The Best Meal Jesse Mulligan's Eaten This Year

So hubby comes home and I ask the usual, “How was service tonight?”

And he casually replies, “Oh yeah, Jesse Mulligan came in.”

“Nice,” I say.

Little did I know that a week later my phone would be blowing up — messages flooding in: Congratulations! Best meal of the year!

OK, it’s only April… but I’ll absolutely take that.

Seven years ago we left our established lives in Hong Kong — great reputations, awards, a full book — and moved to New Zealand with two small boys (>1 &2) to build something new and give them a good ol’ Kiwi upbringing.

Starting from scratch in our 40s. No reputation. No publicist.

We wanted to find ourselves anew — to discover, organically, what a new life in New Zealand meant to us.

It wasn’t always straightforward.  Sourcing the best quality ingredients from Italy (non-negotiable for Fabrizio), pushing against the status quo.

Discovering artisan producers here who care deeply about what they make.

And in a strange way, the silver lining of COVID and the building delays was that we were forced to focus on what made us special — like a slowly braised dish, where time and good ingredients do the heavy lifting.

So to read Jesse Mulligan describe Spiga as “the best meal I’ve eaten this year” in The New Zealand Herald… It’s not just a moment — it’s a marker.

A reflection of years of work, pressure, sacrifice, and belief.

A quiet satisfaction that staying the course mattered.

Because behind every plate is more than food — it’s resilience, partnership, and a commitment to doing things properly.

And while the road here has been anything but straightforward, this moment makes one thing very clear: It was worth it.

So if you’ve been meaning to come in — take this as your sign.

Book a table. Order the pasta. Stay a while.