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kiwi's Love at
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First like Finn we're making
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waves generate switch online
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today Tony es welcome to my podcast hey
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neat to be here it's great to have you
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here let the meet tribe the story of Ann
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this is your this is your book how um
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how was it was it a cathartic experience
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did it feel uh like toe curling at times
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well it took it took nearly 10 years
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actually when we we first started it and
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Geraldine Johns who the co-writer and
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they were the ghost writer she and I
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were well she was a food critic and
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apparently so it says in the book that I
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banned her from the restaurant but I
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can't quite remember doing that but I
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probably did because I banned so many
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people but she and I did so going back
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10 years we did I think do you call it
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when little recording machines we did 30
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about 36 hours of just chatting into a
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mic into a little cassette and um then
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we did that for for quite a while but
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then we sort of broke away from it and
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uh she wasn't well so we suddenly
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stopped and
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then well probably about 18 months or
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two years ago she I rang here and said
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do you think we should start this again
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and she said well I've lost all the
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tapes but when she moved house she found
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this box of all the tape so cuz I
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thought I'm not going through all that
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crap again so anyway we she found them
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all and we started um seeing each other
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once a week and then it became every
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second day and used to come to the
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restaurant and just record and record
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and um then we just really got into it
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in the last last year and it's uh it it
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was supposed to be a recipe books not
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one Dam recipe in it which is quite
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interesting but uh couple of recipes for
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disaster yeah well I think a few of
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those yeah you're right um but anyway
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suddenly we got it done and of course
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when I saw it in print I thought good
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God I mean I'm sick of looking at my
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face on there now but I quite like the
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cover with the knife it sort of makes it
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interesting but um anyway it just
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happened and I've people say have you
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read That's only about 30 times but you
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forget what you've actually done and
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then suddenly when you read it you think
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oh God that I really do that it's quite
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interesting but it's I'm very happy with
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it I think it's done quite well and it
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seems to be doing quite well so yeah so
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for anyone that doesn't know anan's an
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incredibly um popular fine dining
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restaurant establishment in the Oakland
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suburb of Parell which um you you
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started at at the age of 22 which is
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crazy young um and you only shut the
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doors um recently so it was open for
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half a century um I'm try I'm not sure
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if I I think I may have gone there but
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I'm not entirely sure but um I've Loved
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reading about you and um apparently your
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temper you did mention before you there
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was a big long band list you were very
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trigger happy with the bands but you and
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I have um before doing this podcast you
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arrived early we sat down we were
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yarning away for 15 or 20 minutes you
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didn't swear once have you mellowed with
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age well yes it's not so dramatic
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anymore but I think just in kitchens it
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just happens that way I mean I used to
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say that uh Gordon Ramsey was a bit of a
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fairy really compared to me because he
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didn't stab people like I did but I mean
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I you know that that was an accident but
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I did stab
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somebody but but in that you probably go
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to jail now if you treated your staff
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the way we did but it was I mean when I
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was 15 I worked in Normandy and you know
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there was there was corporal punishment
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you know if you did something wrong you
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got to smack and but that came from
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school too because there was corporal
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punishment at school so it was just
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quite normal but I think it's the
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tempers really come from when you you
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know you under huge pressure you know
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you've got 50 60 people out there
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wanting food you're running around and
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you actually just scream out you look
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you're attacking yourself more than
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you're attacking anyone else but if
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someone else unfortunately does
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something wrong they get it
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and you know I used to swear quite a lot
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it was actually mean you know foul mouth
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I mean there was definitely my father
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used to say that mouth of yours will get
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you into trouble one day probably has
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many times but I quite enjoy getting
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into trouble yeah have you mellowed with
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mellowed with age yeah I think I have I
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mean I tolerate things now which I would
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never tolerate before I mean I had a
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short fuse there was no doubt about that
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but I you just had high standards was
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that what it was you and of course I
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mean if you speak to anyone that worked
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for me anyone that worked for a long
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time with me they would realize that I
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mean I just did not allow them to drop
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their guard once they had to do things
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properly because people were paying a
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lot of money
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and plus they were our customers that
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have been coming mean over 50 years you
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end up with customers that have been you
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end up with their grandchild so the
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standard had to stay there and I I mean
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we were very high-end Silver Service and
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Beth my late wife was she was probably
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Al she was a kind person rather than she
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didn't swear at anybody but you know she
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had very long fingernails and if you
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doing something wrong you'd get this
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little pinch behind the ear or or just a
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little you know in the arm you knew damn
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well you'd done something wrong so but
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our standards were very high and I just
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couldn't let them slip yeah the way the
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way you ran your business over the years
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you you couldn't get away with that now
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either there'd be employment lawyers on
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the on the doorstep there'd be you need
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to go undergo sensitivity training
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whatever that is like um the PC training
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that wouldn't work with me at all I
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might tell you but um and health and
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safety and things I mean I had an you
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can't throw meat at people anymore can
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you oh well I quite like that I probably
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still would you know good hunk of meat
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flying through the restaurant W never
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Hur Simon Gul got that I think he
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although I think he probably exaggerated
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that one but never mind but you know you
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I mean I remember once there was this
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boy um and I I've actually felt terrible
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for it for the last 40 years but he was
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just not doing the job and I was so
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angry you know I'm chopping away there
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and I just had this huge passley knife
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and I just said oh [ __ ] sake and just
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threw it on the floor and didn't even
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realiz that went straight through his
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foot now he didn't say anything cuz he
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was too scared to say anything but you
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know about an hour later Beth said to me
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he was suddenly sitting on an ice SP on
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a a chili bin and she said to me is
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Stuart all right and I said he's just
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hopeless you know so you're not allowed
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to call people hopeless anymore either
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but anyway about half an hour later I
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looked him I thought actually he's not
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all right something wrong with him he
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was very pale anyway under his shoe and
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there was blood just pumping out
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everywhere so of course I just rang an
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ambulance and sent him on his way I mean
