Amazing graze
At Greystone, the ethos of sustainability and provenance is lived and breathed through every part of the kitchen, vineyard, and paddock.
Executive Chef Cameron Woodhouse speaks proudly about the restaurant’s farm to table processes. At Greystone, they raise their own hoggets (mature lambs) onsite in the vineyard. It’s a holistic, closed-loop system that connects the land, the livestock, and the plate in a way few restaurants can.
The animals graze among the vines year- round, helping manage weeds and reducing the need for diesel-fuelled tractors. They’re then processed locally through Harris Meats in Cheviot, just up the road, before returning to the kitchen where the team butchers everything in-house.
Butchering in-house means the team can celebrate underused cuts, often considered too fiddly in conventional kitchens. “It forces us to be creative,” says Cameron.
Some of the best flavour comes from the necks and bellies. Nothing is wasted. Stocks, sausages, and prosciutto are crafted with care and used across the menu. This nose- to-tail approach not only minimises waste but also elevates the depth of flavour and storytelling on the plate.
“It does take more work,” Cameron admits, “but it gives us so much freedom and we get to use all the best cuts.”
The lamb is often paired with the vineyard’s signature Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir, which, as the name suggests, is fermented outdoors in open-air tanks just metres from where the hoggets graze.
This philosophy of sourcing hyper-locally extends beyond the lamb. Vegetables come from a nearby organic grower in Gore Bay, wild venison features seasonally, and even pigs are raised in the vineyard.
The result? A restaurant experience that is truly rooted in North Canterbury.