She was inspired to start the business by Taranaki hospitality moguls Kate and Craig Mcfarlane. “The Mcfarlanes were quite instrumental in me deciding to take this whole career up,” she said.
SIMON O CONNOR/Stuff
“I do like just doing what I want to do. I’ve never been good at being told what to do.” They’d just opened Mcfarlanes in Inglewood and needed a chef. She decided to apply but after realising it was evening work, she opted to not take the job. Instead, they asked if she was interested in managing a restaurant they had in Fielding. “And I drove away thinking if I can do that for them, I can do it for myself,” she said.