Kitchen Day

“Never listen to the doubters. Keep going until your success is so loud, you can’t hear them anymore.”

- The Pitmaster Rodney Scott

What a singular experience having Rodney Scott in the house, sharing his story with our hospitality community.

A remarkable man, a truly remarkable story, and a South Carolina menu we’ll never forget.

Thank you so much, sir. It was an absolute privilege.

It’s Rodney Scott time.

Check your inbox for the mailer 🍖

Our Monday morning menus pair super well with . These guys have backed Kitchen Day from the start. Legends ⚡️

Our little chef got his mug on a mug! Thanks to the brilliant .black and , our Kitchen Day stackers now really look the part at our monthly events ☕️ 💙

Staff meal never looked better.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

Yesterday our hospo community packed out to hear share his story. It was just incredible.

And because this industry is full of magic people, we also had the pleasure of being joined by from who shared not only her story but her beautiful wine.

Of all the weeks in the year to host these two icons side by side, it felt right that it happened at Matariki. It’s so easy to get caught up in the churn of this industry sometimes, the hard days, the slow days, the days we wonder how much we still have left in the tank. I have those days often. But then you hear Jannine say,
𝐻𝑒 𝑎ℎ𝑎 𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎 𝑛𝑢𝑖 𝑜 𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑜? 𝐻𝑒 𝑡𝑎̄𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑎, ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎̄𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑎, ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎̄𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑎, and you remember why we do this.

Mānawatia a Matariki, everyone. 💫

There’s heaps of excitement in the air ahead of the awards tonight. There’s anxiety too.
We can make space for both.

I’ve spent a minute in this industry, and lots of time talking to people who’ve been in the game longer than I. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s this - hold on to perspective.

These awards are a big deal for our industry but they’re not the full story. Real success is measured way closer to home.

Good luck to everyone in the running tonight x

✌🏽

Alrighty folks, a huge coupla months ahead!

🗓️ JULY sees the one and only joining us at Loretta to host Kitchen Day. The session is completely packed out 🙏🏽thank you to everyone who RSVP’d. I can’t wait to see you all there.

💫 As a bonus, we’ll also be joined by from , who’ll be sharing a little of her story and pouring some of her incredible wines. Not bad at all..!

🗓️ AUGUST brings not one, but *two* iconic Kitchen Day events, featuring our first-ever international guests thanks to the team at 👏🏽

🇺🇸 First up is the king of whole-hog BBQ, James Beard Award-winning pitmaster ! Rodney’s in town for his event at later that week, but before that he’ll be joining us at Kitchen Day to share his story, his approach to barbecue, and a few of the recipes that have made him a legend. Unreal.

🇺🇸 Later in August, we welcome the Burger Man himself: filmmaker, author, burger historian, and all-round burger royalty . George will be hosting a Kitchen Day session of his own (and yes, there will be burgers). Do yourself a favour and watch Hamburger America, it’s essential viewing if you’ve entered a burger in this year’s comp 🍔

🗓️ SEPTEMBER sees us taking a short pause while we gear up for something special…

🗓️ OCTOBER welcomes Will Lyons-Bowman and Liam Kelleher to the pass, owners of the much-loved .lillies.lillies in Christchurch. Winemakers, cider makers, chefs, and genuinely excellent humans, Will and Liam will be joining us as a double act to share their story and, hopefully, make excellent use of the woodfire.

Like I said, big coupla months ahead!

As always, Kitchen Day is a monthly event that’s completely free for anyone working in hospitality, and we’re only able to make it happen thanks to the incredible support of our sponsors (all tagged in the previous post) 💙

Thanks for being here. Thanks for being part of this!

See you soon, have a great service.

Dom