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didn't go with him just anyway roll on
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20 years and the doorbell rang at
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Antoine and I opened opened the door and
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there was this big boy and two very
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large boy standing beside him and I said
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oh Stuart he said chef chef and I said
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oh and these two boys said is that the
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guy that stabbed your dad now he had
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gone to England and he got a job he was
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running a huge catering company in
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Britain so he did very well and he said
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he showed me the um the scar it wasn't
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good it a bit like you know Herman
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moner's
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little anyway but he was he he became an
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amazing a different type of chef but
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huge and he said oh that discipline
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taught me a lot I thought yeah I hope it
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taught you never to do it to anybody
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else yeah well I suppose through his
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career even if he um if he lost his
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ragot staff he could be like look it's
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not like I stabbed you in the foot it
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was well exactly and he never he never
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snitched on you to his parents or he
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didn't even tell his parents un
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unbelievable you know like he was in
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hospital for the whole night I actually
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almost forgot that he was there but
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anyway in the morning I said oh God I
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better see how stew it was anyway I rang
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the hosal I said we just released him
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and he came back to work the next day
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and we never disc well we didn't really
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discuss it again so but he didn't tell
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his parents I mean that would have been
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a in court day I
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think what decade was that oh that would
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have been in the ' 80s oh yeah I feel
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like that would have been except you
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know everyone was doing all sorts of
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things in the ' 80s probably didn't feel
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the pain yeah yeah yeah yeah you you
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talk about that in your in your um in
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your book there was um an issue in an on
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in the ' 80s with um these little salt
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spoons you had oh which I've still got
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i' actually I think I told a few lies
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there because I found a whole box of
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them but we used to have little salt
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spoons on the table they were silver
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ones and they were very interesting and
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we used to find them in the in the
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toilets and but people used every night
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every day we'd have to replace them but
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anyway in the end
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as soon as they had finished their main
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course those salt spoons went but to to
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yeah look it was like a perfect little
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shovel for cocaine it was perfect
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unbelievable anyway I mean that was the
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80s I mean used to find I used to love
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finding the $100 notes for B did when
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she was cleaning the men's toilets
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because the girls used to take over the
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men's toilet they had nice grouting in
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the in the men's toilets and the ladies
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was too low so the girls would take over
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and make the men go to the woman's
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toilet and in the morning
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would find these $100 notes just rolled
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up just thrown on the floor so but let's
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roll on to the to '90s and 20s um she
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said I don't know what's happened but
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it's only $5 notes now in the toilet so
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we went from um sir Ernest riford down
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to serid exactly oh serid yeah he was a
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he was a client yes he was he was a
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delightful man man there is um God yeah
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you're running the successful business
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for such a long time there is um so much
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to discuss here and um I'm fizzing to
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get into it so thanks for being here
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today there was a quote I saw um to this
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day I still go out of my way to annoy
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people how old are you now what are you
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17 74 uh nearly 75 do yeah you you still
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stand by that you still go out of your
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way too oh yeah I can't help myself you
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know what I really love doing because
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you know it's the US elections very
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shortly and um I remember when Donald
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Trump became the president the first
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time I had all these people down in the
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bay window and they were all business
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people and um I was listening to the
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election and of course I he won and so I
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started put all American music on and
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when I was pumping around the restaurant
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these people they got up and left they
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couldn't quite cope with it but anyway
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now if I go up dinner parties and I
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don't really want to be there I just
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bring up Donald Trump and everyone you
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go home quickly it's quite good so yes I
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still enjoy yeah um yeah yeah that quite
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there I still go out of my way to annoy
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people there's something in the book
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that I found quite amusing so um um the
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2 am. prank calls oh that that was so
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much fun I mean I mean people people
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don't realize in restaurants you know
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like if you're a small restaurant we
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only set 50 people so if you're a small
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restaurant and you've got a table of 10
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or eight that doesn't turn up and they
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you know and then I mean that's a lot of
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Reven you gone and you've got the staff
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to do it and that happened quite a lot
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so but people just didn't arrive so of
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course I would you know after work you'd
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have a few drinks and then at 2:00 in
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the morning you think I might just you
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get a bit cocky you start rigging the
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people so oh Mr so and so anan's here
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um you're booking do you know what time
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it is yes I do I've still got all the
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staff sitting here you know it be quite
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nice if you would actually turn up and
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they'd Slamm down but I didn't stop
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there i' just ring them three or four
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times until anyway we did that quite a
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lot yeah cuz this is um yeah it's not
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like a today where you have your phone
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in flight mode when you go to sleep or
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whatever this is landlines that rang
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very very loudly that's um that's so
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petty though so passive aggressive and I
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love it I'm here for it I mean I just
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couldn't help myself but I mean that was
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just quite mild I just did I did all
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sorts of terrible things that I probably
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am a little bit oh I'm not ashamed of
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them it was fun at the time and I mean
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we worked so damn hard I mean the whole
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staff did I mean I used to start work at
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UH about 8:00 in the morning and go
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through till 4: and then go home and
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have a sleep and then go back at 5 and
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then work until 1: in the morning and we
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did that 6 days a week so or 5 days and
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and then probably 10 hours on a Saturday
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but you know you and if you you know it
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is a business and you've got staff I
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mean at one stage we probably had about
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15 staff in a small restaurant like that
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so the the outgoings were quite high so
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you and if you're full you can't get
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anyone suddenly you can't people didn't
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walk into an because you couldn't you
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had to push the doorbell and we looked
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at you before we let you in anyway we
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didn't like you you weren't getting in
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anyway
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but we you know but you could so you
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could never do that you're begging
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people to come in but no one ever came
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and knocked on the door they always had
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a booking
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so you know so when people just don't
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turn up but some of these people you
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know they didn't care about it so you
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know if you go out to a restaurant now
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you should expect if you make a booking
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they take your credit card number
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because you know it's suddenly you know
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that could be $600 or $700 that they're
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not getting it's a lot of money to
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actually lose you know that's the rent
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for a for a small business absolutely
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yeah so um yes so an was at 333 panel
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Road um and you were there for 48 years
