Morepork American BBQ
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Relatable Chef Clint Davies was raised in Tauranga and trained as a chef before heading off for an American culinary adventure. With jobs working under illustrious Swiss-American Chef Daniel Humm at the legendary One Market Restaurant in San Franciso and Fish Story in Napa, with a famous raw bar of fresh fish, scallops, oysters, serving 460 guests each day.
Over these years of fine dining, and following a year sabbatical in Japan, Clint shifted his focus from gastronomic cooking to American Barbeque and the long, slow smoke, replacing tweezers with a axe!
Clint and his partner Ryan Hammond (pictured above), who trained as a pastry chef but also specialised in Front of House, moved back to New Zealand to open a BBQ joint with Clint taking a part time role as a senior chef at Collective Hospitality.
Morepork BBQ was born
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We visited Chef Clint, who has also done some part time tutoring at NZSFW, at Morepork BBQ Restaurant in Kumeu with a group of Level 5 Diploma students.
Back home, Clint built a barbeque trailer and investigated local woods for their suitability for long smoking qualities. Clint is looking for a Blue wispy smoke, not a harsh, choking or acrid smoke. From his experience, fruit wood from fallen apple, nectarine, peach trees work best. Clint burns 100 cubic metres of wood each year.
‘Wood should not be totally dry (with a moisture below 20%) as then it does not smoke much,' comments Clint.
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'Lignin is important,' notes Clint. Lignin is a complex, rigid polymer that acts as a natural glue, binding the cells of wood. It enables plants to stand upright and resist pests.
Kānuka and mānuka can become bitter and acidic over long smokes; pōhutukawa is too perfumed. Red gum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, called red because of its red heartwood, is ideal, as is English oak, Quercus robur.
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At the bar at Morepork BBQ Restaurant with Clint's mandatory collection of American whiskeys + a few kiwi whiskies too.
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Beef brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef and takes 6-8 hours to smoke.
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Clint's famous BBQ sauce simmering on the stove. Morepork BBQ travel to many events and provide corporate catering from their trailers. Read more about their events here.
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Consistent temperature of the fire is very important around for smoking. At Morepork BBQ, they are prepare pork ribs, smoked sausages and their famous beef brisket. See their meat selection here.
Many thanks Chef Clint and Ryan.
Celia Hay
December 2025
