Award-winning New Zealand chef Dion McGrath shows off his treats matched with ice cream at a recent event in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Born and bred in a mountainous village in New Zealand, McGrath grew up eating a lot of natural produce, fruits and vegetables. He first found his interest in the kitchen when he was tempted by store-bought cookies he got from his classmates. That idea was rejected by his mother, who said if he wanted cookies, he had to make them himself.

Over time, he came to appreciate how his upbringing on a farm gave him an advantage when he was ready to qualify as a chef.

"We kill our own animals for the meat. If we want beef, we kill the cow, also sheep and pigs. Being in New Zealand is very green: We also do lot of hunting, pig hunting, deer hunting and duck hunting," he says.

At the age of 14, he started as a dishwasher at a little restaurant owned by his father's friend, and climbed his way up to helm several well acclaimed restaurants like the Pavilion & El Pomposo Restaurants, eventually managing Four Seasons Group's largest food-and-beverage operation worldwide in Egypt. He has also helped two of the restaurants he took charge of in Hong Kong to win awards as the best fine dining restaurant.

He has worked and lived in China on and off since 1992. McGrath believed the consumers here today are more open-minded to new things than in his home country－even open to trying ice cream in the winter time.