Taupō entrepreneur Olivia Moore has a voracious appetite for culinary creativity. In fact, the 22-year-old food photographer, recipe developer and cookbook author has built her life and career around food-based ingenuity.
By the time she and her twin sister Brooke entered their first cooking contest at 13, Olivia had years of kitchen experimentation under her belt.
At 15, she launched a gourmet food business that ousted about 900 competitors and was named runner-up’s prize in the national Young Enterprise Scheme awards. Her Top That company placed second the following year, too, with its array of nut-based meal toppings that sold online, at markets and in specialty stores.
A cookbook at 21
Olivia Moore
These days, Olivia’s website and growing online following—almost 15,000 on Instagram—showcase her own recipes as well as her work with local and national food producers, event organisers and restaurant owners. It’s her job to create recipes, then utilise her food styling talents, photography and video clips to help showcase other people’s products or brands.
Olivia’s own cookbook, That Green Olive, was published soon after her 21st birthday. The book includes plenty of modern takes on Kiwi classics, like beer and gruyere scones. There is clever treatment of locally-caught deer and rainbow trout, and a recipe for ginger kisses made with kumara.
“My Dad was always fishing and hunting and I grew up eating a lot of trout and venison, Living in Taupō, you have the lake and bush right there, so those things have always been a part of my food upbringing.”
Olivia Moore
Competing twins
Her childhood was also marked by the obsessive collection of supermarket recipe cards and a long procession of cookbooks borrowed from Taupō’s public library. Not to mention competitive bake-offs with her sister, who began working in the Baked With Love café kitchen straight out of school and is now completing a chef apprenticeship in Australia.
“When Mum would let us cook, we used to fight over who would make what. Christmas was always crazy because we all wanted to be in the kitchen at the same time, we’d always cook these huge feasts and try to outdo each other, to make the most impressive dish.
“I think it made us both better cooks. We compelled each other to try to do better.”
After finishing high school, the Tauhara College dux focused on her gourmet food business, while working part time as a barista at the town’s Cozy Corner café. Of course, she also dabbled in their kitchen when she could. Olivia’s vegan cookie dough crumble slice is still a staple in the eatery’s cabinet.
Local support, national reach
Olivia was 15 when a local café commissioned her to photograph their offerings for social media posts. From there, word spread.
“I don’t think I could have done this in a big city. Here, I really have the support of the community, people want to support local.”
However, she didn’t stop there. “I had just finished high school and was still too young to drive when I booked a flight to Auckland, and caught a bus to buy a lens for my camera. Then I went into as many cafés and restaurants as I could, and gave them my card.
“I ended up getting a shoot way north of the city so I had to catch multiple buses and a taxi to get there. Of course I spent more money than I made but I knew it would be something to show future potential clients. And I knew what I wanted to do and it gave me the confidence to pitch myself.”
Evolving food scene
While many of Olivia’s clients are in larger centres, she remains a fervent ambassador for her home town’s culinary charms.
“I think a lot of people still don’t realise how much great food we have in Taupō. We have great food trucks and cafés and a couple of nationally-awarded, hatted restaurants. We have high end dining at places like Huka Lodge and our first Treats of Taupō food festival was so successful last year.
“There’s been a real evolution in the food scene here. I love helping to share that.”
Olivia Moore’s favourite Taupō eats
Embra
Embra
Embra has put Taupō on the food map and, since they came to town, I think other operators have upped their game. The menu is so seasonal that it’s hard to pick a favourite but they always have a spelt risotto on the menu and it’s just amazing. Phill is a genius. His presentation is amazing, the way he uses patterns and colours and symmetry. Everything is so precise in the best way. And the place looks like home. It doesn’t feel pretentious, you just feel comfortable being there. And of course I love watching the chefs.
The Bistro
The Bistro
Jude is just such an awesome, down-to-earth, lovely person and he knows what he’s doing. I seriously love their bread, with a really good lemon beurre blanc. And the pork and cabbage dumplings, that doesn’t sound great but they are really, really good. There’s a mushroom broth that comes with it, I could drink that broth. It’s seriously good.
Lionels
This was formerly Lake Bistro but has been completely renovated, with a new kitchen and floors and the menu is really, really good. It’s the sort of place where you can sit with drinks and have small sharing plates. I love their fried karaage chicken, the whitebait sliders with preserved lemon mayo and the pork skewers with this really great green herb sauce. And Reuben’s pastries are insane.
Hare and Copper, Tūrangi
The Hare & Copper
People forget about this place because it’s further out but it’s a great destination out in the country, with heaps of trees, an outdoor patio and a fireplace. Sometimes there’s live music. Andrew and Liliana are the loveliest people and it feels as though you’re in a really cosy wooden home. They do a really good grilled octopus and their fried chicken is always popular.
Rosemary’s
A lot of people go to this bar for drinks because it’s open late, with really good live music. But seriously, their BBC—beef bacon cheese—smash burgers are insane and their Birria tacos are really good; crispy shells, folded over and then you dip them in this rich, dark peppery beef sauce. I go there a few times a week.
Jimmy Coops
Jimmy Coops
Their burgers are some of my favourite. They have some really, really good inventive flavours, like the duck burger they are launching for duck shooting season. The beef served in the restaurant is grown on Lakeman Farms and the cows are fed grain from the Lakeman brewery, so it's a real circular process. The chef has built his own smoker and makes his own pastrami and the sausages for their hot dogs.
Cozy Corner
The Cozy Corner
It’s been there for seven years and is all about whole foods and they really cater for people with food allergies or preferences. One thing I love from there is their parmesan and almond crusted tart. Sometimes the filling is mushroom, sometimes asparagus but the crust is really buttery, crispy and rich parmesan cheesy.
Baked With Love
Baked with Love
Definitely get the caramel macadamia slice. My sister always used to bring home the offcuts when she worked there, and we would all obsess over the buttery shortbread base, velvety caramel filling and macadamia crumble topping. The caramelised edges were always first dibs. It is still a favourite of mine.
Kefi
Kefi
Their salmon and lemon-artichoke eggs benedict is my favourite, and their hollandaise is really well balanced. Owner Alexi is so full of energy, always smiling and super inspired the whole time. They’re always changing things up in the cabinet, so there’s something new to try every time.
