Oh la la: a French-inspired pie is New Zealand's best

A swirled potato top pie with a centre core of fondant-style cooked potatoes finished in au gratin layers has been named the best pie in New Zealand this year.

The fancy French inspired pie was crafted by Samraksmey (Sam) So, owner of Rosedale Bakery & Café in Albany on Auckland's North Shore, which opened in 2020. It's only the second potato top pie to take out the top prize in the history of the competition.

"It was unexpected and last night was so amazing for me. And my dream come true, and I want to say to my family overseas and mum, I can do it now, I got the supreme [award]," So told RNZ on Wednesday morning after his win.

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Running on a high from the win and little sleep, So was up at 4am on Wednesday prepping pies - crowned Bakels NZ Supreme Pie 2025 at a ceremony in Auckland on Tuesday night,

The fluffy whipped potato fondant atop the soft pastry takes a whole night to prepare, So says.

"We use the golden potato, I think it's an expensive one, but it's very nice taste... We spend a lot of time making it."

So says he was inspired to make the pie after seeing French-style layered potatoes in a magazine.

To recreate the concept in pie form, So teamed up with a friend who worked as a chef in a five-star hotel to refine the potato core until it was perfect.

“We take the time to fry the potatoes and then we put them on a tray with butter, garlic and rosemary and we bake them off. We cut them with a round cutter after baking and put them in the pie and bake again, and they look like a crispy outside," he says.

So spent a year relentlessly studying every detail to perfect his recipe after their potato top pie was ‘highly commended’ at the awards last year. Sao says she's seen him stay up past midnight making the test pies.

This year's win was a “dream come true” for the Cambodian couple. Sao has dreamt of bagging the big prize since her brother first took her to the annual pie awards in 2014.

Sao says the couple learnt how to make pies from her brother – Sok Keo of Milldale Bakery who won gold for his steak and cheese this year.

Her brother was proud of her for surpassing him this time around: “I always say I’m the next generation,” she says, laughing.

So owns two bakeries in Albany. He won silver for his mince and cheese in 2023 and his golden pastry sausage roll took out the Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll competition in the same year.

This year 520 bakeries entered the competition, and 4600 pies were submitted into the 11 categories making up the Bakels NZ Pie Awards. This year nine of the top gongs went to Auckland bakeries.

Last year Arlyn Thompson of Rangiora Bakery became the second-ever female baker to win the supreme award in the contest's 27-year history, taking it out with her slow-cooked Sumatra-style beef pie.

In this year's pie prizes, Sopheap Long from Euro Patisserie in Torbay was the standout female baker. Long won gold for both her mince and gravy and vegetarian pies.

In 2023, a gourmet pie of roast duck, onion and mushroom with cheese sauce, scored pie prince Patrick Lam his eighth win in the competition.

Bacon & Egg: Sean Vo, Levain Artisan Bakery, Blockhouse Bay Auckland

Mince & Gravy: Sopheap Long, Euro Patisserie, Torbay, Auckland

Mince & Cheese: Michael Gray, Nada Bakery, Wellington

Potato Top: Samraksmey (Sam) So, Rosedale Bakery & Café, Albany, Auckland

Steak & Gravy: Sok Heang Nguon, Taste Bakery and Roast, Henderson, Auckland

Steak & Cheese: Sok Keo, Milldale Bakery, Wainui, Auckland

Chicken & Vegetable: Mengheng (Jason) Hay, Richoux Patisserie, Ellerslie, Auckland

Gourmet Meat: Buntha Meng, Wild Grain Bakery, Silverdale, Auckland

Vegetarian: Sopheap Long, Euro Patisserie, Torbay, Auckland

Café Boutique: Ellie Linton-Brown, Main Street Café, Huntly

Commercial/Wholesale: Dad’s Pies, Silverdale, Auckland.