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um and so every day it was open you were
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there oh yes well only once I went away
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I had to go to a funeral and I went away
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and I let Megan poock who's actually in
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the book she came she came along and ran
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the restaurant for me tonight probably
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hate to think what happened there but
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anyway everything was given away but if
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I if we weren't if if I wasn't there we
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closed like we closed is quite a lot
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actually because in the in the winter
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every every June we closed for five four
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or five weeks and Beth and I would go to
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Europe and then at Christmas time we
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closed for
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the because there's no there's no
00:14:13
business in Oakland from Christmas Day
00:14:15
we opened and that was a monster day and
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then we closed until probably the 13th
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or 14th of January so we did close quite
00:14:23
you know twice a year Well in in a place
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like pone goes to their house up in
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Omaha or power
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throw a rock down the street you won't
00:14:31
even hit anybody it's quite interesting
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really that's um that's an incredible
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work ethic though way it's that's
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phenomenal really like why um why didn't
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you give yourself more time off was it
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like a control freak thing your
00:14:43
perfectionism what was it no it was
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probably a bit of a I didn't like I
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didn't think anyone could do my job that
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was the thing there's no doubt about
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that however it was it was just my way
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of life I mean I didn't have any other
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Hobbies you know my whole life was the
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restaurant and minute I you know I'd be
00:15:01
I'd be away on holiday in the two weeks
00:15:04
time B and say are you all right said no
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I've got to get back to where I can't
00:15:07
stand this you know what a waste of time
00:15:09
walking around going to all these places
00:15:11
but you know how many churches can you
00:15:13
look at for God's sake you know but um
00:15:15
ABC another bloody Church yeah exactly
00:15:19
so it just became it was an obsession
00:15:22
with me I mean I love that place so much
00:15:24
that it was my whole life I was never
00:15:25
home my whole you know and many times
00:15:28
you know Beth would wake me up in the
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you know in the morning under the table
00:15:32
you know I just thought it was easy to
00:15:34
get a pile of tablecloths and go to
00:15:35
sleep for her and get up early in the
00:15:37
morning so it was I mean Anne's was my
00:15:40
whole life in this not and it was also
00:15:42
be so you know we that was us and I mean
00:15:46
it but we had amazing people working for
00:15:48
us you know some of the people some
00:15:49
worked for 10 years you know like quite
00:15:53
a lot and and you probably reading the
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book where I was always accused of never
00:15:56
employing women well that was lad of
00:15:58
crap because
00:15:59
Beth was definitely a woman and we had
00:16:01
many many girls running the front of the
00:16:03
front of house so you know but I quite
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like the idea of yeah we only employ men
00:16:08
you know I quite like that sort of stuff
00:16:10
oh yeah well so yeah um your be your
00:16:13
your your wife who um you unfortunately
00:16:15
lost a couple of years ago um yeah it
00:16:18
it's an actually an incredibly sad like
00:16:20
it's it's it's a wonderful book but it's
00:16:22
incredibly sad at the same time because
00:16:23
it's like um you had these two huge
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loves of your life one being the
00:16:27
restaurant and one being um your wife
00:16:29
Beth and you you lost them well yeah you
00:16:32
lost one of them and then you gave up
00:16:33
the other one at very very similar times
00:16:35
so um the the backstory with Beth if
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I've got this right um by way this
00:16:41
incredible opening up of fine dining
00:16:43
restaurant at 22 but you open up a Dair
00:16:44
in Christ Church at 17 yeah that was
00:16:47
that was an interesting time I quite
00:16:48
enjoyed my Dairy but I'm glad I don't
00:16:50
have one now but why that's an
00:16:53
incredibly what sort of capital Did you
00:16:54
have how do you open the dairy at 17
00:16:56
well my grandfather left lent us £800 so
00:16:59
and my brother John and I opened we
00:17:01
decided to call EST 7day mini M was in
00:17:04
north New Brighton because that's where
00:17:05
we where we were born and raised and
00:17:09
everyone knew us so we thought oh we'll
00:17:11
open a open a dairy so we opened the
00:17:13
dairy he he had I'd just been sacked
00:17:16
once again I got sacked a few times from
00:17:19
The Coachman de prison said I know don't
00:17:22
want you any cuz I thought I owned The
00:17:23
Coachman to him I was only 16 17 I
00:17:26
thought nah he can't coook I can't you
00:17:29
know I was always quite like that but so
00:17:31
anyway I end up going back there many
00:17:33
times but he did this one time he sacked
00:17:35
me I thought no we I'll stay in Christ
00:17:37
Church so we opened the dairy and it was
00:17:40
hugely successful funly enough and we
00:17:42
opened it at 6:00 in the morning and
00:17:44
closed it at 2: in the morning so it was
00:17:45
right down by the beach so it had um
00:17:48
very interesting trading hours and we
00:17:49
sold some very interesting things I
00:17:51
might tell you yeah you yeah you sold um
00:17:53
like individual condoms was it was it
00:17:55
legal at the time oh no well it wasn't
00:17:57
because you you would were not allowed
00:17:59
to sell anything after 5:00 that other
00:18:01
shops like chemist shops um grocery
00:18:04
shops so you had to have blinds that you
00:18:07
pulled down over the stuff well of
00:18:08
course we didn't do we pulled the blinds
00:18:10
down but we sold every damn thing that
00:18:12
was under them but there was the beach
00:18:14
and all the surfies were they were very
00:18:17
good customers that came in for their
00:18:18
alcoholic milkshakes and their ice
00:18:20
creams on the way down for their bonking
00:18:22
down at the beach I would imagine so we
00:18:24
thought we'd do the right thing cuz my
00:18:26
sister happened to be a surfy and we
00:18:27
thought we're not getting her pregant so
00:18:29
we the local hamburger bar he closed at
00:18:32
9:00 so he used to give us a sell us a
00:18:36
box of condoms and we people come and um
00:18:39
well on on the way to the beach so
00:18:41
they're by three or four and off they go
00:18:43
it's quite and we charged a lot lot for
00:18:45
them it was quite a good profit in them
00:18:47
I might say but we kept the population
00:18:49
down I think yeah so this is where this
00:18:52
da this is where you met Beth so similar
00:18:54
age and she came in to make ice creams
00:18:56
yeah well my brother his wife
00:18:59
um and and Beth worked in the same
00:19:03
hairdressing salon and Beth was the
00:19:05
senior and so Lee had married John or no
00:19:09
was engaged to John a very young age and
00:19:12
of course I had another job I had other
00:19:14
jobs in Christ Church like I'd run the
00:19:17
shop from 6:00
00:19:20
until until about 6 o' in the morning
00:19:23
till about 5:00 at night and then John
00:19:25
would come home from his he was a
00:19:26
painter and paper hanger and he would
00:19:28
come home and he would take over the
00:19:31
shop he and Lee would so and then on the
00:19:33
weekends Beth decided she wanted to she
00:19:37
get on her bike from St Orbin and bike
00:19:39
over to New Brighton and she and Lee
00:19:41
would run the shop on Saturday so they
00:19:44
started they were rolling ice creams and
00:19:46
selling Best Bets or whatever we did you
00:19:48
know Raffles and anything that was
00:19:50
illegal at the time we were selling so
00:19:53
cuz they don't they don't prosecute 16
00:19:55
year olds when they're Dair da own 17 so
00:19:58
so anyway that's how I met her and then
00:20:01
um I went back we sold the dairy after a
00:20:04
couple of years and well I left before
00:20:06
then I went back to The Coachman again
00:20:09
and then Beth came up to to be with me
00:20:12
and she she was working in a
00:20:14
hairdressing cell on Wellington then we
00:20:16
got married and then went to England and
00:20:19
then came back and went to ockland and
00:20:22
uh had we had partners and we opened the
00:20:25
restaurant and after about 18 w a year
00:20:28
or so after that we took over the
00:20:31
restaurant yeah what are your what are
00:20:32
your Recollections of um your first
00:20:34
meeting Beth was it was it was she into
00:20:36
you were you into her from day one was
00:20:38
it a slow bur or I think don't I don't
00:20:41
quite know what really happened there
00:20:43
because she she would come and then all
00:20:44
of a sudden we suddenly realized what we
00:20:45
were working together and I thought so
00:20:48
of course there were um we happened to
00:20:50
have bedrooms at the back of the we
00:20:52
lived at my brother and I lived in the
00:20:54
dairy which much to my father and
00:20:56
mother's horror but it was quite an
00:20:58
interesting little place in the back
00:21:00
there so that's how it all sort of it
00:21:02
just sort of fell into place if you know
00:21:03
what I mean yeah yeah which is um was a
00:21:07
wonderful part at the beginning of the
00:21:08
book um you dedicated it to Beth um this
00:21:12
book is the story of two people who had
00:21:13
a vision one of them was Beth who I was
00:21:15
so blessed to find um she God I'm
00:21:18
getting I'm almost getting emotional
00:21:19
reading this she managed to turn a dream
00:21:22
into a magnificent reality with Just a
00:21:24
Little Help from me um Beth sits on my
00:21:27
shoulder every single day God me
00:21:29
hopefully in the right direction I love
00:21:31
her I miss her I thank her with all my
00:21:33
heart yeah and you lost her on um the
00:21:36
30th of March
00:21:37
2021 yeah she got the just incurable
00:21:40
cancer and it was just the the worst
00:21:42
thing that ever happened to me really
00:21:44
because and that's really what Simon
00:21:46
wooly came and said you're you're
00:21:47
closing this restaurant down because
00:21:49
Simon woly worked for me for many many
00:21:50
years he owns antipodes water and he
00:21:53
worked and he and I went into business
00:21:55
opening another restaurant down the road
00:21:58
um and he and Megan Pollock are very
00:22:00
very close friends because Megan Megan's
00:22:03
father lent me the money to buy Antoine
00:22:05
so from my partners so they came along
00:22:07
and said you've got to get out you've
00:22:09
got to look after Beth so we didn't tell
00:22:11
anybody we decided on the 18th of
00:22:15
December that would be the last day we
00:22:17
did we staff knew but no one else did
00:22:20
and on that Wednesday or Thursday night
00:22:22
we shut the door and by Sunday the whole
00:22:24
place was empty s had got the movers in
00:22:27
we the whole Place had gone so no one we
00:22:30
didn't tell anyone we were closing of
00:22:32
course people said oh they've gone broke
00:22:33
you know however I didn't know anybody
00:22:36
one damn s but it was the end of our
00:22:39
life really and so then I luckily
00:22:41
because um Beth passed in the May or the
00:22:45
march of the following year and so I was
00:22:47
able to be with her for the whole time
00:22:49
so and that was very important to
00:22:52
me I just can't imagine how tough that
00:22:54
period was for you well it was awful and
00:22:56
I
00:22:58
I I don't quite know how you know how
00:23:00
you you don't know how you're going to
00:23:03
react and I I mean it just it clicks in
00:23:06
and you just do it you know and it was I
00:23:09
just my mind was blank to everything I
00:23:11
just had to keep her as comfortable as
00:23:13
possible and look after her
00:23:15
and and it was just it was really about
00:23:18
a month after she passed that I suddenly
00:23:20
realized I didn't have a restaurant
00:23:21
anymore I felt as though it was just on
00:23:24
holiday you know we closed the place for
00:23:26
a we while and so then I forced myself
00:23:28
to go back to the restaurant and I cuz I
00:23:31
still had all the keys cuz the
00:23:32
restaurant was never used again for was
00:23:35
only just open now as something else but
00:23:39
and I then used to go on there every
00:23:41
morning and just sit in the empty thing
00:23:44
and sometimes cry you know just the my
00:23:47
whole life came back to me and
00:23:50
I thought what am I going to do now you
00:23:53
know suddenly you realize you by
00:23:54
yourself cuz we don't have ch didn't
00:23:56
have children but we suddenly
00:23:59
you know you're all on totally on your
00:24:01
own so but I had so many good friends
00:24:03
around me that really did pick me up and
00:24:06
forc me to do things otherwise I don't
00:24:08
know what I would have done really I you
00:24:10
know you just get into a depressed state
00:24:11
and I was very depressed and but I had
00:24:14
these wonderful people that just gave me
00:24:16
a kick in the bum really and made me get
00:24:18
up and do stuff and I haven't stopped
00:24:20
since I just N I think that's the way of
00:24:24
it's how you cope you just think find
00:24:26
new things to do like I've opened a new
00:24:28
started a new company I'm going to do
00:24:30
food production from Antoine stuff um
00:24:33
but I've got amazing customers who you
00:24:35
know like some some of these people were
00:24:38
with me for you know like the Pollock
00:24:42
family they were there right from the
00:24:44
beginning in
00:24:45
1973 and it to this day I mean the
00:24:50
daughters of the Pollocks are just great
00:24:52
friends but they and their children
00:24:54
became Antoine's customers so and these
00:24:57
people are still around and they look
00:24:59
after me very well and but every now and
00:25:01
then someone say oh we haven't had anine
00:25:03
stuck an orange for a while we're having
00:25:05
a dinner party so I go and cook their
00:25:07
dinner party for them but and I get so
00:25:09
many people wanting me to do it I try
00:25:10
not to do too much but there's certain
00:25:13
people that I just love dearly and I
00:25:15
will you know they've just been so good
00:25:17
I mean over Co there was a couple of
00:25:19
people that we were very lucky because
00:25:21
we had three separate rooms in the
00:25:24
restaurant and so we could separate
00:25:26
people you know you didn't have to be
00:25:28
together and over the co time I mean
00:25:31
