This February, Kelmarna Farm Dinners return for 2026, bringing a tightly curated series of four summer evenings of outdoor dining to one of Auckland’s most treasured green spaces. For those unfamiliar with the destination, Kelmarna Organic Gardens were established in 1981 and have long served as a working model of sustainability in an urban setting.
Across four nights, some of Tāmaki Makaurau’s most thoughtful chefs will create produce-led, multi-course menus inspired by what is growing in the gardens at peak summer. Guests will dine communally, al fresco, surrounded by the beds, trees and flowers that supply the kitchen — turning food miles into food metres, and anchoring each meal firmly in place.
The 2026 series opens with Elie Assaf of Lebanese Grocer, whose generous mezze-style menu draws on family recipes and the vibrant flavours of his Lebanese heritage. Kane Wilson of Someplace Somewhere follows with a fire-led, fermentation-driven menu shaped by both farmed and foraged produce, and informed by modern Japanese influences. Joe O’Connell, executive chef of Newmarket favourite MAMA, brings a family-style Italian feast celebrating Kelmarna’s summer harvest through bold, comforting flavours and a low-waste philosophy. Closing the series, Georgia van Prehn presents a fully vegetarian, grazing-style dinner — a playful, Mediterranean-inspired expression of peak produce that reflects her long-standing commitment to seasonal, minimal-waste cooking.
Proceeds from the series directly support Kelmarna’s community-focused educational and therapeutic initiatives, with 50% of Farm Dinner profits returning to the charitable trust.
Kelmarna Farm Dinners 2026 will run across four nights in February on the following dates:
Wednesday 11 February: Elie Assaf, Lebanese Grocer (6–9pm, shared mezze-style menu)
Friday 13 February: Kane Wilson, Someplace Somewhere (6–9pm, four-courses)
Wednesday 18 February: Joe O’Connell, MAMA (6–9pm, four-course Italian feast)
Friday 20 February: Georgia van Prehn (6–9pm, three-course vegetarian grazing menu)
A quietly powerful reminder that some of the city’s most memorable meals still begin in the soil.
