Wild Times: Food Farm x Gatherings Lunch at WORD Christchurch Festival, Saturday 5 September 2026
I first met Alex Davies over a decade ago when he was cooking up a storm in the tiny kitchen under the stairs at Liz Phelan’s iconic Shop 8 in New Regent Street. I was running the Auricle Sonic Arts Gallery at the other end of the street next to the whisky startup, The Last Word. We were all idealistic post-earthquake pioneers forging our way on a 1930s Spanish Mission island amidst a sea of post-apocalyptic gravel pits where the old Christchurch downtown financial district used to be.
Fast forward a decade (or more) and Alex is now an established chef with his own restaurant by the name of Gatherings having just been awarded the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand. Teamed up with his long-time friends from that same Shop 8 era - organic food growers and sustainable-living champions Angela Clifford and Nick Gill, authors of The Food Farm: a life growing and eating our own food and we were in for a Wild Time!
The ingredients for this wonderful banquet were all grown and preserved on Angela and Nick’s 16-acre North Canterbury permaculture property with the premise of the banquet based on the fact that the winter into spring weeks are the leanest harvest of the year. Thus the menu is based around wild forage like cleavers, dandelion and chickweed, alongside sorrel, chestnuts, preserved tomato passata and farm eggs, with chef Alex basing each delicious dish on a quote he chose from The Food Farm.
First on the menu
"September is the first month to show itself in spring glory. In Canterbury that means Kowhai, blossoms, daffodils and lambs. Despite this beautiful display, it's the most significant 'hungry gap' of the year" (p. 93).
Second course
“Most likely it’s been grown in our region for over 100 years, during this time when New Zealand-grown field tomatoes outcompeted canned ones. It survived because it was a bush tomato, which didn’t need staking and stood up well to our nor’west winds” (p. 197).
Third course
"Alongside the full preserve shelf in May are drying beans on just about every conceivable surface, we grow and eat a lot of dried beans" (p. 263).
Dessert
"When the fruit and vegetables are feeling sparse, there's an avalanche of eggs. Their abundance grows slowly. Each day there's an extra one to pick up, and we increase our egg eating ability to match the challenge. The egg trays are full and you're trying to think of every egg recipe you've ever cooked" (p. 102).
The Food Farm is far more than just a cookbook with a list of wonderful recipes, it’s an engaging testament to Angela and Nick’s 20 years of sustainable farming and loving family life. He provided the recipes and she the wonderful narrative that ties the whole together. For seasonal advice, recipes and inspiration to help you grow, find, preserve and cook more of your own food, you can either borrow the book from Christchurch City Libraries or support the Food Farm directly by purchasing it from their online shop!
Angela Clifford, Nick Gill, and Alex Davies
More food and drink
Visit our Food and Drink page for more on kai.
Malcolm, Tūranga
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
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