these people couldn't they couldn't go
00:25:33
to Europe which they normally do over
00:25:35
winter so they would come in and they
00:25:38
would just give the waiters huge amounts
00:25:40
of money just to keep them happy and
00:25:42
then they would you know there were no
00:25:44
bills they'd just put money into the
00:25:45
bank account just to keep anwin going
00:25:47
which is you know it's very important
00:25:50
not many restaurants can say they have
00:25:52
customers like that and we became their
00:25:55
family and they be they became ours and
00:25:57
that's exactly what happened so it's a
00:25:59
tremendous am tremendous amount of
00:26:00
Goodwill isn't it
00:26:02
yeah
00:26:05
yeah it just seems um yeah do you think
00:26:08
um had it not been for Beth getting sick
00:26:10
that the restaurant would still be going
00:26:12
now or what was the plan you must I I I
00:26:16
feel I feel um reading the book last
00:26:18
night I just felt an incredible amount
00:26:20
of sadness because it's like you know
00:26:21
you had these these fantastic years
00:26:22
ahead of you you guys love traveling and
00:26:24
you you put like five weeks aside in the
00:26:26
middle of each year shut the restaurant
00:26:28
down traveled and you went on these
00:26:29
wonderful adventures together and yeah
00:26:30
this should be like the decade that year
00:26:32
you know you get to do more of that
00:26:33
together well we though I actually quite
00:26:37
frankly I thought I wouldn't actually
00:26:39
the lifestyle we were having in the
00:26:40
early days I was surprised I got past 50
00:26:42
quite
00:26:44
frankly like Beth was actually the good
00:26:46
person she you know I was actually the
00:26:48
bad boy how does that work yeah you L
00:26:50
loved your di I just me I used to I
00:26:53
didn't start smoking till I was 38 I
00:26:56
wouldn't even employ anyone that smoked
00:26:58
but then Beth went away she she went
00:27:00
away to England with her mother for 3
00:27:03
weeks two months later she haden't come
00:27:05
back I have a funny feeling she may have
00:27:06
left me I'm not quite sure we we didn't
00:27:09
ever discuss it but anyway so in the end
00:27:12
I said um and while she was away I was
00:27:14
really bad so of course I suddenly
00:27:17
thought well you better come home so I
00:27:19
said well no more credit so no more
00:27:21
credit card you so she did come home and
00:27:23
it was the funniest thing as I was out
00:27:25
at the airport to pick her up and there
00:27:27
I was and i' never she smoked early days
00:27:31
and I refused to buy her cigarettes I
00:27:33
would you know she never smoked in front
00:27:34
of me or she'd go outside whatever and
00:27:38
there she came through the airpod and me
00:27:39
standing there with a cigarette I've
00:27:41
never seen a look on anyone's face ever
00:27:43
again you know I thought
00:27:45
oops but anyway so that was that was our
00:27:49
little separation for a couple of months
00:27:51
but the only time we were actually ever
00:27:52
separated but um and I don't think it
00:27:54
was a separation it was just I think
00:27:56
she' had she' had enough and want to go
00:27:58
away but um so she came back and uh oh I
00:28:03
don't know the restaurant just kept
00:28:05
going and going but when she when we
00:28:08
finally
00:28:10
did probably look we were may have only
00:28:13
stayed another couple of years because
00:28:14
we really did want to go traveling again
00:28:18
and we just love traveling so much and
00:28:20
we've got so many good friends overseas
00:28:21
that we like to travel and see and go
00:28:23
around with
00:28:26
but so we I think probably we probably
00:28:30
Co was very kind to us because you know
00:28:33
we we Clos I we Clos the restaurant and
00:28:37
um you know I just I think if we had
00:28:40
have kept going it would have been a
00:28:41
nightmare because the restaurants are
00:28:42
really struggling at the moment and you
00:28:44
know in the country's financially not
00:28:47
great so I think probably it all worked
00:28:50
out for the best but the only thing that
00:28:52
didn't work out for the best that we
00:28:54
couldn't travel together and that's
00:28:56
that's an end of our life
00:28:59
yeah and that's the um yeah that's the
00:29:01
cost of great love isn't it great loss
00:29:03
yeah what would um what would she say
00:29:04
your best and best and worst qualities
00:29:06
where what would she say yeah well she I
00:29:10
don't know whe should say had good
00:29:13
qualities no I I think possibly she
00:29:16
would I mean I was quite a good
00:29:19
husband for the most part and I did love
00:29:21
her dearly but I think what she loved
00:29:23
about cuz Beth couldn't cook I think she
00:29:25
cooked me once I said I'll bug her off
00:29:26
I'm having that crap so
00:29:28
um she loved me cooking for her and of
00:29:31
course if she wasn't working in the
00:29:32
evening of course I would make sure I
00:29:34
would cook for her every day and so I
00:29:36
think she she liked that side of it and
00:29:39
um but my my worst things was I just
00:29:42
never I was never home and uh and the
00:29:45
interesting thing is that we didn't
00:29:48
fight but I'm I've got a I've got a very
00:29:53
terrible habit of if I decide I don't I
00:29:57
want to have a fight I just don't talk
00:29:58
to you and which is mental cruelty I
00:30:01
might tell you because I I can go two
00:30:02
weeks and not even say one word now that
00:30:05
it's a form of torture that is a
00:30:06
terrible thing and that is one that's a
00:30:08
really bad thing that I are very good at
00:30:10
doing I mean I just think I'm not going
00:30:12
to argue I'm just not going to talk to
00:30:14
you and then it would you know sooner or
00:30:17
later you had to sort of one had to give
00:30:19
up it was usually me that said okay I'll
00:30:20
give up you know all that sort of stuff
00:30:22
because I think she probably did the
00:30:23
same thing but I would just I didn't he
00:30:28
if she really was angry with me
00:30:29
especially if we were if I was doing a
00:30:31
speech or something and and I got went
00:30:34
off on a little tangent I'd see her
00:30:36
sitting there
00:30:37
going like Zip It zip it or it's time or
00:30:43
if she she never she never called me
00:30:45
Tony she called me Chef the whole of my
00:30:47
life it was chef chef chef and I knew
00:30:51
damn well i' overstep the life at the
00:30:53
line of suddenly she would say Tony
00:30:57
whoops a day see something really gone
00:30:59
wrong here I mean I mean she just had a
00:31:03
she was just so gentle that you know
00:31:06
mind you you you knew if no one ever
00:31:08
argued with Beth because she's usually
00:31:09
always right anyway but and she would
00:31:12
always pull people up on their English
00:31:14
and all sorts of stuff you know like you
00:31:17
can but you may not all that sort of
00:31:18
stuff like the staff they all adored her
00:31:21
because they she treated them like their
00:31:23
she was their mother but we always had
00:31:25
very young stuff anyway a couple of
00:31:27
times we had had older ones that didn't
00:31:28
work so and uh we had very young stuff
00:31:33
that just end end up being our children
00:31:36
really which is quite interesting and to
00:31:38
this day I mean I've so many of them
00:31:40
ring me once a week just to see if I'm
00:31:42
okay or I ring them or we get together I
00:31:44
mean it's quite nice really yeah are you
00:31:46
okay yeah I'm fine yeah I mean I don't
00:31:49
yeah I think I am I I
00:31:53
sometimes you know cuz I'm now I've got
00:31:55
my new apartment and I moving out of
00:31:58
that house after 40 42 years and excuse
00:32:02
me we now that we I don't have dogs now
00:32:05
we always had dogs and that it was just
00:32:06
a you know different life and to move
00:32:10
out of that house was very very hard and
00:32:13
to move into an apartment but Simon and
00:32:16
Megan made sure everything if you walk I
00:32:19
walk in that door it's like going to a
00:32:20
hotel now but if I walk into that door
00:32:22
everything is exactly how it was in that
00:32:25
in that um house so you walk in you feel
00:32:27
like your home
00:32:29
yeah so it seems like she was the
00:32:32
sensible one in the
00:32:33
relationship what what did she make um I
00:32:36
I did this this this was not on my radio
00:32:38
at all until I Googled you knowing you
00:32:40
were coming in for this podcast um but
00:32:42
there was a controversial hero article
00:32:44
in 2010 where I think it's where you
00:32:46
said um about you don't hire a woman or
00:32:48
whatever it was clearly a joke yeah um
00:32:51
and you don't like fat people in the the
00:32:52
kitchen because they sweat sweat
00:32:54
everywhere or you talked about most of
00:32:56
the chefs being on meth which that's
00:32:58
kind of factual um what did she make of
00:33:00
that like little controversies like that
00:33:02
she said can't you just stop all this
00:33:05
why do you do I I just can't help myself
00:33:07
I mean every now and then I get bored so
00:33:09
I just have to I mean I think it was
00:33:11
Michelle hson that actually interviewed
00:33:12
me on that one and she played it up like
00:33:14
there no tomorrow of course I just
00:33:15
happen to say oh I don't employ women
00:33:17
you know why would you employ women I
00:33:19
mean that sort of thing I mean that's me
00:33:20
you're [ __ ] steering well I couldn't
00:33:22
help myself but of course people take
00:33:23
you you know you said it so you deserve
00:33:26
everything you get back but I mean fat
00:33:29
people well our kitchen was so small I
00:33:31
mean I put on weight now but I used to
00:33:33
be in anorexic so it was quite I just
00:33:36
could did not there was no room for
00:33:39
people to be big you know every time we
00:33:40
got a big person you had to squeeze in
00:33:42
and squeeze out but I mean that was that
00:33:45
was nothing to do with their weight it
00:33:46
was just that it was just the kitchen
00:33:49
didn't quite work and some of you know
00:33:51
so of course you say stupid things like
00:33:53
that but you know anyway I just couldn't
00:33:55
help myself did you did you get in
00:33:56
trouble for that like anyone like
00:33:58
boycotting the restaurant or no no just
00:34:00
water off a duck B well most people say
00:34:02
that's him that's what he said you know
00:34:05
he says worse things about other people
00:34:07
so yeah um yeah so so anine so um yeah
00:34:11
open in 1973 rent was 22 bucks a week
00:34:14
what was it you you never owned the
00:34:15
property he no we tried so hard to buy
00:34:18
to buy the property and in fact at one
00:34:20
stage Gordon Pollock who L me the money
00:34:22
to buy the to buy the business um he
00:34:26
said let's buy the building so I said
00:34:29
okay let's try so we offered the the
00:34:32
landlord a certain amount of money and
00:34:35
we didn't hear for about 3 months we
00:34:37
said oh God we've got this we've got
00:34:38
this building next thing we get a letter
00:34:40
from his lawyer saying if you can afford
00:34:41
that that amount of money to buy the
00:34:43
restaurant you can afford an increase in
00:34:45
rent so I took it to arbitration and we
00:34:47
bloody well lost so in the end I look
00:34:50
there's no point in and we could have
00:34:52
moved and opened it but Antoine's that
00:34:54
was me and it was our home and it was a
00:34:57
beautiful little restaurant it was
00:34:58
secluded no one knew it was there it was
00:35:00
quite you had to know it was there and
00:35:02
we had so many good people that I just
00:35:04
didn't want to go and open a new
00:35:05
business anyway and it would have been
00:35:06
too hard but in the end it was um yeah
00:35:10
we didn't own it at all and which is
00:35:13
mind you even now you wouldn't get a
00:35:14
huge amount of money because the
00:35:15
maintenance on that building was huge
00:35:17
cuz it's an old it's 100 over 100 years
00:35:19
old now I mean it was a was a piece of
00:35:22
old crap really when I think about it
00:35:23
what was um you say from 22 bucks a week
00:35:26
in the ' 70s what what was the 1 a half
00:35:28
thousand a
00:35:29
week mind you our main courses in 1973
00:35:33
were
00:35:34
$4.95 and when we close our $59 plus GST
00:35:38
I just couldn't help myself with GST so
00:35:40
yeah inflation works all the way around
00:35:42
doesn't it um okay let's talk about end
00:35:44
ones so there was a doorbell outside
00:35:46
that you had to Ring to get in yeah
00:35:48
let's yeah some of the rules so first of
00:35:50
all why the
00:35:51
doorbell why was that was it a security
00:35:53
thing was it just to manage who was who
00:35:56
was going to enter the restaurant well
00:35:57
it was actually part of the Silver
00:35:59
Service thing you know like if um we had
00:36:01
been to many three star Michelin
00:36:04
restaurants in Europe and of course you
00:36:06
have to you don't just walk in you have
00:36:08
to be let in and I just thought there
00:36:10
was nothing else nothing else in New
00:36:13
Zealand like it I mean people you know
00:36:15
just walked in initially we had a a pad
00:36:18
inside the door and people got in but
00:36:20
people if that didn't work you have
00:36:22
people sitting out you know because it
00:36:24
was a fo and then we thought why don't
00:36:26
we just the door make the doorbell and
00:36:29
of course that was the thing and you had
00:36:30
to wait outside and then of course it
00:36:32
was just quite intimidating opening
00:36:35
there
00:36:37
n yeah and what is um you had like a
00:36:39
dress code there or you wouldn't let
00:36:41
people in that were inappropriately
00:36:42
dressed what what is um an appropriate
00:36:44
addess well initially you wore a jacket
00:36:47
and tie mind you we weren't like the
00:36:48
Intercontinental or the northern club or
00:36:51
Orland Oran Club where they have a
00:36:54
jacket for you to put on I mean you know
00:36:56
which is to me even stupid even now to
00:36:59
actually go and have to put some crappy
00:37:00
old jacket on oh that was like me last
00:37:03
time I went to the chist church Casino
00:37:04
actually oh they someone else's old
00:37:07
jacket yeah know what's in the
00:37:10
sleeve
00:37:12
but it was like it was suit and tie but
00:37:15
then we relaxed that because the waiters
00:37:17
were dressed up I mean we had aprons on
00:37:19
them we had they had bow ties or in the
00:37:21
end we didn't like bow ties but we had
00:37:23
ties they were all in a uniform um
00:37:28
and it just didn't seem right for people
00:37:30
to come well we just jeans people didn't
00:37:33
wear jeans in those days unless they
00:37:34
were youngish people but I mean older
00:37:36
people didn't wear them I mean I
00:37:38
wouldn't be allowed in my restaurant now
00:37:40
looking like this so I mean all I
00:37:42
probably would but um shorts jandal no
00:37:46
no no no singlets definitely not I think
00:37:49
the best thing I tell you it seems
00:37:50
reasonable the the worst day was always
00:37:53
Valentine's Day you'd go open the door
00:37:55
and there were these young young people
00:37:58
but the girl look absolutely beautiful
00:38:00
dress up and they the boy in a piece of
00:38:02
crap you know like and sometimes just a
00:38:05
t-shirt so Beth would say sorry you know
00:38:08
what they always had a shirt out in the
00:38:09
car it was quite interesting so they' go
00:38:11
back but no look you can't have someone
00:38:15
dressed up in a dinner suit and someone
00:38:17
sitting next to them in jeans and
00:38:18
t-shirt it just didn't work I mean mind
00:38:20
you no I suppose people don't mind do
00:38:22
they I mean I've been just we go to a
00:38:25
lot of three star Michelin and and
00:38:27
France and Germany and places people
00:38:29
still dress up to go to those it's quite
00:38:32
nice though um okay some of the other
00:38:33
rules why no EOS why were you anti e PA
00:38:36
oh that was just me I couldn't help
00:38:39
myself was it last day till the last day
00:38:43
we still had the zipzap machine because
00:38:46
and then in February of the year we the
00:38:48
year after well two months after we
00:38:50
close end of checks end of all that sort
00:38:53
