Fire, flavour & food made for sharing. Join acclaimed New Zealand Māori chef matblak for one very special feast in the heart of Truro.

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Food. Fire. Whānau.

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

It’s a Māori whakataukī that tells you a lot about Matt Burgess – better known as matblak – and the way he cooks.

Because for Matt, food has always been about more than what ends up on the plate.

It’s about people. Culture. Where ingredients come from. The stories behind them. And, very often, a good fire.

This September, Matt is bringing all of that to the Chef’s Theatre Tipi for a one-off feast at Truro Food Festival, joining forces with the Woodfired Canteen team to bring the night to life.

And this is definitely a night to arrive hungry. 🔥

Matt has created a menu that brings his Māori heritage and love of live-fire cooking together with some fantastic Cornish ingredients. With Woodfired Canteen alongside him, expect smoke and char, sweet and sour, plenty of bold flavour and a table that steadily fills with dishes made to be passed around.

This is food to get stuck into.

Meet matblak

Matt Burgess is a proud New Zealand Māori chef with more than 30 years spent cooking, creating and learning his way around professional kitchens.

His career began in Wellington before bringing him halfway around the world to London in 1998, where he joined the newly opened Soho House on Greek Street.

What followed was quite a journey.

Bluebird in Chelsea. Gordon Ramsay’s Maze Grill. Jamie Oliver’s Threadneedle Street. Then Caravan and Vardo Restaurants, where Matt became Group Executive Chef and helped grow the business from two restaurants to seven across London.

But the food Matt cooks today brings that experience together with something much closer to home.

In 2022, he founded Kaiwhenua – food from the land in Māori.

It’s a name that captures much of what matters to him: understanding where our food comes from, respecting the ingredients we cook with and bringing people together through food.

Add Matt’s serious love of live-fire cooking into the mix and you begin to get an idea of what we have planned for Truro.

He’s cooked everywhere from Fortnum & Mason and sell-out supper clubs to festival fields, Scottish lobster boats and pontoons in Salcombe.

This September, we get to eat with him at our table.

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The Feast

First things first. Something salty and crunchy while you settle in.

Nibble

Wonton crisps with chicken salt

Bread

Bread and butter

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Then we head to the Cornish coast.

Starter

Cornish crudo

Maple smoked pineapple vinegar and coconut

Fresh Cornish seafood meets one of Matt’s own signature ingredients – his maple smoked pineapple vinegar from Kai by matblak – with coconut bringing another layer to the plate.

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Then things really start happening.

Main Feast

Cull yaw lamb shoulder

Kawakawa green seasoning

Kumara

Charred spring onions and minted miso

Charred hispi leeks

Black sesame seed tahini

Smoked cauliflower and sour orange curry

Cucumber, pickled green chilli and fennel salad

This is the part of the evening where we suggest forgetting whose plate is whose.

The centre of the table will fill with lamb, vegetables, smoke, spice, sharp pickles and plenty of char – with Matt weaving Māori and Pacific influences through ingredients grown and produced much closer to Truro.

Pass it around. Try a bit of everything. Go back for more.

That’s what a feast is for.

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And there was really only one way a New Zealander could finish this…

Dessert

Strawberry and pink elderflower pavlova

We’ll leave any debate about the origins of pavlova for another night.

Pull Up a Chair in the Chef’s Theatre Tipi

For one evening, the Chef’s Theatre Tipi becomes Matt’s dining room.

You’ll be right in the middle of Truro Food Festival, but this is a much more intimate way to experience it.

Matt and the Woodfired Canteen team will be cooking just metres from your table, and throughout the evening you’ll get to hear more about the food, ingredients and culture behind what you're eating.

There’s no formality here.

Just a room full of people, a table full of food and an evening spent eating, talking, sharing and discovering something new.

Which feels pretty fitting for matblak.

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Drinks for the Evening

We’ll welcome you with a drink on arrival, included with your ticket, before you settle in for the feast.

Our festival bar will also be open throughout the evening, with a selection of drinks available to enjoy alongside your meal.

The bar is card only, so there’s no need to bring cash.

Dietary Information

Matt has created this feast as a fixed set menu to showcase his food, influences and style of cooking.

If you have an allergy or dietary requirement, please get in touch before booking so we can confirm whether it can be

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