On paper, Michelle Bassick is a biologist. However, the scientist’s true calling is obvious to anyone who visits her home and workplace beside the great green sweep of the Waikato River. The cottage, which doubles as headquarters for her River Road Kitchen culinary business in Reporoa, is piled with cookbooks. Glossy tomes and serious cookbooks are stacked sideways, under lamps, on the floor and on shelves in almost every room.
The upgraded domestic kitchen is supplemented by a second outdoor cooking area complete with backyard pizza oven and a firepit where clients gather for what Michelle calls food adventures. People come here to learn to make authentic syrupy Moroccan m'hanncha dessert or American pies, to pick up knife skills, create a Turkish feast or to join a high tea party. Entertainment might include a belly dancer or a woman wielding flaming poi on the grassy expanse that leads to the river at the back of the property, just 20 minutes’ drive north of Taupō. Laughter, recipes and plenty of shared food are deemed essential elements.
Prime Ministers and Pastries
Despite studying forensic biology, Michelle has always preferred the kitchen to the laboratory. “I like the how and why of things,” she says. “I think food does that and so does science but it’s food that makes me happy. And food makes other people happy.” Michelle has attended the Cordon Bleu school in Paris, cooked for prime ministers and worked in hotel, restaurant and airport kitchens.
There have been stints as a tertiary level hospitality tutor and classes at an all-boys high school, as well as private chef and corporate gigs and countless overseas trips to immerse herself in other culinary cultures. In the Tuscan city of Lucca, bakers taught her to make and revere Italian pastries and fruit breads such as panforte and panettone or buccellato di Lucca and a Milanese bread called Tramvai. She also makes a mean multi-layered mascarpone and orange cake. “Italians love food and I love how they are about food. They live to eat and I think you taste that in your food.”
Cooking, Learning, Fun!
While all three of her adult sons can wield a whisk, husband Teddy is neither tidy nor creative in the kitchen. On the other hand, he is responsible for constructing every gate, fence and pergola on the property, as well as tiling, paving and anything mechanical. Michelle claims her cooking genes came from an auntie, as well as a grandfather who worked as an army chef. “I’ve always fed people. For me, it’s a way to show how I feel. It’s a nurturing thing.”
At River Road Kitchen, food is also joyful. Groups book in for family gatherings and company Christmas events or hens’ parties on the property. A bride-to-be and her entourage might learn to master the tiny Turkish leke dumplings traditionally created for the groom’s mother. “The dumplings are supposed to be a test from the bride’s mother-in-law, to see if worthy of the son. You’re meant to be able to fit 40 on a spoon. It’s a bit of cooking, a bit of fun, a bit of learning and then you get to have this gorgeous meal at the end, with your friends or workmates.”
A Good Feeling
Michelle, who calls herself “an old cheffy hag” will personalise each menu and can deliver one-one-on-one beginner lessons or master classes for capable cooks. “I love this place. Seriously, I absolutely love it. I’ve always been an urban girl and if you’d said I would live rurally, I’d have laughed at you. But there’s a really nice, supportive community in Reporoa and people always comment that this place has a certain vibe, a good feeling about it. Comfortable, a bit quirky. “And of course I love the river. It just feels like home here. I want to share that with people, and make great food of course.” River Road Kitchen is available for private bookings from October, though Michelle can also bring the party to her customers with bespoke catering.