of stuff you had to have fos machines
00:38:55
well you couldn't do business but they
00:38:59
yes so for anyone that doesn't know what
00:39:00
you're talking about um the the zip
00:39:02
machine so you you put the credit card
00:39:04
in there was like a transfer paper thing
00:39:06
that went across um and then wow you had
00:39:09
that right till right up until 19 or
00:39:12
2022 21 wa what was it a was it a
00:39:16
principal thing or you didn't want to
00:39:17
pay the Wind Cave money for the
00:39:19
technology how to work
00:39:22
it and I didn't I mean still can't do
00:39:25
computers I mean I love my phone I do
00:39:26
everything with one thing I at
00:39:28
restaurant was used with one finger get
00:39:30
in front of the computer I can't take
00:39:31
with that but it became it seems so
00:39:33
inconvenient but it became a thing
00:39:35
because and of course then you'd post
00:39:37
them away and it took a few days to get
00:39:40
it back or even a week to get it back so
00:39:42
but we also had still had signing rights
00:39:44
like people signed for their dinner that
00:39:46
that's how many regular customers we had
00:39:48
and that was a third of our customers so
00:39:50
we sent accounts to them but anyone else
00:39:53
they'd come up and they'd just look at
00:39:54
especially younger they go what a that
00:39:56
thing you know but then PE Americans
00:39:58
were the worst they would come in and go
00:40:00
they'd get all that paper and they'd
00:40:02
make it take it all back and rip it all
00:40:03
up in case we're stealing their credit
00:40:05
card it was quite interesting but but
00:40:08
also I mean government people used to
00:40:11
come and say you've got to have this and
00:40:12
why do what law is it makes me have to
00:40:15
do that I mean I wrote checks until the
00:40:17
last week we closed I mean I sort like
00:40:19
to write checks I don't understand this
00:40:22
this stuff but it must what about people
00:40:24
that wanted to in the last couple years
00:40:26
people that wanted to use their f using
00:40:27
Apple pay oh God
00:40:31
no oh God no that didn't work but I
00:40:34
think the funniest one which I really
00:40:36
did do and I was in trouble for it for
00:40:38
quite a lot was we were plus GST and of
00:40:41
course so every page I'd write GST
00:40:44
exclusive was all printed because it's
00:40:46
illegal if you don't you can't do it so
00:40:49
so many people tried to go to the
00:40:51
Communist commission say these people
00:40:52
are ripping the C you know ripping us
00:40:54
off but and even John ke he said you
00:40:57
know um this this GST I thought it's not
00:41:00
my tax it's yours you know it's not my
00:41:03
fault we why why didn't wouldn't you
00:41:05
include GST in the prices oh because it
00:41:07
would have looked too high right no one
00:41:10
noticed it was put on afterwards right
00:41:12
and and um no Wi-fi a there was no Wi-Fi
00:41:15
in the restaurant no in the end we did
00:41:17
oh you did you caved well I needed it
00:41:19
for my
00:41:20
phone we used to tell people no I think
00:41:22
one night one night we had a group of
00:41:25
young Asian people and they were
00:41:27
beautiful young people and they're all
00:41:29
sitting around and they asked to see me
00:41:32
because they they said uh do you have
00:41:34
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Wi-Fi I said no we've got
00:41:37
philp State we've got chicken we've got
00:41:40
this but sorry no Wi-fi they got up and
00:41:42
left so they couldn't cope without you
00:41:46
know um yes so who was on the who's on
00:41:49
the band list so Helen Clark was on the
00:41:51
she was banned I mean look she used to
00:41:53
before did she ever go there yes she was
00:41:55
there quite a lot I mean why did you ban
00:41:56
her oh I just don't like the labor party
00:41:58
much I wasn't here as a custom well no
00:42:02
it was she didn't she didn't do any she
00:42:04
didn't do anything to annoy me but I
00:42:05
just didn't like the way she was running
00:42:07
in the country but she was there quite a
00:42:09
lot way before she was prime minister
00:42:10
cuz you must remember when we opened the
00:42:12
restaurant it was Norman Kirk so the
00:42:14
labor party have been part of Antoine
00:42:17
for quite some time and um I can assure
00:42:19
you the McAn whenever that was and [ __ ]
00:42:23
and all those people they knew how to
00:42:26
spend the country's money coming into an
00:42:28
because they had been out of government
00:42:29
for so long suddenly they
00:42:31
little like little candy shop wasn't it
00:42:34
so um anyway so Helen did used to come
00:42:36
and Roger Douglas was a huge customer
00:42:38
but at least he went to the right side
00:42:40
in the end
00:42:42
but so so so you you had the spig list
00:42:45
but some of these people didn't
00:42:45
necessarily even know they were banned
00:42:47
no well I don't think Helen probably did
00:42:50
and she probably she probably wouldn't
00:42:51
want to go there anyway because she she
00:42:53
wouldn't like um she I mean she wouldn't
00:42:55
like my politics at all but I'm quite
00:42:57
bit boast about them I mean even the
00:42:59
National Party think I'm too too far
00:43:02
jingus Khan for them then I said are
00:43:04
they not right enough for you anymore no
00:43:06
God no I said to David Seymour you know
00:43:08
that when you get up to 20% you you'll
00:43:10
need some new MPS he said even we're not
00:43:12
ready for
00:43:13
you so who um kim.com he he was banned
00:43:17
was he just totally banned yeah right oh
00:43:20
because he was a castom he did what did
00:43:21
you have to do to get banned well he
00:43:23
came he came into an one and anyway he
00:43:26
said on two seats or three seats and you
00:43:29
that was fine I didn't have a problem
00:43:30
with that however the next time he came
00:43:33
in his um his wife I think Mona at the
00:43:36
time I'm not quite sure what her name
00:43:37
was but she rang and said he doesn't
00:43:39
like your seats he wants to bring his
00:43:41
own couch I he not bringing his own
00:43:42
couch and and I said we just he just
00:43:45
can't come in here we're not letting him
00:43:47
come so no sorry you're not coming she
00:43:49
said this is a democracy you have to him
00:43:52
I said is a democracy and I have my own
00:43:54
rules and he's not coming anyway she
00:43:56
rang the newsp I did not ring the
00:43:58
newspaper so of course it was a great
00:43:59
story so of course I said well he's he's
00:44:02
just not coming here ever again so that
00:44:04
was it so he was banned but um yeah he
00:44:07
definitely and kiss like threw them out
00:44:09
well didn't throw them out they had to
00:44:11
pay their bill but they were B oh the
00:44:12
banned um yeah Jean so Jean Simmons yeah
00:44:15
and he's actually quite still around I
00:44:17
mean and he's quite um they still do
00:44:19
stadium shows and quite political too in
00:44:21
in America or wherever he is but well he
00:44:24
came in of course he one of the waiters
00:44:26
dbbl some water on us apparently very
00:44:29
expensive shoes so he said well we're
00:44:31
not paying the bill so I thought oh yes
00:44:33
you are so I came out and those theyes
00:44:36
wear red trousers and very expensive red
00:44:39
shoes I just couldn't help myself didn't
00:44:41
like to look like a chef much and uh he
00:44:44
went I went out and he said well who are
00:44:45
you and I said I own the restaurant and
00:44:47
um my shoes are just so expensive of
00:44:49
yours and so I'm not it's only water is
00:44:51
not going to hurt you and he said well
00:44:53
we're not going to we're going to go and
00:44:55
I said no you're not so I said said the
00:44:57
door's locked and you can't get out and
00:44:58
that's all to it so I rang Lloyd Brown
00:45:01
who was the lawyer for oh I think at one
00:45:05
stage Elton John and John Reed they had
00:45:08
smashed someone in the face or John Reed
00:45:10
had and Lloyd Brown had actually stop
00:45:13
their show so I said well Lloyd could
00:45:15
you talk to these people so he spoke to
00:45:18
them or to the manager whoever it was
00:45:20
and said you know the police will be
00:45:22
coming and you will be arrested so you
00:45:24
won't be able to do the show for the
00:45:25
next two days so they paid and went that
00:45:27
wasn't anyway so we won that one you
00:45:31
love a Das don't you who any other um
00:45:35
people of um you wellknown people that
00:45:37
were that were banned or what what sort
00:45:39
of things did you have to do to get
00:45:40
banned there must have been all blacks
00:45:41
over the years that got in trouble in
00:45:42
you oh I quite like their
00:45:46
trouble no no they didn't get banned um
00:45:50
uh I'm just trying to think
00:45:53
who people knew if they were banned I
00:45:55
mean like someone one time I won't
00:45:58
mention this person's name because he
00:46:00
probably he's quite a nice man these
00:46:01
days but he used to sneak his own wine
00:46:04
and and put it under the table I mean
00:46:06
we're
00:46:07
talking you know wine Worth about5 or
00:46:10
$20,000 and of course you know we we
00:46:12
sold wine at that price and he decided
00:46:14
we're a ripoff he could bring his own I
00:46:16
thought whatever but he used to sneak it
00:46:18
in he' buy a bottle cheaper and then of
00:46:20
course start pouring his own so Beth
00:46:22
went down to the table and said I'm
00:46:23
sorry you can't do that he said and
00:46:26
anyway he called her a scrubber or
00:46:27
something and she she came and told me
00:46:29
so I went down and said so I picked up
00:46:31
the wine just poured into the ice it was
00:46:33
hugely expensive I just poured it all
00:46:35
into the ice bucket and said out and
00:46:37
never come back well about 15 years
00:46:40
later a very good customer came in for
00:46:42
lunch and said I'm bringing so and so I
00:46:45
said no you're not he's not coming here
00:46:47
he's got to apologize how many he 1520
00:46:50
probably 15 years he didn't come in at
00:46:52
that time oh well I knew look I knew and
00:46:54
I knew his brother and all these people
00:46:55
they were great customers but was never
00:46:57
allowed in again so anyway so he was at
00:47:01
the door and I said to the other person
00:47:02
well you can't come in either you can
00:47:04
have lunch by yourself but he's not
00:47:05
coming in so anyway the next day he rang
00:47:08
and asked Beth could be there and he
00:47:10
came and apologized so he's allowed back
00:47:11
but that was 15 years who who is it like
00:47:15
a politician or the next book the next
00:47:17
book oh my God that's an amazing story a
00:47:19
very well-known New Zealander it's
00:47:21
amazing that you um banned someone for
00:47:22
20 years for for a boo crime and it was
00:47:25
it was pretty stupid though because
00:47:26
spending a lot of money in the
00:47:27
restaurant I just cut my nose to spite
00:47:29
my face there was another one that they
00:47:31
had a bottle of a cam and he's one of my
00:47:33
best friends now and he bought a bottle
00:47:35
of a Kim that probably about3 or $4,000
00:47:37
a bottle in those days and uh he was
00:47:40
with some wine merchants and people and
00:47:42
wasn't they weren't the importers so of
00:47:44
course I knew they were going to say oh
00:47:46
this is no good or whatever so anyway
00:47:48
they drank half of it and then said um
00:47:50
oh this one's it's got no fruit it's no
00:47:53
good anymore and I said well sorry you
00:47:56
drunk car foot so they said well I'll
00:47:58
tell you what we'll pay you the
00:48:00
wholesale cost I said no you can't you
00:48:03
just got to go I don't want you here
00:48:05
anymore they said we'll never come back
00:48:07
oh I care it doesn't matter we're always
00:48:08
false it doesn't really matter well they
00:48:10
didn't come back God I've done something
00:48:12
terrible here but I took that bottle and
00:48:14
went down to the um Broadway Diner and
00:48:16
drank it with a hamburger so we we
00:48:18
enjoyed it but anyway the person now is
00:48:22
a very good friend of mine he said I
00:48:25
said Well why'd you come back so I just
00:48:26
couldn't not come back I mean we missed
00:48:28
your food we missed it all he said and
00:48:31
uh you're still wrong I said yeah but I
00:48:33
won didn't I you came back but that was
00:48:35
two years later talking many many
00:48:37
thousands of dollars over missed out on
00:48:39
yeah so a a A5 or $20,000 bottle of wine
00:48:44
um does it like who's who's buying it is
00:48:47
it like a like a a showing off um
00:48:50
situation or does it does it does it
00:48:52
actually taste amazing does it taste any
00:48:54
better one of them was um you know they
00:48:57
had 12 bottles of Shadow Margo for their
00:48:59
wedding and I'm not going to say how it
00:49:00
is because that's I don't know whether
00:49:02
it is in the book maybe it is I can't
00:49:03
remember but um they were having their
00:49:06
wedding they were an international
00:49:08
people and day 12 and we're
00:49:11
talking I don't know how much was about
00:49:13
probably about $8,000 so it's $96,000 so
00:49:17
it's um for their
00:49:19
wedding so no the people overseas people
00:49:22
paid but a couple of new zealanders and
00:49:24
I think that was a little bit
00:49:25
pretentious possibly but but you you
00:49:27
you've tasted it does it
00:49:28
taste I used to save that sort of oh it
00:49:31
tastes great but it taste that much
00:49:33
better though than say a $50 bottle of
00:49:35
rock burn or well in your own mind it
00:49:39
does of course it tastes better but you
00:49:41
know like someone like Michael
00:49:43
brackovich I mean he's the master of
00:49:44
wine and got and he's got the most
00:49:46
amazing pallet he would he would know
00:49:50
the difference between good bad and
00:49:52
otherwise you know but the average
00:49:54
person wouldn't as I mean if you
00:49:56
suddenly one lotto and you see at Anne
00:49:58
you can buy a $155,000 bottle of wine
00:50:01
you'd probably oh this is good but you
00:50:03
would have no idea about of all tomorrow
00:50:05
would probably be the same yeah what was
00:50:07
the um as someone that's been been
00:50:09
through everything and Sen it all what
00:50:10
was the best decade in business do you
00:50:12
think oh 80s really oh unbelievable I
00:50:15
was so I was a like a school kid in
00:50:17
palis north in the 80s and my parents
00:50:19
like every other New Zealander at the
00:50:20
time um got into the the sheer market so
00:50:22
they had sheares and um you know Telecom
00:50:26
Chase bry's just all the big companies
00:50:29
and then the the stock market crash
00:50:30
happened in ' 87 so and that was then it
00:50:33
turned to it was actually fine until 89
00:50:36
and then
00:50:37
90 the interesting thing is we used to I
00:50:40
used to laugh well didn't because I lost
00:50:42
a lot of money in the stock stock market
00:50:44
but our customers were all those people
00:50:46
you know like it was all paper money and
00:50:48
they were our customers and we're
00:50:49
talking the people that own the
00:50:51
businesses but then all of a sudden you
00:50:54
know you came in fact Beth and I were
00:50:55
staying at the Supreme in Venice at the
00:50:58
time and uh just being pretentious as I
00:51:02
was at the time and so we're sitting
00:51:03
there and the waiter came down said oh
00:51:06
you might like to read the English
00:51:07
newspaper and World stock crash and I
00:51:09
said go we've got to go home we've got
00:51:11
to go home they said why that won't
00:51:13
affect us I said oh really you know how
00:51:16
many shares have we just lost
00:51:17
unbelievable anyway so it was fine for
00:51:20
898 8889 then 1990 we used to look out
00:51:24
the window in the early days you saw
00:51:26
rolls-royces and Ferraris and
00:51:29
Porsches and then suddenly in
00:51:31
1990 they were all little Toyotas and Al
00:51:35
you know suddenly they' all lost their
00:51:36
money and Ann went from a huge turnover
00:51:40
down to about $8,000 a week which is a
00:51:43
and we that's when we I I think that was
00:51:45
when I finally learned how to run a
00:51:47
business because we had probably about
00:51:50
12 staff and we had to go right down to
00:51:52
