A taste of Paris in Taupō at French Market

Welcome to Taupō: Meet Marie Legoux

Chef Marie Legoux was working long hours in a Michelin-starred Parisian restaurant when the Taupō phone calls began.

A friend and former colleague was adamant she should move to New Zealand and work alongside him at Huka Lodge. You’ll love it here, the Frenchman repeatedly insisted.

As soon as a job opportunity materialised at the iconic Taupō lodge, Marie leapt at it. Within a month, she had resigned, farewelled her parents and left Paris to spend 12 months in a faraway lakeside town.

Seven years later, in May 2025, she and partner Dustin Habener opened the French Market delicatessen in downtown Taupō. The specialty food store is stocked with premium New Zealand products, hand-picked imported French delicacies and the chef’s housemade terrines, patés, meals and pastries. Its owner has no plans to return to France

Born to cook

“New Zealand, it’s home,” she says. “In Taupō, everybody knows everybody and I like that. In the street, there’s always a friendly word and if you’re stuck, people come and help you. In Paris, you’re just a number.

“And I got my passion back here.”

Before leaving France in 2018, Marie was a respected chef with an impressive resumé that included some of France’s best known and most luxurious restaurants. But she was also beginning to question her career choice, with its relentless pressure and punishing schedule.

In many ways, Marie was born to cook. Growing up near the historic coastal resort town of Deauville, her parents ran a food truck then a hotel, and both her grandmothers were clever in the kitchen. Marie learned early to always have extra food in the house for guests, to use quality ingredients, not to waste any part of an animal.

As a horse-mad teenager, she envisaged a career as a horse physiotherapist until her parents steered her towards culinary school.

Being the best 

“Before, I was really bad at school, last in my class, with bad comments from the teachers. As soon as I moved into cooking classes, I was in the top three.  

“Everything was interesting, I wasn’t bored and I was really enjoying to create something with my hands, from scratch. I found my calling.” 

As a 19-year-old graduate, she landed her first job in an exclusive restaurant in a picturesque village near Monaco. 

“It was one of the most beautiful restaurants in France, you can see the Mediterranean from the terrace. I started at the top, in a Michelin star restaurant. There, you learn how to respect others, to be appreciative, to be precise, never to say no. You learn hard work and how to copy techniques. They push you to be the best.” 

Over the next decade, Marie’s worked her way through seven more high pressured, highly sought-after kitchens, climbing the chef ranks. Until she found herself in Paris, aged 29, considering a career change. 

“I was really proud to be at this place but I wasn’t sure it was the right place for me.” 

A mind-blowing move

So she jumped at the opportunity in New Zealand.

Landing in Taupō, reality exceeded all hopes.

“I was like a kid in a candy shop. I was finding everything amazing and whoa, everything was blowing my mind.

“But I didn’t speak English. Not a single word. When I started to work at Huka Lodge, my colleagues were saying ‘hi, how are you’ and I couldn’t understand anything.”

Fortunately, the chef part was no trouble – Marie watched and copied, and along the way rediscovered the joy of cooking. She also found a French-speaking English teacher and threw herself into learning the language.

Nine months in, she was offered a work visa. Then, when Covid hit and guests departed, she stayed on to cook for the staff who remained. After five years at the lodge, Marie had worked her way up to the sous chef role.

French favourites

However, she also had an evolving idea; Taupō needed a specialty store stocked with all the great culinary discoveries she had made at the lodge and all the gourmet goods she missed from Europe.

“Good bread, cured meat, good cheese and produce. There was nothing like this in Taupō but back home it is really popular to have a shop like this.

“All the suppliers of the produce and products, I have met them and had a proper chat or know them personally. At the lodge I was exposed to the best of the best from around New Zealand.”

A local butcher supplies the meat she uses to make confit lamb or duck l’orange dishes that are sold as ready-to-heat meals. Charcuterie is made to her specifications and cheeses are either handpicked from New Zealand makers or imported directly from her favourite French producers.

Exclusive to Taupō

Marie bakes the truffled croissants, quiches and friands. People who know her background will come for cooking advice and recommendations, or for the Pont l’Eveque cheese that is made a few kilometres from her birthplace.

“It’s a washed rind cheese that comes in a wooden box. It’s square, slightly aged and for some people it’s a bit strong but it tastes for me amazing.”

Plenty of her products cannot be found anywhere else in New Zealand.

“I’m proud of all the work I’ve done till now,” she says from behind the French Market counter.

“When I came in the country I wasn’t speaking any English and now I’m able to chat about products and have people trust me.

“And I can go to the lakefront and look at those mountains. My goodness, I’m such a lucky person living in one of the most beautiful towns in the world.”

Marie’s favourite local culinary discoveries

• Chef's garden - For my veggies. They can find almost all the products a chef dreams about.
• Heritage Meat - Huw and his team can provide me any cut of meat I need to do my pâtés or ready to go meals.
• Red N White Coffee Roaster - My friend Gerson, who just started his business few months ago, sells my favourite roasted beans.
• Steaming Bean - On Mondays, we like take the dog for a morning walk on the lake front and grab a coffee here. It’s a really popular coffee trailer.
• Inner Wild - We have also a really talented knife maker in Taupō named Lee. He gifted me a set of chef’s knife’s when I opened to wish me good luck. I will showcase it in my shop.
• My two favourite Taupō restaurants are Embra and The Mole and Chicken