Hopgood’s Restaurant or, as everyone calls it, ‘Hopgood’s’ is a restaurant you can rely on to deliver great quality food and service every time, something that is very difficult to do in any business let alone a hospitality business.
Food is something that has always excited Kevin. He started his cooking career in the UK at the tender age of 17 with a year at catering college. His first job saw him working as a junior chef at the RAC (Royal Automobile Club) in London’s Pall Mall, just a block behind the Queen’s London home, for two years where he cooked classical French style food.
His next job had him working the very modern restaurant of the time, L’Escargot in Soho. Owned by Martin Lam and Jancis Robinson (MW), his passion for wine and food matching was ignited. Being inspired by a top chef and a Master of Wine for three years was an invaluable experience for a young chef.
Kevin’s first experience in a Michelin Star restaurant was at Rue St Jacques in Charlotte St. London, with Gunter Schlender where he worked in the fish section for two years before moving on to Rules, the oldest restaurant in London. This is where Lilly Langtree used to date the King of The Day using a secret passage in the restaurant to access a private dining room.
The opportunity arose to work for the Roux brothers Albert and Michele Roux senior as their protégé at Le Gavroche; he trained with them honing his skills before they appointed him as a relief Head Chef in various restaurants they owned. This saw him cooking as Head Chef in many of London’s finest hotels and restaurants – the Roux brothers obviously had faith in his talent.
Kevin was approached to run a restaurant in Charlotte St. with the doyenne of London dining, Elena Salvoni, in 1992. Elena had retired but was bored, so two months later opened a restaurant called Elena’s L’Etoile (means “The Star” in French). The then almost 70 year old Elena and Kevin worked together as Maître d’ and Head Chef for 10 years before he moved to New Zealand.
During his time at Elena’s he won the Wedgewood Chef & Potter competition in 1998 from more than 200 chefs who entered. The prize was worth some 15,000GBP and included a full set of monogramed glasses, a 12 piece setting of Wedgewood crockery and 10 days at the stunning Le Touessrok resort in Mauritius. This trip became his honeymoon after he married Jane in 1999 and the Hopgoods moved their young family to Nelson, arriving on January 1st 2005 and establishing Hopgood’s Restaurant in October that year.
One of the things that makes Kevin Hopgood very proud is the success many of the chefs he has mentored over the years have achieved. A recent review in Melbourne says “Matthew James, Melbourne’s first and only Michelin trained chef to offer Master Classes in the comfort of your own kitchen reigns from London and has been classically French trained by some of the best chefs in the world, Jacques Rolancy, Albert Roux, Kevin Hopgood and the renowned Gordon Ramsey”. Luke Dale-Roberts of Cape Town’s The Test Kitchen which was given the prestigious ‘One to Watch’ Award at the 2013 San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant awards. British born Luke has appeared twice in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants during his time as Head Chef of La Colombe, taking it to 12th place. Luke has a strong Kiwi connection; one of his early mentors was Le Roux Chef Kevin Hopgood.
Kevin Hopgood’s skill as a chef and mentor is recognised in many corners of the globe and we are very lucky indeed to have this quiet, unassuming man running one of the finest restaurants right here in Nelson, New Zealand where he gets immense satisfaction employing staff and seeing them succeed, being part of a strong community, seeing his family grow up, being able to bump into suppliers and customers in the street and knowing where the food and wines he serves come from.
In 2022 Hopgood’s & Co was awarded Two Chef’s Hats and named winner of the Food Legend/Long-Term Player award at the Cuisine Good Food Awards.