gave him his "foundation".

"It's now called the Ivy Club. It's very famous, and a beautiful restaurant with great food.

"We used to have people come from all over the world, some very famous people."

"We had something for everyone there, and it was a phenomenal place to get your grounding and work with some very big names."

From there, Levy went to work at Rules, London's oldest English restaurant, where he met his wife, Lisa.

"She was H.R. and front of house manager, and I went there as a sous chef and ended up being executive sous chef."

When the executive chef at Rules injured himself, Levy stepped up to run the restaurant.

"It made me grow up, going from just being one of the team to a senior role organising 30 chefs and 12 kitchen hands at a young age was a huge challenge, but one I was very successful at."

After running a few smaller kitchens, Levy went to work for Gordon Ramsey at the Warrington Hotel.

"It was really cool; I got to do that for just under two years."

After working in French chef Pierre Koffmans kitchen and opening a restaurant called The Huts on the Isle of Wight, it was time to move to New Zealand.

After working at some of New Zealand's top restaurants, such as Pegasus Bay Winery, and with chefs like Jonny Schwass, the Levy's decided it was time to open their own restaurant, and Inati was born.

"It was just a life-changing moment, knowing we were ready to do something ourselves."

The Levy's wanted Inati to be an extension of their home.

"We wanted people to come in, feel relaxed, and just be at ease.

"We wanted to breakdown the formalities of having a kitchen out the back, where there are brick walls out the front and no one knows what's going on at the back, and noone knows what's going on at the front, and no one wants to talk to each other.

"We are one team and one family."

Levy said the menu is designed to showcase the best of what Canterbury has to offer, either fresh and in season or preserved for later in the year.

"The way I like to show something is in its beautiful and brightest form and accentuate the flavour."

Levy tends not to mix as many foods on a plate as other chefs and uses local, fresh ingredients.

Many ingredients, such as miners leaf, gooseberries and wild fennel, are foraged.

Levy has built relationships with local growers, with asparagus and artichokes coming from Christchurch, truffles from Limestone Hills in Waipara, lamb from Stonyhurst near Motunau and veal from  North Canterbury.

"We want to use growers who share our ethos. Whether it's vegetables, meat, or fish, we make sure it's sustainable and well looked after."

By Claire Inkson