Tussock Hill’s vineyard lunch is an accessible foraged feast

Tussock Hill: specialising in seasonal and foraged produce

Just 15 minutes from the centre of Christchurch, Tussock Hill is a vineyard and restaurant offering sweeping views, a rural retreat and a curated lunch featuring foraged ingredients.

Since 2021, Tussock Hill's restaurant has been showcasing its wines grown both at its Port Hills site and its Waipara vineyard alongside produce from its own garden and local suppliers. That local focus took a step forward in 2025 when Adam Harrison, a certified forager as well as a former chef at Queenstown restaurants Sherwood and Amisfield, took over the kitchen. The restaurant now offers a tasting menu it calls a “curated lunch” as well as its shared seasonal menu, both featuring foraged ingredients.

Adam says the opportunity to bring his foraging skills to a city restaurant was a rare one. “This is really the only such venue, where there’s the restaurant garden, the flexibility to express yourself and the trust of an owner to buy into foraging, where the style becomes about the knowledge of the chef.”

Restaurant manager Melaina Targett, part of the family that owns Tussock Hill, said Adam’s vision fit the direction of the restaurant. “Adam’s knowledge about seasonal planting and foraging and being able to bring that to the menu really deepens the local aspect of what we are offering.”

What is foraging?

Adam first got into foraging as a young boy growing up in rural England. He was picking wild blackberries with his grandma at six years old and collecting elderberries for his granddad to make elderberry syrup, a traditional cough medicine. By 14 he was foraging alone and learning the basics of the botanical and seasonal knowledge that underpins certified foragers. Before he joined Tussock Hill, Adam spent three years running his foraging business supplying restaurants in Auckland and Queenstown.

Why foraging creates a deeper sense of place and season in modern dining

“Some chefs forage delicate herbs for their garnishes but we go layers deeper,” he says. “For example, we’ve got acorns we process into flour and we foraged about 100 kilograms of apples this year. We did some baked apples for pies, we did some smoked apples, we did some apple juice, and we made our own verjus from crab apples. We’re looking at deeper levels of plants that people perhaps don’t know are edible, and they take a bit of processing and preserving.” Some of those ingredients ended up in a smoked apple and white chocolate truffle with crystallized white chocolate and pickled vanilla pod, served next to a nougat made from blackened apple and buckwheat.

He says foraged ingredients bring complexity to his dishes because commercially grown produce is often bred for sweetness whereas foraged ingredients tend to be more bitter. “For example, we’ve got a dandelion root ice cream that’s bitter and malty and delicious that sits alongside raspberry and cheesecake. It’s simple, but it adds a depth of flavour to the dishes.”

One of his favourite foraged ingredients is birch sap, one of the few naturally sweet ingredients he gathers. “It’s just a short season of two to three weeks when we collect it, then we reduce it down with care and love to get the right flavour. Then we spend the rest of the year deciding how we're going to use our two liters of sap carefully and curiously, to let people try something unique. That what’s special about foraging, because people are trying things they’ll probably never try again, never do for themselves. It’s giving people an opportunity to come and experience our world of foraging.”

Foraged ingredients feature on the seasonal a al carte menu, and take centre stage on the curated lunch, which Adam says is “hyper focused on now, and tells the story of what’s in the garden and what we’ve found foraging.”

Why Christchurch is a “foraging epicentre”

Adam says Christchurch is fortunate to be surrounded by many diverse regions of foraging. “We’ve got all the coastal stuff like native beach spinach, native ice plant, beach mustard, and then we’ve got the red zone, which has got everybody’s fruit trees. We’ve got a whole selection of herbs that were introduced by Chinese and European settlers, and we’re just 45 minutes away from Mount Thomas where you’ve got native bush with traditional Maori herbs such as kawakawa and horopito, and then we’ve got Banks Peninsula with all these different micro areas where we can forage and produce something different.”

Why Tussock Hill is the perfect urban vineyard escape near Christchurch

Tussock Hill sits atop Huntsbury Hill, a neighborhood just 15 minutes from the centre of Christchurch. Restaurant manager Melaina says while she loves Waipara, and Tussock Hill grows pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and riesling there, guests love that they can take an Uber to the city restaurant and vineyard.

“It’s lovely being able to give this little retreat to people,” she says. “When you turn the corner into here, people are like, ‘Where am I? I’ve suddenly moved out of the suburban landscape into a rural property.’ You get to have that experience of drinking a glass of wine and you can literally see the vines where they were grown, which is so special, and eat food that was grown here and foraged near here.”

Your questions from this article answered:

How do I get to Tussock Hill from central Christchurch, and how long does it take?

Tussock Hill is just a 15-minute drive from central Christchurch by car, taxi, or Uber. Public transport is also available. The number 27 bus travels up Huntsbury Hill near Vista Place, followed by a scenic 20-minute walk to the Cellar Door.

Who makes Tussock Hill’s wines?

Tussock Hill’s wines are made by acclaimed winemaker Theo Coles, who produces his own wines under The Hermit Ram label.

Can I buy Tussock Hill wines at the vineyard or restaurant?

Yes. The full range of Tussock Hill wines is available to purchase onsite at the Vineyard and Cellar Door Restaurant.

Why are foraged ingredients becoming popular in modern restaurants?

Foraged ingredients are valued for their bold, complex flavours, stronger connection to nature, and nutritional benefits. They also support hyper-seasonal menus and help reduce environmental impact by using locally sourced, wild ingredients.

What sustainability practices does Tussock Hill follow?

Tussock Hill focuses on local suppliers, ethical meat sourcing, and seasonal produce. The team also minimises food waste by making stocks from scratch and creatively repurposing ingredients, such as using onion skins as seasoning.

What are kawakawa and horopito, and how are they used in cooking?

Kawakawa and horopito are native New Zealand plants traditionally used in Māori medicine. Today, they are used in modern cuisine for their peppery, aromatic flavours.

Can you stay at Tussock Hill?

Yes. Tussock Hill offers Vineyard Retreat accommodation with views over Pinot Noir vines, the Port Hills, and Christchurch city. Guests can relax in a private outdoor bath with a glass of wine, perfect for a special occasion or getaway.