Partners in business and friends since childhood, Zebh Carr and Damon Hide know a thing or two about good food. Their resumes boast decades of experience, both locally and abroad, and under some of the world’s most influential chefs. We caught up with Damon and Zebh to find out what a typical day involves...

5:30am

Alarms go off - Damon hits snooze a couple of times and Zebh gets started on the first catering job of the day, School lunches. We each hop into our respective catering vans (nicknamed The Grey Goose and The Silver Bullet) and make our way into Newmarket.

6:45am

Meet and greet with our crew at The Wine Cave over more coffee - the stronger the better! The usual banter and light sledging ensue and eventually turns into strategising and planning the day ahead while fresh product starts rolling in. We rely on Auckland’s best suppliers to deliver ethical and locally sourced product.

8:00am

Off site and corporate catering starts rolling out and we begin prep for the day’s platters and dinner events. Our tuna sashimi dish has become a new favourite and requires the smoked tomato jelly to be set early. When served, we’ll personally pour the bacon dashi broth over the dish, melting the jelly to create a unique and flavourful dining experience right in front of the diner.

1:00pm

Lunch time! The brief respite of the day when we get to share a meal with our staff and relax a little. Our small but precise team has seen us through events big and small. They’re like our second family, only we probably end up spending more time with them!

6:30pm

The evening events start kicking off. An exclusive dinner for 8 in The Wine Vault and a social 50 pax wine matched degustation in the warehouse ensures we’re going to have a busy night! We might hit a few bumps along the way but to every problem there’s a solution. We make a last-minute visit to some of our favourite local shops to make sure the dishes we’re delivering are perfect!

10:30pm

Winding down from a long day and giving thanks to our devoted team of hard workers for seeing us through yet another crazy day. Time for a post-shift wine or three and prep the kitchen to do it all again tomorrow! Every day is different, but always interesting! Our drive home is spent reflecting on the day and looking forward to the comfort of our own beds.

www.tastecatering.co.nz @tastecateringnz
104 Carlton Gore Road