Q&A with Rothko Head Chef, Neil Sapitula

You may find the name familiar, perhaps even paid a visit to the restaurant tucked within the Matakana Sculptureum. However, you can forget all that you think you know about Rothko as the restaurant welcomes a new Head Chef, Neil Sapitula, a new kitchen designed around open-fire cooking and an intimate new chef’s table experience: the Kitchen Gallery.

Raised in the Philippines, Neil has worked in award-winning kitchens across Asia and in New Zealand. Prior to Rothko, he was Head Chef at Solera in Tauranga where he secured a coveted Hat in the Cuisine Good Food Awards 2023 and was named ‘Cuisine Rising Talent’.

Now, Neil brings his creative approach to the new-look Rothko, where he focuses on sharing plates that draw on multicultural influences, including his own Filipino heritage.

After shamelessly overindulging in the new fire and ferment menu with dishes like kingfish and pork through to ox tongue and chicken feet, we sat down with Neil to learn a bit more about his approach to the relaunch of Rothko.

How do you inspire and lead your team in this new chapter for Rothko?
“I always talk to my team, I make sure they’re in the loop with whatever plans I have at Rothko. I give them assignments from time to time, I give them freedom to play around with dishes, and I listen to them – I listen to my staff around what they think of each dish. I filter it and we discuss what’s best for the guest and the restaurant, and with that approach they get inspired because they always feel that they’re part of each dish that we do. And that is not only for the kitchen, but that’s also how I work with the Front of House team as well.”

Can you walk us through the process of creating one of your dishes and what changes in the new kitchen design made them possible?
“We create the dishes based on the main produce – like I wanted to use ox tongue, for example. From there, I usually give each chef an assignment for the week, to think of something different/out of the box – how do we want to serve it? What’s the flavour combination? We make sure it will be balanced and so from that idea we start creating small portions of the dish’s components, adjusting as we go and thinking about how we’re going to do it in the kitchen. Who is prepping? Which components are coming from which sections? How does it work during service? Those are all things people don’t usually see.”

What’s your favourite dish on the Rothko menu and why?
“BBQ Ox Tongue – this is something that represents so much of my Filipino heritage. The Banana Ketchup – that’s the banana we ferment first before turning it into a ketchup glaze for the ox tongue – it just has so much nostalgia for me.”

“Our new open-fire grill in the kitchen has let us experiment a lot with different ingredients and the layers of flavour we can achieve with that technique. And our huge fridge means we can have several large-scale ferments happening at once.”

Is there a particular dish or flavour combination from your Filipino heritage that you love introducing to new audiences?
“It’s coming soon! We’re planning to make sisig, it’s a dish made from pig’s head and ears, ha ha! But it’s still in the planning stage – I don’t know yet how I’m going to do it and not scare people but make them interested to try it.”

What do you hope guests take away from their dining experience at Rothko?
“We hope our guests leave with a deeper appreciation of the style we do, and the food that inspires us. And I’m hoping the customer coming here is open to trying different things. Be open to it and trust us. Try new things. Every time that someone orders the Chicken Feet or Ox Tongue it makes me so happy!

“And they can always come to the kitchen to talk to us. We're fun here, we’re very casual. We’re not fine dining. We want you to hear the stories and enjoy the food we are making. And I think it'll be fun for both of us!”

Rothko is open Thursday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. Online bookings at rothkorestaurant.co.nz @rothkorestaurant.nz