Kitchen Day Podcast

Eric Kong is 24 years old and runs Dragons , Wellington's most beloved yum cha institution on Tory Street in Wellington. But the story starts in 1908, when his great-great-grandfather arrived in New Zealand alone at 14, paid the Chinese poll tax, and started a fruiterers' guild that gave the Chinese community a foothold in Wellington. Five generations of hospitality has followed, and Eric...

Melissa Lind didn’t plan to become the General Manager of one of Wellington’s busiest restaurants. She walked into Charley Noble with a single CV, no appointment, and asked for a job. Three months later, she was running the floor. Eight years on, Mel oversees Charley Noble and The Food Lab as GM of Knife Block Hospitality, leading huge services, managing teams of up to 75 staff, and navigating the...

Natalia Schamroth never planned to open a restaurant on the North Shore. She and partner Carl Koppenhagen had a list, they'd searched for a year, and the day they went to see the old post office in Northcote Point they'd already talked themselves out of it. But then they saw the steel-framed windows, and the rest is history. Twenty years later, The Engine Room is the restaurant everyone in...

There are roughly 420 Masters of Wine in the world, and Wellington has one of them. This week on The Kitchen Day Podcast, I sit down with Stephen Wong MW , a Master of Wine, wine educator, consultant, and judge. If you’ve ever wondered what it actually takes to become a Master of Wine, this conversation breaks it down, from the famously difficult MW exam to the years of blind tasting, study, and r...

Ismo Koski - or Mo, as he’s known in hospo circles -  is one of Aotearoa’s most respected front-of-house operators. He came up through the city's most influential fine-dining rooms, including The Grove, Sidart, and the French Café under Simon Wright and Creghan Molloy-Wright, before opening the iconic Apéro on K'Road with his partner, chef Leslie Hottiaux. Twelve years on, Apéro is the res...

I’m delighted to bring you this conversation with none other than Hannah Wells , the charming owner of Wellington’s beloved hidden wine bar Puffin . With a background in design, Hannah came into hospitality with a strong sense of feel and intention, and opened Puffin at exactly the right moment, backing herself to create something small, considered, and entirely her own. This is a conversation abo...

An art history major who took a shift at Cazador at 18 and never really left. Two decades on, Rebecca Smidt now owns and runs Cazador, the Cazador deli next door, and San Ray on Ponsonby Road with her partner Dariush. Three very different venues, all with their own identity, all built the hard way. This is a wide-ranging, honest conversation about what it actually takes to run serious restaurants...

In this episode of The Kitchen Day Podcast , I chat with Tait Burge and William Bridewell Roberts, two of the most driven, humble, and exciting entrepreneurs in New Zealand right now. These guys started out with a simple obsession: to make the perfect flat white. Fast forward to today, and they’re behind one of the most influential coffee empires the country has ever seen. And trust me, they’re ju...

In this episode, we sit down with the incredible Renee Coulter, co-founder of Coco’s Cantina and one of the most influential voices in Auckland hospitality. Opened with her sister Damaris in 2009, Coco’s Cantina was always intended to be more than a restaurant. It’s a place built on care, where generosity extends beyond the plate to staff, regulars, and the wider community. A true K’ Road institut...

Season 2 starts here - and we’re kicking things off with one of the true heavyweights of the New Zealand hospitality industry. In this episode, we sit down with Mike Egan, President of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand and a modern-day restaurateur whose work has helped shape the restaurant scene in Wellington and across Aotearoa. This is a conversation about what actually stands the test...

Roger Young is a true Cuba Street original - a hospitality rockstar whose venues helped shape the soul of Wellington. In this episode, Roger shares the wild, funny, and fearless stories behind building iconic spots like Little Gringo’s and Fidel’s, from scraping by in the early days to creating places that would become cultural institutions. With no regrets and no filter, Roger talks about the cha...

In this episode, we sit down with Kate McMillan Hutchison of the iconic Wellington establishment Capitol , to talk about her journey into hospitality and how that path has changed over time. Kate shares how she first found her way into the industry, the role her education played in shaping how she thinks about service, and why hospitality became a place where she felt a real sense of belonging. Fr...

In this episode of The Kitchen Day Podcast, we sit down with hospitality legend Steve Logan, co-founder of Wellington’s iconic Logan Brown restaurant. With over 40 years in the hospitality industry, Steve shares his story of building one of New Zealand’s most respected dining rooms and what it really takes to build a legacy that lasts. We talk about opening Logan Brown with confidence, why hiring...

Dean White fell in love with the business of hospitality early -and from that point on, it wasn’t just food or service that captured his imagination, but how great venues are built and sustained. Now, at 35, Dean is the owner of Mosaic Venues , the group behind some of Wellington’s most iconic restaurants: Mr Go’s , Ombra , Kisa , Parla , and LTD . In this episode, Dean takes us through his unexpe...

In this episode, we sit down with one of Wellington’s most loved (and awarded) front-of-house leaders: Davey McDonald of Ortega Fish Shack. Davey has spent more than 16 years shaping one of the country’s most consistently adored dining rooms, but if you ask him what the secret is, he’ll tell you it’s simple: make it fun. We talk about everything from work/life balance with two busy kids, to why Or...

In this episode, we sit down with Megan Wyper - barista-turned-coffee cup designer, and one of the fiercest champions of New Zealand’s specialty coffee industry. From pulling her first shots on her mother’s coffee cart to now co-owning the iconic Acme Cup Co , Megan has built a career defined by craftsmanship, and a deep commitment to elevating every part of a guests' coffee experience. Megan...

Katie Woodhead is a sommelier, hospitality lifer, and the ultimate “waiter’s waiter” whose gift for service has shaped dining rooms across the UK and New Zealand. She’s joy, wisdom, craft, and charm wrapped into one unmistakable hospitality force. Katie first cut her teeth at Darcy’s, a UK restaurant run by two formidable Australian women who shaped her early understanding of discipline, humour, a...

In this heartfelt conversation, we sit down with Paul Schrader, co-owner and front-of-house lead at Rita , to explore what truly sits at the centre of beautiful hospitality. From his early days as a teacher to becoming a guiding presence in Wellington’s dining scene, Paul shares how pastoral care, empathy, and genuine connection shape the way he serves and leads. We discuss the evolving perception...

If you know Wellington’s dining scene, you’ll know the Bresolin name. But this story isn’t just about legacy - it’s about how Lorenzo Bresolin has taken that heritage of hospitality and shaped it into something uniquely his own. Growing up in the family that helped define Wellington’s restaurant culture, Enzo learned early what it meant to make people feel welcome - not just through food and servi...

What does it really take to create a restaurant people fall in love with? In this episode, Juno Miers, co-owner of the beloved Margot , shares her journey from her early days in service to running one of the city’s most talked-about dining spots. She opens up about the power of genuine connection, the leap from employee to employer, and how the hospitality industry is evolving - from building grea...

Welcome to The Kitchen Day Podcast! This series celebrates the people behind some of New Zealand’s best restaurants and front-of-house teams - those for whom service is more than a job, it’s a calling. Hosted by Dominique Fourie McMillan and Chris Thompson , the podcast goes beyond the surface to show that exceptional service takes skill, dedication, and a deep understanding of people. Dom and Chr...