about four and that's you know and we
00:51:55
just we surv but we were Treading Water
00:51:57
the whole time but it was it was a huge
00:52:00
let down because up until then I mean
00:52:02
you've never seen like I the good
00:52:05
stories I love is you know you get
00:52:06
people in and they'd see what the other
00:52:08
people were drinking and so we'll have
00:52:09
something better than them I mean we can
00:52:11
you imagine we just went mad on that
00:52:13
sort of stuff you know what's he
00:52:15
drinking over there and I he's having ss
00:52:18
oh can we have something better of
00:52:19
course we just happen to have plenty of
00:52:21
that
00:52:22
here that's amazing isn't it so um yeah
00:52:26
cuz you you went through you went
00:52:27
through so much stuff so there was there
00:52:28
was that the global financial crisis the
00:52:30
co time but yeah the ' 80s was the ' 80s
00:52:33
was the I had actually also opened
00:52:36
another restaurant in the in the '90s
00:52:37
and that was um that was down in the
00:52:40
city with other partners and it was
00:52:44
turning over suddenly it things started
00:52:46
coming right again but and antoan was up
00:52:49
and running again but I couldn't be in
00:52:51
two play that was the worst thing I've
00:52:53
ever done was go and open that
00:52:54
restaurant because um it was turning
00:52:57
over so much money but there were so
00:52:58
many staff and I and the owners weren't
00:53:01
there and you can imagine you know
00:53:03
people run rif and we went into
00:53:06
Liquidation in that restaurant but we I
00:53:08
did pay all the bills but it took me
00:53:11
probably took me five years to pay my
00:53:13
share of it but our suppliers were all
00:53:15
antoin and that little restaurant up in
00:53:17
Parell paid for all of that over five
00:53:19
years but they gave us time to do it
00:53:22
so you know that's why an was such and
00:53:25
it was just a a phenomenal little little
00:53:28
business you know it's but it's a oneoff
00:53:30
people just it will never happen again
00:53:32
no it won't happen again so in the most
00:53:36
um hedonistic uh years of the 80s um
00:53:39
like did you turn a like a blind eye to
00:53:41
cocaine use and things like that oh yeah
00:53:43
I definitely didn't do that I could I it
00:53:45
was there I mean it was happening in the
00:53:47
restaurant all the time of course I
00:53:49
didn't care they just drank more and
00:53:50
eight more didn't really worry me that
00:53:52
much and they left their $100 notes on
00:53:54
the
00:53:55
toilet however it's
00:53:57
very it's very easy I can see how people
00:54:00
really got into that and that's one
00:54:01
thing I did not do I mean obviously
00:54:03
things happen but um I did not get
00:54:07
because I'm look I would have been into
00:54:08
it like there was no tomorrow if I had a
00:54:10
started or you just got an addictive
00:54:12
personality can't help it you know like
00:54:14
I do love drinking but I have managed to
00:54:17
keep I don't haven't put my hand up you
00:54:18
and say hi my name's Tony but so many of
00:54:21
my staff have and friends have and um so
00:54:24
I'm very lucky on that aspect I think
00:54:26
let's talk about some of the um
00:54:28
celebrity uh clientele so I mentioned
00:54:30
before Suman Hillary uh yeah was he like
00:54:33
a did he communication was he wasn't a
00:54:36
regular but he lived in rera but and he
00:54:39
in June used to come in um because that
00:54:42
was she was Mrs mgre too beforehand she
00:54:44
was a wonderful customer but he they
00:54:47
would just come in for family family
00:54:49
dinners and um but not hugely but every
00:54:53
now and then someone would bring him in
00:54:55
as a as a cele
00:54:56
and um he was just such a downt earth
00:54:59
lovely man we had so many of those
00:55:01
people but his wife was June she I think
00:55:04
she's just passed recently she was
00:55:05
unbelievable and she and Beth got on
00:55:07
like a house on fire Rod Stewart oh I
00:55:10
Lov rod rod he's and Rachel of course
00:55:13
they were in the early days they used to
00:55:15
yeah and and the book you call her like
00:55:16
the ice cream girl or something the I
00:55:18
know she was on the trumpet all I can
00:55:20
remember her looking ice
00:55:22
cream so you yeah when did so did you
00:55:25
metet him through various decades like
00:55:26
in the 70s ' 80s 90s like Elton John was
00:55:30
a very early customer and of course he
00:55:32
then bought Rod stewarton but then when
00:55:34
Rod married Rachel they came to New
00:55:36
Zealand more and they were very good
00:55:39
customers I mean think Rachel his sister
00:55:41
and her mother used to come on so it was
00:55:43
a family sort of thing but um
00:55:46
afterwards I think it was quite funny
00:55:47
because I mean Rachel was quite amazing
00:55:51
and then when Penny Lancaster it's roll
00:55:53
on a few more years when Penny Lancaster
00:55:55
came across Rod went up to about her
00:55:57
armpit and he came to the RO he
00:55:59
pretended he'd never been there it was
00:56:01
very interesting which do you think
00:56:03
maybe he just didn't remember like if
00:56:04
you're going to a couple hundred
00:56:06
restaurants a year maybe you just don't
00:56:08
yeah but I thought he came in there so
00:56:10
often I mean we got up to a bit of
00:56:12
Mischief you know with with him and I
00:56:14
think with Rod Stewart um Elton John and
00:56:17
George Benson on one night I mean that
00:56:19
was so they yeah he knew that but anyway
00:56:22
look maybe he he's old maybe he just
00:56:24
forgot you maybe yeah that's right there
00:56:27
was there one night where you ended up
00:56:29
having doing an all ID with those guys
00:56:31
so it was you George Benson rod and and
00:56:34
Al and then of course if you're doing
00:56:36
enough this Jeff maybe it's possible you
00:56:38
don't remember the next day yeah maybe
00:56:40
but it was 6:00 in the morning and of
00:56:41
course Beth arrived to she vacuumed and
00:56:43
did all the silver and cleaned every she
00:56:45
set up the whole restaurant every
00:56:46
morning so she arrived and she said oh
00:56:48
finally I'm going to catch him he's not
00:56:50
he's not coming home but he's up to some
00:56:51
mischief and of course she walked out
00:56:53
there and there's us four sitting out in
00:56:55
the courtyard she just turned around
00:56:56
went home but Cliff Richard was both he
00:56:59
was in town at the same time and they
00:57:00
were trying to ring him they called him
00:57:02
the bionic Christian of course so he
00:57:04
didn't want to be anywhere near them but
00:57:05
the next day and of course Beth was she
00:57:09
was so in love with Cliff Richards she
00:57:10
thought he was amazing and she had been
00:57:12
to his concert that night and so um the
00:57:15
next day the doorbell rang and there was
00:57:17
Cliff Richard so she was a a pig in the
00:57:19
proverbial I might say but those I mean
00:57:21
we they used to come in look they they
00:57:24
would come in after their shows and of
00:57:26
course I'd just get rid of the customers
00:57:28
and if anyone thought I'd just get the F
00:57:31
the fire hose out and just wash them all
00:57:32
down outside tell them to go away but
00:57:35
what do you mean you get rid of the
00:57:36
customers so say they they coming in
00:57:38
after a show so say 11:00 at night so oh
00:57:40
you got the we just made sure that the
00:57:42
people that were there wouldn't be in
00:57:44
you know not cuz I never allowed people
00:57:46
to have photographs taken with these
00:57:48
people so and they could come in and
00:57:50
they would just not be bothered you know
00:57:52
that yeah and so many that's why people
00:57:54
came because they could come in and no
00:57:55
one would a deer go and ask them for a
00:57:58
you know they just went they just didn't
00:58:01
and but sometimes people would hear you
00:58:03
know um you know who's up at Ann's so I
00:58:06
had this huge fire hose so of course
00:58:08
they used to if they were out there ping
00:58:11
and through the fence i' just go out and
00:58:12
wash them all down they all went
00:58:14
so oh like media like pepperazzi and
00:58:17
stuff oh yeah yeah you wouldn't have
00:58:18
been lowed I would have I would I would
00:58:21
have given you a good drink of water um
00:58:23
yeah Alton so yeah you you almost had
00:58:26
like a like a romance with him like a
00:58:28
friendship so he yeah you met him um
00:58:31
when he was heterosexual yeah well
00:58:33
apparently when he married well after he
00:58:36
was when he married rata actually he he
00:58:39
had a second wedding at Ann's after he
00:58:42
had the one in Australia but um he used
00:58:44
he came in there way before that with
00:58:46
Hudson and Hall it were they were um
00:58:49
well I think everyone knows who Hudson
00:58:50
or Halls were they were the TV Cooks in
00:58:52
New Zealand and they G like gay shs I
00:58:55
remember them briefly as as a as a kid
00:58:57
and this was when homosexuality was so
00:58:59
God this is hilarious because um they
00:59:03
used to anyway they knew ton from
00:59:05
England because they were from they' had
00:59:06
been in England and so they he used to
00:59:09
stay with them around in Brighton Road
00:59:11
which where they had a house and then
00:59:13
they would come in for dinner and so
00:59:15
they in they introduced Elton to
00:59:17
Antoine's and then he started coming
00:59:19
back every time he came to New Zealand
00:59:21
that was the first place he came to so
00:59:23
me we and I mean he was this so much
00:59:27
in fact you know he was he just but he
00:59:31
also some interesting things I mean I
00:59:33
think in the book alen cars mentioned
00:59:36
they and a couple of our wait one of our
00:59:38
waiters went off off to um America and
00:59:41
then he was shipped off to England to
00:59:43
Alton and then they they dumped him in
00:59:48
Venezuela I mean he was but Alton was
00:59:52
just such a neat person was he yeah I
00:59:54
mean but he came what just fun to be
00:59:56
around you you him you had him in his
00:59:59
party years though like he's he's so I
01:00:02
reckon now he would say oh I don't
01:00:03
remember Ann you know he doesn't want to
01:00:05
know now that he's married to David of
01:00:07
course he would say oh no that never
01:00:09
happened all that sort of stuff but I
01:00:11
mean he was in party mode in those days
01:00:13
I mean like they all were and they used
01:00:15
to all come to anons and it was but it
01:00:17
was it was just their place I mean Phil
01:00:21
space Phil Collins was actually probably
01:00:23
the he was the kindest nicest person
01:00:26
ever came there and he you know they
01:00:29
just wanted to be by themselves they
01:00:31
didn't want people around them you know
01:00:33
cuz they every time they go out they
01:00:35
just SW swamp with people I mean and
01:00:38
that was the other thing you had to ring
01:00:39
the doorbell to get in so you just
01:00:41
couldn't just walk in if you saw people
01:00:43
there so and they and we had three rooms
01:00:45
we could hide them you know like K [ __ ]
01:00:48
you I mean Dar all C she was a great
01:00:51
anwin person when she was governor
01:00:52
general she used to ring me and say chef
01:00:56
can I come and cuz she would just get
01:00:57
the driver and she would walk up the
01:01:00
alleyway and go and sit by herself and
01:01:01
have lunch just to be away from people
01:01:03
you know it's it was just that sort of
01:01:06
place yeah geez if those walls could
01:01:09
talk eh yeah I should have actually I
01:01:12
saw something once you know had
01:01:13
microphones under the table that's I
01:01:14
could have been very
01:01:16
wealthy um what about um you dismissive
01:01:19
celebrities any celebrities that came in
01:01:21
and you were instructed not to interact
01:01:23
with them at all or they didn't want
01:01:24
anything to the staff or just anyone
01:01:26
that was just sort of underwhelming like
01:01:28
they were famous but they just sort of
01:01:29
laed Charisma or no not anyway I most
01:01:34
people that were we knew they were
01:01:36
coming and they knew where they were
01:01:38
going but I mean we weren't that sort of
01:01:40
restaurant I mean I don't can't think of
01:01:42
anyone apart from kiss that I just
01:01:44
thought were awful didn't like their
01:01:46
music either so it didn't really matter
01:01:49
but I I think I'll tell I'll tell you
01:01:51
who um well I want to keep calling him
01:01:54
Steve Austin you know the B mcmah what
01:01:56
he came in and he was with as they all
01:01:59
do with this very young they're now new
01:02:02
young people and um he came and he sat
01:02:06
there and I was the only one that knew
01:02:07
who he was and I thought I can't really
01:02:09
say it so I went and said hi and he goes
01:02:10
how do you know that I said I think I'm
01:02:12
the age that watched the biionic man but
01:02:15
the the um the staff said Who the hell's
01:02:18
that never seen anything like that but I
01:02:20
sat with him and just talked and he was
01:02:22
just so pleased that someone recognized
01:02:24
it's quite interesting you know because
01:02:26
no one kidss wouldn't I mean he's he's
01:02:29
old yeah and Freddy Mercury oh now he
01:02:32
was a
01:02:33
dream was it why so oh he was just so so
01:02:36
much fun and once again of course um I
01:02:39
think he quite liked the
01:02:40
waiters because we had very goodlooking
01:02:43
waiters in there yeah but he he was just
01:02:46
an easy person to serve I mean once
01:02:49
again you know they change when they
01:02:50
come into that situation they're not on
01:02:53
stage M oh what about um did you ever
01:02:57
know poking horn was he a customer M
01:03:00
yeah yeah apparently he's banned from
01:03:02
places now he if if the methew was um as
01:03:06
it's reported he wouldn't have had much
01:03:08
of an appetite I wouldn't imagine no he
01:03:11
I don't think he was doing anything like
01:03:12
that I mean he was a casual customer he
01:03:15
wasn't but it'd be quite interesting um
01:03:17
I don't know I have to think whether i'
01:03:19
ban him he's been exonerated sort of
01:03:21
mind he still got a case coming up yeah
01:03:24
um and some some politicians David longy
01:03:27
he used to no he was no David long you
01:03:29
know people say you know I don't like
01:03:31
labor or don't like anything like that
01:03:32
but David longy was in the early days
01:03:34
was a very very good customer and then
01:03:38
he in fact yeah he was he was actually a
01:03:41
great but he used to eat a lot as you
01:03:44
can imagine then suddenly he didn't so
01:03:46
oh CU he got the um the gas sleeve thing
01:03:49
yeah and um he but he never came well
01:03:54
yes he used to come on with his wife and
01:03:55
then I think he had a new wife didn't he
01:03:57
I mean yes I think he then married
01:03:58
someone else speech some Naomi Naomi was
01:04:02
his wife
01:04:05
somebody anyway but he didn't he then
01:04:07
did not come as a customer I mean but in
01:04:10
the early days he was there quite a lot
01:04:13
and um moldon was here a cust oh yeah
01:04:15
they all dear all beggy I loved them
01:04:17
yeah I I by the way I love mentioning
01:04:19
these names because it just um it just
01:04:21
highlights I think just how long you in
01:04:23
business it's incredible well mold was
01:04:25
um in in fact I Beth and I got on very
01:04:27
well with he and theia and or Dame theia
01:04:30
and we used to travel down to gizman to
01:04:33
in in the planes to actually launch the
01:04:36
blue boats with with the people so but
01:04:39
he was a huge customer but but he was a
01:04:41
customer in Wellington when I was in
01:04:43
there at The Coachman he was a big orini
01:04:46
customer at the time and that's when he
01:04:47
was playing games with all sorts of
01:04:49
people but then he came to Antoine and I
01:04:52
used to have you know the little piggy
01:04:54
money box I used to have it sitting up
01:04:56
on a mirror and even I could not believe
01:04:58
people throw things at him because he
01:05:00
wasn't the most popular prime minister I
01:05:02
might say however he felt comfortable in
01:05:04
Land once yeah um what about um Winston
01:05:07
