Ex-Nelson chef 'NZer of Year'

FOOD GURU: London restaurant owner and chef Anna Hansen is the 2010 New Zealander of the Year in Britain.

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Former Nelsonian Anna Hansen always wanted to be a chef ever since she had a weekend job at the Hardy Street Deli. Now she is living that dream, having won the New Zealander of the Year in Britain for her work as the founder of award-winning London restaurant The Modern Pantry.

Ms Hansen, 40, said she was "thrilled and honoured" to win the award, established by the New Zealand Society and given each year to an individual who promotes a positive image of New Zealand in Britain. Past winners include Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Don McKinnon, rowing coach Harry Mahon, chef Peter Gordon, equestrian Mark Todd and golfer Michael Campbell.

Ms Hansen was born in Denmark but raised in Nelson and is the niece of the late Jens Hansen, who founded his jewellery business here in 1968.

Her first job was with Kiwi chef Jill Stevenson at the Hardy Street Deli, where she spent most of her time arranging bunches of watercress around cheese logs, doing dishes and peeling potatoes.

However, the experience fostered a passion that led to training as a chef in London before going on to work under Peter Gordon at the Sugar Club. The pair opened another restaurant, The Providores, together in 2001.

Hansen moved on in 2005 to explore her own philosophy with a food style she likes to term "modern global food".

She opened The Modern Pantry restaurant in August 2008, and it has quickly become a well-known destination on the London restaurant scene.

Her cuisine includes a signature dish of sugar-cured shrimp omelette with chilli, scallions and cilantro, which won her a place in a book, Coco, published by London-based Phaidon Press, listing "the 100 best chefs of tomorrow".

- © Fairfax NZ News