Ray McVinnie

Ray McVinnie ( M.A.(Hons), C&G Dip CA ) has been a foodwriter and advisor at Cuisine magazine since 1992.  (Cuisine was judged best food magazine in the world at the 2006 Gourmet Media World festival in Cannes, France). Now  Cuisine Magazine Food Editor, he also writes a weekly food column in the Sunday Star Times, Sunday magazine.

Ray has always had a passion for food. Even while studying for his Master of Arts in History at Auckland University he cooked part time. A professional chef for many years at some of Auckland’s best restaurants, he was Executive Chef at Aucklands Metropole Restaurant for 6 years.  He is an experienced food judge, judging the Corbans Food and Wine Challenge and the New Zealand Cheese Awards for many years. He was on the International Jury for the Italy-based Slowfood Awards, and has also twice been on the panel of judges for the World Food Media Awards.

Ray is also an award winning food and travel writer and was winner of the Air New Zealand Food and Travel Award in 1992, of the Buttermark Best Writing Award in 1994 and 1997, the New Zealand Guild of Food Writers Visuals Award in 2001. In 2005, he won 3 awards, the New Zealand Guild of Foodwriters Gastronomy Award, the Recipe Award and the Foodstyling Award. In 2009 he again won the best recipe feature award. He won the 2005 20th Singapore Tourism Awards Best Singapore Travel Story- Print Catergory. In 2006 he won the New Zealand Magazine Publishers Association award for Journalist of the Year, Home and Food Catergory Ray has travelled extensively in Asia as well as in Italy, Spain. Germany and France researching food and as a professional chef.

In 2008 he was invited to present his paper on kumara at the prestigeous Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery at Oxford University UK. He has had four cookery books published The New Zealand Fish Cookery  Book 1986 (revised and published as "Cooking the Catch" 1997), “The Chicken Cookbook for New Zealanders” (1994), "The Modern Cook" (New Holland 2001), and “Eat” ( New Holland 2003) Ray is also one of the judges in the the first series of Masterchef New Zealand screening on TVOne Apart from his food and travel writing, Ray is also a lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology and is an experienced food stylist, consultant and guest chef for various restaurants and cookschools.