Adam Newell. Most locals will know of the Union Square Bistro and Gastro Pub located in the Martinborough hotel. Its affable owner is Adam Newell. Adam’s career working in the hospitality industry has been a dedicated journey from childhood to earning the status of a Michelin Star trained chef.
Adam Newell was born in the Cornish town of St Cleer. For as long as he can remember, he has loved working with food and cooking. One of his earliest influences came from his grandmother. Adam remembers her Cornish Pasties and traditional Stews using swedes and turnips to give them their distinctive flavour.
Another significant influence was a chef cousin who worked in upmarket London hotels. His cousin told him of the wonderful travel opportunities that being a chef in top class establishments offered – Europe, the rest of the World. After finishing college, Adam enrolled at City Guilds, Plymouth in Devon, where he graduated 3 years later with a Diploma in Cooking.
Following graduation, Adam began his career at the London Intercontinental Hotel and Clarridges, both with Michelin Stars, spending 3 years at each. It was arduous work beginning at the bottom washing dishes, prepping food, larder stocking and working in the various food sections. If this was hard labour, for the next 5 years, Adam worked at another Michelin Star restaurant, the legendary Le Gavroche Restaurant set up in 1967 by the French Roux brothers who changed the face of English cuisine and launched the careers of celebratory chefs such as Gordon Ramsey.
Adam worked at another Michelin Star restaurant, the legendary Le Gavroche Restaurant set up in 1967 by the French Roux brothers who changed the face of English cuisine and launched the careers of celebratory chefs such as Gordon Ramsey.
Adam says it was punishing work, the likes of which he had never experienced “there were 50 tables, 20 chefs and 20 front -of- house staff daily doing lunch and dinner. It was booked months ahead”. This led to being appointed as the Head Chef at The Point in New York run by the same company, giving him valuable leadership and management experience. After two years he moved back to Fulham Road in Chelsea. Then another fortuitous opportunity presented itself.
Andre Cointreau, the owner of the global Cuisine Schools was interviewing Michelin Star trained chefs to work as tutors at his school in Japan for a year. Adam’s application was successful. His next destination was New Zealand.
Initially, Adam was the Head Chef for the new Icon Restaurant at Te Papa, a much larger and prestigious operation back then before moving on to establish his own restaurant, Zibibbo, in 2000. Specialising in food cooked using wood fired ovens and a wood fired rotisserie, Zibibbo was highly successful.
After 18 years running Zibibbo, Adam heard Martinborough Hotel was looking for a chef to head up the restaurant side of its accommodation business. A separate entity, he took over the lease in 2018 and renamed it Union Square Bistro and Gastro Pub. He is proud of his loyal staff who keep things ticking over.
Adam is an enthusiastic advocate of Wairarapa wine and food producers whose products feature on the menus. He has recently moved to a 10-acre block where he plans to grow herbs, vegetables and fruit for the restaurant and maybe fatten an animal or two. Unlike many in the hospitality industry, Adam Newell isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
