About The Farmers Daughter

From local growers to the keepers of the land and her own childhood memories of Matakana, community remains as important as cuisine to Kate Rose of the Farmers Daughter.

Generations have grown up here, cultivating the dark soil and relying upon the bountiful kaimoana. On any given Saturday in spring, it’s hard to picture bustling Matakana Village – with its hip eateries, chic homeware stores, and craft brewers – as a sleepy backwater. But a sense of nostalgia for and love of the local community are exactly what informs Kate and the food she creates.

To look at it now, The Farmers Daughter is a prime spot; crisp, white weatherboards, leafy overhanging Pohutukawa, sun drenched decks buzzing with diners, and a car park witness to plenty of comings and goings.

“As soon as I walked in here for the first time, I could see the hard work that would be needed but I could also see the potential,” says Kate. “I called my girlfriends in the city and said, ‘I’ve taken this old takeaway shop on and we’re going to renovate it over the summer. I’m going to open it into a little café.’ Their response was, ‘Have you seriously lost it?’

The Farmer’s Daughter has grown quickly, from a lone coffee machine in the window as renovations wrapped up, to 120 seats split over three levels inside and out, offering breakfast, lunch and events year round, plus dinner and pop-ups through the summer.