This April, the New Zealand hardware brand Halliday + Baillie, hosted an event where they showed their southern (hemisphere) hospitality. H+B have been distributing in the region for the good part of a decade, so when the opportunity arose to give back and say thanks, they couldn’t pass it up.
Manhattan’s Michelin star, NZ-inspired The Musket Room set the scene for the evening. Here, Matt Lambert’s masterful menu took their national flavours and managed to infuse banquet variety into delightful bitesized pieces. House sommelier mixed up a herb infused cocktail to welcome guests. He then educated on the iconic wine varietals and regions that have put New Zealand on the map as one of largest exporters of Sauvignon Blanc into the US.
“What makes NZ food relevant now is more to do with the whole organic and local food movement, which is just how we have always cooked. Cooking with seasonal and local ingredients just makes sense.” Matt Lambert, Head Chef and Owner, The Musket Room
Guest speaker, architect David Howell, spoke of his journey to NYC from Havelock North (NZ) to run his pumping Union Square studio, DHD Architecture. With his relentless Kiwi accent (even after 20 years in the states) he took his audience through a quick geography lesson and a lighthearted visual history.
Starting with a picture of his childhood pet – his lamb (obviously!), he continued through the work of design influencers like David Trubridge, Andrew Patterson and Richard Serra. Using them as examples, he spoke of how their works are inspired by the unique beauty of the New Zealand landscape. He went on to discuss, often successful residential architecture draws from the surroundings, almost as though a house’s purpose is to effortlessly frame the perfect natural scenes or be completely engulfed by it.
“There is a clarity and design simplicity with Halliday + Baillie hardware that isn’t in the main stream US hardware market.” David Howell, President of DHD Architecture
Not to go unnoticed was the attention to detail for the event. Black and white invitations as a gracious nod to the fearless All Blacks. These were personalised and printed on Spicers‘ premium stock, a proud NZ company of over 100 years. The humble name tag was given a new lease at life, with each championing a remarkable Kiwi character. These included musicians, architects, designers, politicians, leaders, activists, inventors, artists and actors. As parting gifts, the guests left with a bottle of Marlborough’s finest and their own opportunity to make the notorious Kiwi Dip at home.
The night wouldn’t have been a success without the curious New Yorkers who came along to experience Halliday + Baillie’s tour of modern New Zealand!
Images courtesy of Julia Chesbrough, juliachesbrough.com
