A Day in the Life - Sean Burns, Restaurateur

As Napier restaurant The Milk and Honey looks forward to hosting a night of Southern cuisine and bourbon cocktails as part of Hawke's Bay food festival, winter F.A.W.C, we follow co-owner Sean Burns for the day and learn how to make the perfect Old Fashioned.

In just over two week's time, Hawke's Bay will once again be the subject of food envy from across the country, as iconic food festival, Winter Food and Wine Classic (F.A.W.C) begins. Over the four weekends of June, a series of restaurants, vineyards and other venues will host events celebrating Hawke's Bay produce in cosy, winter style (open fires galore!). To view the full programme of events and to book tickets, visit www.fawc.co.nz. 

To celebrate the season of eating, we've invited three Winter F.A.W.C participants to take over our Instagram account (@dishmagnz), giving us a candid insight into the preparations that are taking place for their unique food events. This week, Dish followed co-owner of Napier restaurant The Milk and Honey, Sean Burns, for the day. Here's what a day in his life looks like...

8am: Morning Medicine

This restauranteur cannot start his day until he has had his first shot of liquid gold from our LaMarzocco. Our beans are beautifully roasted by our friend Tom Ormond and his team at Hawthorne Coffee in Havelock North. 

11am: Dessert planning

On June 19th The Milk & Honey is all about Southern Love for F.A.W.C. We are mixing all sorts of bourbons in the bar and kitchen, and playing with food from the Southern states of America with our own twist. For some reason whenever we plan a menu, dessert seems to come first. @haydenesau has created Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie on a Burnt Miso Butterscotch Sauce.

12pm: Chicken and waffles 

 You cannot have a Southern dinner without chicken and waffles. Chef Hayden Easu is serving ours with maple and bourbon pickled jalapeños.

4pm: Never too early

It’s all in the planning. Miyuki, Amelia and I take one for the team and start planning our bourbon bespoke cocktail list for Southern Love for F.A.W.C

6pm: Call me Old Fashioned

When indulging with bourbon and you have to make an Old Fashioned. We make ours with 60mls Bookers bourbon, 1 bar spoon of housemade sugar syrup, 2 good shakes of The Bitter Truth ‘Grapefruit’ Bitters and freshly cut orange peel. There’s a good reason why it is a bourbon classic.

11.30pm: Staff Dinner

The restaurant has been buzzing since 7am, but we have said goodnight to the last guests, so it's a chance for Amelia, Emma and Charlie to sit down and enjoy a plate of food and glass of something before re-setting the restaurant, ready for the day shift to welcome a new set of guests at first light.

Tickets to Southern Love, a night of Southern cuisine and bourbon have unfortunately sold out. However, the Winter F.A.W.C schedule is full of other incredibly creative dining events. View the full programme at www.fawc.co.nz. Follow Dish on Instagram @dishmagnz to follow the final of our Winter F.A.W.C. Day in the Life series this Monday.