The kitchen design experience for lovers of food and luxury

NZ Herald

11-05-2025

Win a Fisher & Paykel Mastery of Temperature kitchen experience.
In every home, the kitchen is more than just a place to cook. It's a stage for celebration and connection – a setting for busy breakfasts at the start of the day, late-night chats, milestone dinners, rainy-day baking with the children, or an impromptu glass of wine with a friend who needs to talk. It's where we nourish not just our bodies but our relationships.
So, what happens when a kitchen experience is designed not only to elevate how we cook, but how we live?
Welcome to Fisher & Paykel's Social Kitchen located in the heart of their breathtaking flagship experience centre in Auckland. Not only is this a place that inspires bespoke architecture and kitchen perfection, it is where you can experience Fisher & Paykel's chef-led Mastery of Temperature – a unique showcase of how temperature and humidity combine with the science of cooking to deliver perfect results. It is where you can enjoy dishes prepared with premium, sustainably sourced ingredients.
For lovers of design, food and luxury, this is a journey through space, time and the senses that offers an intimate glimpse into how the future of home cooking is being shaped by precise temperature control, innovation and sustainable thinking.
From the moment you step off the street and into the flagship store, the outside world quiets. The experience is immersive from the first breath: birdsong echoes softly through the space, and a basalt basin filled with tidal water rises and falls gently in rhythm with the Waitematā Harbour – an homage to the landscape that grounds us.
Inside, the interiors feel hushed and reverent. Rammed earth walls, black sand textures and suspended pendants made of native grasses create a palette that is both luxurious and deeply rooted in the natural world. The centrepiece is a 9-metre-long dining table crafted from 45,000-year-old reclaimed swamp kauri, which sits atop a floor made of 700-year-old totara. There's history underfoot, and purpose in every design decision.
This isn't just a space to showcase Fisher & Paykel's premium appliances – there are over 250 on display – it's a celebration of craft, culture and connection.
Showcasing partnerships with global kitchen design leaders Boffi, Arclinea and Henrybuilt, the showroom demonstrates how the art of kitchen design can integrate with modern lifestyle needs. And at the centre of it all is the Social Kitchen – a working culinary space where guests gather around the island bench for a 90-minute sensory journey called the Mastery of Temperature.
The format? Think intimate dinner party meets live demonstration. Hosted by Fisher & Paykel culinary experience chef Paul Leha, the session is as much about storytelling as it is about the discovery of innovation and cooking.
Leha, formerly of Auckland's acclaimed Engine Room and the Soho House group in London, brings his fine-dining flair and warm, easy hospitality to the table. His mission is to demystify high-performance cooking techniques and introduce guests to the silent magic of precision.
'Ultimately, people are searching for kitchens that reflect how they want to live,' says Leha. 'They want beautiful spaces, of course, but also sustainability, efficiency and ease. Cooking should feel intuitive and rewarding.'
The Mastery of Temperature is structured around five food groups – bread, fish, red meat, vegetables and dessert – each course paired with the appliances or techniques designed to show what happens when temperature is no longer a variable, but a constant.
The experience opens with house-baked sourdough served with a whipped brown butter that's equal parts culinary science and indulgence. The butter, browned using the exacting control of induction, then cooled in a sub-zero refrigeration setting, is folded into room-temperature butter to create a spread that is silky, nutty and utterly unforgettable.
'It's not about guessing anymore,' Leha explains. 'It's about knowing exactly what will happen at each stage. The tools allow that consistency – so whether it's Tuesday night pasta or a 50th birthday celebration, your food delivers.'
Next comes salmon, gently steamed at 55°C using the combination steam oven. The result? Moist, tender flesh that melts at the touch of a fork. 'Steam is incredibly forgiving,' Leha says. 'You retain nutrients, texture and flavour. It's one of the healthiest and most precise ways to cook.'
Vegetables follow – vibrant, full of colour and crunch, steamed at 100°C with zero guesswork. No more hovering over stovetops or worrying about overcooking. These are appliances that know what your produce needs better than you do.
Lamb ribs, slow-cooked sous vide at a perfect 58°C, underscore how this once 'professionals only' technique is now accessible to the home cook. Fisher & Paykel's ovens offer integrated sous vide functionality – no separate machine, no cluttered benchtops.
Finally, a dessert course shows just how achievable technical precision can be. Whether it's a silky custard or a perfect meringue, the mastery of temperature makes even the most intimidating dishes feel within reach.
Of course, this is a showcase of innovation. The column refrigeration systems with Variable Temperature Zones allow for truly custom storage – whether you're chilling leafy greens, proofing dough or ageing cheese. The dual-zone wine cabinets keep your collection safe from temperature fluctuations, UV light and vibration.
But the brilliance is in how seamlessly these features integrate with daily life.
There's an app to control your oven remotely, a warming drawer that doubles as a slow cooker and intuitive interfaces that feel more like luxury design than digital tech. Even the induction cooktops are designed for conversation, remaining cool to touch and safe for little hands during those multi-generational moments in the kitchen.
'The goal is to make cooking joyful again,' says Leha. 'These appliances help people cook better – but they also help people cook more often. They reduce waste, make healthier eating easier and bring confidence back into the kitchen.'
Between each course, Leha weaves in broader conversations – about energy use, conscious design and sustainability. It's a welcome addition to a culinary showcase and it reflects Fisher & Paykel's deeper values: that appliances aren't just tools for cooking, but instruments for living well.
'Good design is about more than what something looks like,' he says. 'It's about what it does for you – how it makes you feel, how it improves your lifestyle.'
These innovations cleverly elevate the way you live – and make it easier. You can relax knowing your glass of chardonnay is perfectly chilled, that the micro-greens you bought at the market will stay fresh and crisp for longer, that you will create memorable meals for the people who are important to you.
The Fisher & Paykel flagship, with its ancient timbers and modern elegance, invites guests to dream bigger about what's possible in their own homes. For architects and designers, it's a vision board. For curious home cooks, it's a revelation.
The Mastery of Temperature isn't a sales pitch – it's a conversation. A way of thinking differently about something we do every day. It draws together ritual, culture, design and nourishment into a singular, inspiring experience.
Sessions are intimate – just nine guests per sitting – and usually book out weeks in advance. They also scale for industry groups, making it a magnet for interior designers, luxury developers and clients embarking on high-end renovations.
'The food isn't fancy for the sake of being fancy,' Leha says. 'It's ingredients you can buy at the supermarket, prepared in a way that brings out their best. We want people to leave inspired – not intimidated.'
And you do. You will leave thinking about how to eat more sustainably. How to reduce food waste. How to bring people together more often, and more meaningfully.
You will leave thinking about what a kitchen can truly be.