was do you know Winston Peters was he a
01:05:09
cast yeah in the very early days I mean
01:05:12
he
01:05:12
was everyone was in love with Winston
01:05:15
you know that's when he was married to I
01:05:16
forgot which I think his first marriage
01:05:20
and he was at Antoine's a lot and he was
01:05:23
everyone was in love with him you
01:05:25
everyone thought he was going to be the
01:05:27
biggest prime minister we've ever seen
01:05:28
in our life and so he and we're talking
01:05:31
right at the beginning so and then right
01:05:33
up
01:05:35
until till he sided with labor he was
01:05:39
also a customer um or did you ban him
01:05:42
did you I probably it could have been
01:05:44
next especially when he he went with the
01:05:46
other side I mean really I couldn't I
01:05:48
couldn't he didn't come back then so I
01:05:50
don't think I would have let him in
01:05:53
anyway I reckon you talk a big game I
01:05:56
reckon um yeah I don't know I I feel
01:05:59
like you would L A lot of these people I
01:06:01
feel a lot of it tongue and cheek I mean
01:06:03
I mean look I liked it when they thought
01:06:05
they' being banned because then I but it
01:06:08
wasn't me it was actually the media that
01:06:09
does all this has nothing to do with me
01:06:11
I just look people just knew they
01:06:12
weren't welcome yeah I mean I mean I was
01:06:15
standing in that Chef's bar and there
01:06:16
was all the people I mean I'd just
01:06:20
go they knew damn well I didn't want
01:06:22
them anywhere near me but I mean they
01:06:24
were all customers but
01:06:26
towards the end I let you let anyone
01:06:29
because you want the money but but I
01:06:32
think no I don't know who I would be now
01:06:35
I mean really it's it was just fun yeah
01:06:38
yeah yeah yeah that's the impression I
01:06:41
get it's kind of like sticking away yeah
01:06:43
well what about luxon was he is he um
01:06:44
you know luxon yes I do
01:06:46
yeah he wouldn't be a great customer he
01:06:48
doesn't drink drink any alcohol does he
01:06:51
seem like Mr Trump came once to an
01:06:53
because you know when he was trying to
01:06:54
buy the casino the railway station he
01:06:56
was out here and of course he didn't get
01:06:57
it but he came into the restaurant and
01:07:00
um he didn't drink I said oh God no
01:07:02
can't have him he not going to make any
01:07:04
money he drinks Coca-Cola for God's sake
01:07:06
he's he's never drunk in his life I
01:07:08
believe no he doesn't I think I saw an
01:07:10
interview with him his brother was an
01:07:11
alcoholic a really bad one yeah he's got
01:07:13
a bad
01:07:15
diet well I can't remember what he ate
01:07:17
but he ate um he likes drinking
01:07:18
Coca-Cola and eating pies cheeseburgers
01:07:21
cheeseburgers and Fri well he couldn't
01:07:23
have got there once but he
01:07:27
um yeah well you I would never ban him
01:07:30
of course because he's so controversial
01:07:32
I love people like that but um oh
01:07:34
Christopher luxon he's a good man I I
01:07:36
had him at home for dinner and it was a
01:07:39
someone paid $20,000 to have dinner at
01:07:43
my house with Christopher luxon I said
01:07:44
well looks like you're coming to my
01:07:45
house for dinner whether he wanted to or
01:07:47
not he had to put his hand up I mean
01:07:48
$20,000 is a lot of money and we had him
01:07:52
for had him home for dinner and the
01:07:55
mayor of foram was also the person that
01:07:57
paid the 20,000 was allowed to invite a
01:07:59
couple of people and I thought oh this
01:08:01
will be interesting anyway it was a
01:08:03
great night and Christ lexon doesn't
01:08:05
drink so he doesn't drink alcohol but he
01:08:06
does like eating which is good and uh
01:08:10
anyway he's he's a he's a nice man I
01:08:12
wouldn't ban
01:08:14
him but my favorite of course is Erica
01:08:17
Stanford now she is the best who's that
01:08:19
Erica Stanford she's the minister of
01:08:21
immigration and and um education now she
01:08:24
is a sta is she why oh she's just so
01:08:28
bright and so out there and you know she
01:08:31
she lives and breathes politics she will
01:08:33
be prime minister one day you wait and
01:08:35
see um couple of other bits and pieces
01:08:37
so in 2012 you were um you made on the
01:08:40
The Queen's birthday on yeah for the the
01:08:43
o o nzm um yeah what are your
01:08:46
Recollections of that time well it was
01:08:49
incredibly humbling yeah it was actually
01:08:51
but
01:08:52
because you know a little old a little
01:08:55
old cook from from north New Brighton
01:08:58
coming to ockland and then getting an
01:09:01
ozm which is a very high honor and for
01:09:04
cooking
01:09:06
which yeah was I got a lot of criticism
01:09:08
for accepting that because you know you
01:09:10
know all sorts of reasons you know why
01:09:12
would they give it to you I mean there
01:09:13
always there's always people that hate
01:09:15
you for doing things but um that was
01:09:17
great for the industry and it was you
01:09:19
know and it was Jerry I call him Jerry
01:09:22
Jerry was a good customer oh the
01:09:24
governor general and it was actually
01:09:25
neat having him give it to me so that
01:09:27
was fantastic anyway that's um it was a
01:09:32
great honor and uh I'm very proud to get
01:09:35
that and it was very humbling I thought
01:09:37
oh maybe I should pull my head in a bit
01:09:40
that's what be said said do you think
01:09:42
it's now time you might be nice to
01:09:43
people yeah whatever yeah it's and and
01:09:46
reflection with um you what's happened
01:09:48
since then you know in particular with
01:09:50
Beth like it must um mean even more now
01:09:52
that you know she was around and she was
01:09:54
healthy to you to this EOL yeah and
01:09:57
we've got some we've got some good um I
01:09:59
mean I'm at the a lot with aut now and
01:10:02
i' I'm an H Mentor there and I do all
01:10:05
sorts of things with the kids and raise
01:10:06
money for the aut now and um I just love
01:10:09
going there with all those kids because
01:10:11
it's they are the future and we've
01:10:14
really got to get that up and running
01:10:16
again you know cuz we need people in the
01:10:19
industry because the hospitality
01:10:20
industry is in it's in Freefall at the
01:10:23
moment and it really does need a big
01:10:25
boost so we've got to get into schools
01:10:27
and tell you know get parents CU
01:10:30
hospitality's had a very bad rep if bad
01:10:32
wages bad you know it's it's not a great
01:10:36
industry to be in but it's it's been
01:10:37
changed so much now you don't have to do
01:10:40
20 hours a day you know you can do a
01:10:42
normal day work now and if you're I mean
01:10:47
I just I just love doing I mean I was
01:10:49
just so lucky that I had you know 65
01:10:53
years of doing a job I absolutely loved
01:10:56
I mean must be nothing worse than doing
01:10:58
a job you hate and going to work every
01:11:00
day hating it you know where I didn't
01:11:02
ever have that feeling I just loved
01:11:04
every minute of
01:11:05
it yeah as I said earlier it's like one
01:11:08
of your one of your two big loves in
01:11:09
life yeah yeah um there's one thing you
01:11:12
talk about in the book and um yeah the
01:11:15
eating disorder during your 30s um yeah
01:11:18
why did why did you decide to conclude
01:11:19
that in the book was that was that one
01:11:21
of those things that you had an internal
01:11:22
battle with with you whether you're
01:11:23
going to share that or not or was that
01:11:25
the eating yeah the eating disorder yeah
01:11:27
so during during your 30s
01:11:29
um yeah sounds like it was a very odd
01:11:32
eating disorder you like you just you
01:11:33
just eat raw meat chew it up and chew
01:11:36
bacon chew raw steak chew not I never
01:11:38
chewed raw chicken I couldn't quite
01:11:40
bring myself to do but I would cook it
01:11:41
and then Che but just spit it out so I
01:11:44
just lived on the juices of those meats
01:11:46
it's like a diet you created for your
01:11:48
almost like the vampire diet well it was
01:11:50
something like no it wasn't like that it
01:11:51
was actually I had read in you know
01:11:53
anorexia was huge at the time and I had
01:11:56
read how
01:11:57
someone um was so it would become a
01:12:01
disease and they used to tape up their
01:12:03
doorways so the the calories couldn't
01:12:06
get through to them and I thought that
01:12:07
couldn't happen so I decided I'd see
01:12:10
whether does happen so I just stopped
01:12:13
eating didn't drink alcohol I for a long
01:12:16
long time and then just drank water and
01:12:19
chewed chewed raw meat and things and I
01:12:22
lost so much weight I got down to
01:12:24
probably
01:12:26
50 kilos or something I mean I was like
01:12:28
a toothpick and I but I looked in the
01:12:31
mirror every day and thought I was
01:12:32
fat and Beth just one day she said to me
01:12:36
I got out of bed and she's off for God's
01:12:39
sake and I said what she said you know
01:12:42
those bells and people and all that you
01:12:44
just look like that all you can see was
01:12:45
my bones and rub and I had thought I was
01:12:47
fat so I'd actually totally Gone Lulu I
01:12:52
was buying I was going to helstein to
01:12:54
buy a kids clothes
01:12:55
because I just thought I was fat all the
01:12:57
time so it was a I start it started off
01:13:00
me just thinking whether it could happen
01:13:02
but it came became an obsession and I
01:13:05
just got I was just talked out of it by
01:13:08
everybody
01:13:09
and as you can see I'm definitely not
01:13:11
anorexic now it was no no but you I'd
01:13:15
say you're you're spelt now like you're
01:13:17
in you're in you're in good shape but
01:13:18
you obviously maybe still have some sort
01:13:20
of like Body Issue images like you yeah
01:13:23
totally why didn't you why why didn't
01:13:25
you get any canceling is it just yeah I
01:13:28
mean you were in your 30s at the time so
01:13:30
this was like what 40 40 years ago I
01:13:32
suppose this was in the 80s was it just
01:13:33
not a thing or well you just didn't talk
01:13:35
about thing you definitely didn't talk
01:13:36
to people about it I mean look everyone
01:13:38
talks about things like that now you've
01:13:40
got to talk to people but I didn't I
01:13:42
just became obsessed with the whole
01:13:44
thing and um and I but even now I mean I
01:13:49
think probably I really do think I've
01:13:52
got to start maybe I should go running
01:13:55
you think but I said I wasn't going to
01:13:57
say that but I don't know I sometimes I
01:13:59
wonder if I'm running away from
01:14:01
something you can over analyze
01:14:03
everything can't you but it was just
01:14:06
yeah I just still think I mean I am I'm
01:14:09
pretty vain I mean I like to look good I
01:14:12
like to dress buy good clothes and stuff
01:14:15
and but I think it's quite good when you
01:14:17
get to geriatric old age isn't it isn't
01:14:19
it quite good to sort of still take an
01:14:21
interest in yourself 100% 100% yeah I
01:14:24
think it's a good thing to pride in your
01:14:25
appearance but why um yeah so there
01:14:28
wasn't like an intervention or anything
01:14:29
yeah because Yeah you mentioned um like
01:14:31
Beth even you made some remark one day
01:14:34
about you looking like you're from you
01:14:35
one of the World War II concentration
01:14:37
camps so was there no sort of
01:14:39
intervention from family or friends or I
01:14:41
don't have family up here there only
01:14:43
Beth but but customers started asking
01:14:46
Beth and so Beth actually talk me out of
01:14:48
it she just said you got to stop this
01:14:50
and anyway it took it took a long time
01:14:53
but then I started eating I was being
01:14:54
sick
01:14:55
because you weren't used to eating but
01:14:58
then I'm I can assure you I do eat lots
01:15:00
now was that a a tough decision for you
01:15:03
to include that in the book or yeah I
01:15:05
didn't want to but I I thought well it's
01:15:07
quite it was part of me so yeah I didn't
01:15:10
really want to put that in there but
01:15:12
Geraldine actually she's done a very
01:15:14
good job she she's actually written at
01:15:16
how I talk and that's a good ghost
01:15:19
writer yeah and she's I mean I've known
01:15:22
her for so many years I mean she I mean
01:15:25
go she's a communist compared to me I
01:15:27
might tell you and she will even admit
01:15:29
that and she said I just can't believe
01:15:30
that I'm writing this book for someone
01:15:32
that I loathe everything he thinks in
01:15:34
politics but we became very good friends
01:15:36
and she became part of me and she she
01:15:40
did a good job of that I'm very happy
01:15:42
for what she's done I I think that's um
01:15:45
a healthy relationship if you can have
01:15:46
different um strongly different
01:15:48
political views with someone but still
01:15:50
you know find some some common ground or
01:15:51
even have a healthy debate about
01:15:52
politics but I feel like that's lost a
01:15:54
lot like there's a lot of people that
01:15:56
say well if we're not on the same page
01:15:57
politically then we just cannot oh it's
01:15:59
quite amazing I mean I mean I've got
01:16:01
divide's huge I've got a couple of
01:16:02
people that just we just do not discuss
01:16:05
Politics As We punch each other in the
01:16:07
face I mean it's that well I find it
01:16:09
quite funny really but I must admit I am
01:16:12
probably a little bit weird when it
01:16:13
comes to my political views and um how
01:16:17
like how are you at the moment are you
01:16:19
good are you in a good place yeah yeah y
01:16:21
I'm actually I've
01:16:23
come I must admit I get very lonely
01:16:26
sometimes you know you especially if
01:16:28
you're by yourself and um there's no one
01:16:31
around um I find when I fly back from
01:16:34
Europe by myself I you've got a lot of
01:16:36
time to
01:16:37
think and then you think oh really but
01:16:41
then I just get into work again and just
01:16:43
get it because I I just have to do work
01:16:45
I mean I don't think I'm a good person
01:16:47
just to sit around doing nothing and I
01:16:50
really do I mean I'm just so excited
01:16:52
about all this food food production and
01:16:54
stuff we can do because that's just that
01:16:56
means I go to work every day again you
01:16:57
know all that sort of stuff so I think I
01:16:59
probably do need that um because as I
01:17:02
said I don't have a lot of hobbies I I
01:17:04
love collecting wine and doing stuff
01:17:06
like that but that's not constructive
01:17:08
you end up drinking it I think you're
01:17:10
doing all the right all the right things
01:17:11
like keeping yourself busy I think
01:17:13
that's um that's key isn't it and also
01:17:15
having things to look forward to but
01:17:17
yeah I
01:17:18
amum I know you don't you don't want or
01:17:21
care for anyone's like um Petty or
01:17:22
sympathy but I felt sad for you reading
01:17:24
the book especially you know so you shut
01:17:26
the restaurant and then you go to the
01:17:27
Middle East and it's your first Tri trip
01:17:29
without be so you've got this um this um
01:17:32
you know this two huge lifelong loves um
01:17:35
and you and Beth had this remarkable
01:17:37
travel adventures together you went on
01:17:39
the Concord you went on the orang orang
01:17:40
express you went on QE to and suddenly
01:17:43
here you are in this um you the the yeah
01:17:47
what should be the the best and most
01:17:48
enjoyable decade of your life you know
01:17:50
in your' 70s and you've you've done all
01:17:51
this hard work and you've you've got
01:17:53
enough money to do these things and
01:17:54
suddenly you have to do it on your own
01:17:55
and it it sucks and that's a hard one
01:17:58
but I have very very I've got Beth and I
01:18:00
traveled with a couple anyway but we've
01:18:03
done forever and um and I I still travel
01:18:07
with them
01:18:08
so I wouldn't do it by myself I just
01:18:11
would find that too I've got to be with
01:18:13
people because I I mean after Beth
01:18:16
passed um these people took me to all
01:18:18
the places that Beth and I used to go to
01:18:20
like the or um to Venice to um all the
01:18:24
all the great restaurants and great
01:18:26
hotels that we always wanted to be at
01:18:29
they took me on without me knowing they
01:18:30
took me on to all those places which was
01:18:32
quite hard because Beth wasn't there and
01:18:34
we were staying in the same places but I
01:18:36
think that was good therapy that was
01:18:38
actually yeah made me realize you are by
01:18:41
yourself now but these are they great
01:18:43
memories and I just I mean that was a
01:18:44
very hard eight weeks I think it was but
01:18:48
but since see and I'm we go away now and
01:18:51
we just go to different places and it's
01:18:52
just a different thing but I it's still
01:18:55
by yourself and it's very hard
01:18:58
to I just
01:19:01
can't can't get my head around being
01:19:03
with someone else if you know what I
01:19:04
mean because it's just which I suppose
01:19:06
one day it might but I really but I
01:19:10
quite like my own
01:19:12
company that's no that's great that's a
01:19:15
really great thing yeah I wanted
01:19:17
to I was going to ask that but I wasn't
01:19:19
I wasn't sure if it was an inappropriate
01:19:21
question or not but about yeah like
01:19:22
finding love again because it's yeah
01:19:24
like I'm trying I'm probably projecting
01:19:26
here but if I was in your position maybe
01:19:27
I'd feel a little bit of guilt or
01:19:28
whatever even though you shouldn't well
01:19:30
I would yeah but it's what Beth would
01:19:32
probably want wouldn't she she well I
01:19:34
think she'd want me to go out and do
01:19:36
something else but or get someone else
01:19:37
but it's still only nearly it's it's
01:19:41
only still short time and I'm she's
01:19:43
still with me and I mean I've tried to
01:19:48
get um take photos not have so many
01:19:51
photos but I can't they've got to be
01:19:54
there because she and every time I do
01:19:57
something I fig maybe I should not be
01:19:59
doing it's you know okay okay okay okay
01:20:03
you
01:20:03
know I'm getting it in the air again so
01:20:06
I mean and as long as that happens I'm
01:20:09
not going to go with anyone else anyway
01:20:10
so but I mean see well to me that is
01:20:12
you're like you're not you're not ready
01:20:13
to like she's still you know holding
01:20:16
such a big space in um you know in your
01:20:18
heart well you know I'm decorating the
01:20:19
apartment at the moment and she think
01:20:21
what and I I can't get this why'd you
01:20:24
buy that
01:20:25
that's not right you know and I'm
01:20:26
thinking so I just talked to her I said
01:20:28
well excuse me that's what's going up
01:20:29
and that's all there is to it but um do
01:20:31
you you actually you actually talk to
01:20:33
her yeah and I know that's probably a
01:20:35
bit weird but I do no know I mean I
01:20:38
sometimes sit there and I'm trying to do
01:20:41
something or I've got to go and do a
01:20:42
speech or something and I I ask her what
01:20:45
do you reckon and then I I sort of know
01:20:48
she's saying don't talk crap you know
01:20:51
you know it's not true don't tell it you
01:20:52
know or something so yeah so I think it
01:20:55
probably is still too raw I mean
01:20:57
obviously she's not there but when
01:20:59
you've been with someone since you're in
01:21:00
your God like teens or whatever it was
01:21:02
and you're with them for 50 years and
01:21:04
you you you're in the process of growing
01:21:06
old with them like you know what her
01:21:07
answer is going to be to totally any
01:21:09
situation how how long but thanks for
01:21:11
being so open about this today um I'm
01:21:14
sure it's not how how long was it that
01:21:15
you could talk about this stuff without
01:21:17
without getting emotional I'm getting
01:21:18
emotional stuff sometimes I someone
01:21:21
asked me something the other day and I
01:21:23
just had to walk away because just every
01:21:25
now it's like a a wind you know it comes
01:21:27
to you and you think oh God I can't do
01:21:29
this um but I think the good thing with
01:21:34
her being there is saying get on with it
01:21:36
you know that's what she used to just
01:21:37
get on with it like i' she'd seen me
01:21:39
practicing a speech in front of a mirror
01:21:42
and she'd say oh for God's sake stop
01:21:43
looking at yourself you know that sort
01:21:45
of thing you know just do it you know
01:21:47
you can do it you know so that's all
01:21:49
that positivity is very good for me so
01:21:51
who who sitting on your shoulder as you
01:21:53
mentioned in the beginning of the book
01:21:54
that's um in in some way what's keeping
01:21:56
you from just being in this moping State
01:21:58
and just carrying on it's what she
01:22:00
literally what she would want well it's
01:22:02
making me get out of bed in the morning
01:22:03
and also go and look I mean with this
01:22:06
new company I mean I'm getting quite
01:22:07
excited about it because suddenly people
01:22:09
are coming to you and say you know would
01:22:10
you endorse this or would you that gives
01:22:12
me something to get my teeth into and um
01:22:15
but the food production thing I really
01:22:17
want to get that going because and
01:22:19
that'll be sort of like a Paul Newman
01:22:20
type thing it'll go to charity
01:22:22
afterwards and all that sort of stuff so
01:22:23
it's you know it just gives me something
01:22:25
to do and I think that's what I have to
01:22:26
do you've got to give back yeah yeah so
01:22:29
you you've done well out of the business
01:22:31
you've done all right y oh don't want
01:22:33
for anything no I'm very very lucky what
01:22:35
you know how we you know it's well you
01:22:37
say luck it's a lot of hard work though
01:22:39
yeah but did pay off you know like um I
01:22:42
didn't I mean I'm a great I can't help
01:22:44
myself spending but Beth was actually
01:22:46
the tuck away one so thank you B for
01:22:51
that yeah you like me winning a lot on
01:22:54
blowing damn lot but I and I no no I've
01:22:57
been fortunate that it's worked out very
01:23:00
very well for me yeah are you proud of
01:23:02
yourself yeah sometimes I think you know
01:23:05
you shouldn't be but it's a kiwi thing
01:23:07
he it's it's quite interesting sitting
01:23:09
here talking to you because I'm I'm 51
01:23:10
now so you know I'm I'm like a
01:23:12
generation behind you but I still grew
01:23:14
up in that generation where you know me
01:23:16
mental mental unwellness wasn't a thing
01:23:19
and you couldn't as a guy you couldn't
01:23:20
show any sort of emotion you couldn't
01:23:22
talk about these things but you're from
01:23:23
like the generation before me which was
01:23:25
even worse it was terrible yeah yeah and
01:23:28
I yeah you're right because
01:23:30
it's I sort of think you know you're not
01:23:33
you can't you can't blow your own
01:23:35
trumpet that's exactly what comes into
01:23:37
your mind you know so you were lucky
01:23:38
that's why you're doing all right but
01:23:40
you can't say to yourself well I can't
01:23:42
say to myself well you know you actually
01:23:44
deserve that you know because I think no
01:23:47
you probably deserve a smack around the
01:23:48
L for being such a prick for the last 25
01:23:51
years but I'm quite easy to dismiss that
01:23:53
one I might tell you yeah yeah yeah and
01:23:55
any regrets part for stabbing that kid
01:23:58
in the foot that that's actually that
01:23:59
comes back to haunt me sometimes because
01:24:02
this St I mean he was said
01:24:04
he it was
01:24:06
just just one of those things but I'm
01:24:08
really pleased that he really did well
01:24:10
for himself and every now and then I
01:24:12
think probably did him a favor really
01:24:14
shocked him into going and doing
01:24:15
something which it's a very cruel way of
01:24:18
making someone do something but
01:24:21
regrets see I wanted to be a school
01:24:23
teacher and they very early days and
01:24:24
then I
01:24:25
thought no I don't I don't regret not
01:24:28
being that I just think I I mean got at
01:24:31
15 through gra care I got you know out
01:24:34
of a situation where boys did not cook
01:24:38
into one of the best jobs you could ever
01:24:40
have in the world you know and it was
01:24:42
you know like cheffing was a a sexy
01:24:45
thing to do in the end but in the
01:24:47
beginning you know you you know you
01:24:49
didn't talk about it or your family
01:24:50
didn't talk about because you know boys
01:24:52
just didn't do that sort of thing and
01:24:54
I mean there's a whole generation of
01:24:56
people coming up now that I don't
01:24:58
understand other people don't understand
01:25:00
but you've got to include them you know
01:25:02
they are that's a new that's what life's
01:25:04
about and so I hope we've actually
01:25:06
learned something from our parents or
01:25:09
our grandparents cuz they were just but
01:25:12
they were in a different world you know
01:25:14
there were Wars or all sorts of things
01:25:16
and there was nothing you know nothing
01:25:18
to do but have children
01:25:21
yeah yeah cuz you that's something we we
01:25:24
didn't even didn't haven't even touched
01:25:25
upon but um yeah you and your dad didn't
01:25:27
speak for many years cuz he didn't
01:25:28
approve of you um being a being a chef I
01:25:31
suppose it was considered more like a
01:25:33
female thing being in the kitchen yeah
01:25:35
well in those days you know there had
01:25:36
Christ Church there was United Services
01:25:38
and I forgotten what the other Hotel was
01:25:42
and when I decided I might like to cook
01:25:45
I went along to see them and they would
01:25:47
have been 14 at the time and they so my
01:25:50
mother took me when we had dinner at
01:25:52
this hotel and had these SA AES and
01:25:55
Dreadful stuff whatever it was and and
01:25:57
they told me there'll be a seven-year
01:25:58
apprenticeship and I thought I can cook
01:26:01
better sausages and I'm only 14 why
01:26:03
would I want to wait seven years and
01:26:05
seven years later I own my own
01:26:07
restaurant so I mean it was one of those
01:26:09
things so but I mean it was a bloke
01:26:13
thing you know like my father was a I
01:26:16
mean he was a great cricketer he was a a
01:26:18
fantastic father look I'm not knocking
01:26:20
him for that at all but he was he just
01:26:23
didn't understand what I wanted to do
01:26:25
and his friends would have you know they
01:26:29
were just as bad they were just BLS that
01:26:31
didn't like so I just left home so 15 I
01:26:36
mean I look at 15 year olds now I think
01:26:38
God I was actually I was up in
01:26:39
Wellington working when I was that age
01:26:42
and these kids you know they're like
01:26:45
children still so I suppose I was a
01:26:47
child you know yeah yeah and it's worth
01:26:49
pointing out like you in a different
01:26:51
Island and um yeah North Island or South
01:26:52
Island back then it was like you might
01:26:53
as well have been in a a different
01:26:54
country um yeah there were no phones you
01:26:57
couldn't just me message home to get
01:26:59
them to transfer some money or they send
01:27:01
a telegram that's what what we sort of
01:27:03
talked about before like you setting up
01:27:04
that Dairy when you were 17 setting up
01:27:06
this business in panel which became your
01:27:07
lifelong passion at the age of 22 it's
01:27:10
um it's incredible um yeah uh what about
01:27:14
Legacy what's what do you hope your
01:27:16
legacy will be as a like a and in the
01:27:18
New Zealand calary scene well i' would
01:27:20
like to think you know there's a lot of
01:27:22
people think I'm this oldfashioned fat
01:27:24
you know but this grumpy old bastard
01:27:26
grumpy old
01:27:27
bastard you know you know I don't know
01:27:30
what I think someone called me actually
01:27:32
I was at the aut and a girl came into a
01:27:34
meeting and um I looked at her I thought
01:27:36
i' would never employ you in my whole
01:27:37
life and she called me a misogynist and
01:27:40
I thought oh I probably am I mean really
01:27:42
I said what does that mean anyway and
01:27:45
and I said you know I wouldn't I
01:27:46
wouldn't employ you in a million years
01:27:48
looking like that so of course everyone
01:27:49
around the table's go oh God you can't
01:27:51
say that you can't say that and I
01:27:53
thought no I wouldn't and I still
01:27:55
wouldn't but I would I just think kids I
01:27:59
mean I've I'm going to be part of the
01:28:02
you know even when I'm gone I'll be part
01:28:03
of the aut and I've got culinary people
01:28:06
that will all come from industry that
01:28:08
will manage the funds that go in there
01:28:10
and it's got to be for kids and it's got
01:28:12
to be for the cooking side of things so
01:28:14
I'd just quite like to think that in 50
01:28:16
years time there because they they just
01:28:18
they opened a theater under BS and my
01:28:20
name uh in at the aut and i' just like
01:28:24
in 50 years time to think that it's
01:28:26
still going because you've got to know
01:28:28
the basics Before You Can Be Clever you
01:28:30
know and that's what we really do are
01:28:33
teaching and that's why I just love the
01:28:35
aut because there some very good tuts
01:28:37
there and they they just want these kids
01:28:40
to do well and it's I mean some amazing
01:28:43
young kids when when I did the food
01:28:45
production there these I don't think
01:28:47
they'd ever met anyone like me because
01:28:48
that's oh Chef it's time for a break
01:28:50
you're not having a break excuse me you
01:28:51
don't have breakes you know you're going
01:28:54
to go for the whole eight oh got no no
01:28:56
you're not having one you know if you
01:28:58
want to just go and don't come back but
01:29:00
you know what they were amazing they
01:29:01
just wanted to do it and they were so
01:29:03
excited you know and without bashing
01:29:05
them up I mean like you know I try and
01:29:09
say to people you know when you're in a
01:29:10
restaurant situation you can't suddenly
01:29:13
say oh I've done four hours I've got to
01:29:14
go and have a break I mean you're in the
01:29:16
middle of cooking you don't just ask
01:29:17
hold on customers I'll be back in 20
01:29:19
minutes after I've had my [ __ ] or my
01:29:21
coffee I mean it just doesn't work that
01:29:23
way but it's I would just like the kids
01:29:26
to look at and look and see what I have
01:29:29
done and that it's possible for anybody
01:29:31
to do it and it is there's no doubt
01:29:33
about
01:29:34
that I love that that's a great answer
01:29:37
this has been way less swearer than what
01:29:39
I was say you know I can I have got a fa
01:29:41
mouth if you push that
01:29:43
button is it is it just after you've had
01:29:45
like a couple of roses or no it's after
01:29:47
I've had seven shots of coffee instead
01:29:49
of just three okay um oh one like one to
01:29:52
finish with we'll finish with the the
01:29:54
old classic dinner party one if you
01:29:55
could invite say five people to a dinner
01:29:57
party alive or dead who would they be
01:29:59
well they' definitely be Elton John M um
01:30:02
Phil
01:30:04
Collins um John Key probably Christopher
01:30:09
lexon he he still has to prove himself a
01:30:11
little bit but I think he's on the right
01:30:13
track Erica Stanford definitely and then
01:30:16
how many is that are you have as many as
01:30:18
you want anyway we can make the table I
01:30:20
might bring kiss over Just for kicks
01:30:24
just so you put some water on Jan
01:30:26
Simon's shoes again but I I'll tell you
01:30:28
there someone that um which I haven't
01:30:30
mentioned actually s black all those
01:30:31
years ago she used to live at when she
01:30:33
was in New Zealand she used to live at
01:30:34
the White heren Lodge around the corner
01:30:36
and I used to cook for her every she'd
01:30:38
either come in and cook she was was the
01:30:40
most amazing downto earth person you I
01:30:43
think she influenced me quite a lot cuz
01:30:45
she's just a you know nobody that did it
01:30:48
fantastically I mean you couldn't
01:30:50
understand the word she was saying when
01:30:51
she was talking but you know my family
01:30:53
probably came from the same area as her
01:30:54
so you know she was just an amazing
01:30:57
person that you know just wanted to talk
01:31:00
to you and um yeah so I'd have to invite
01:31:03
her and definitely invite Donald Trump
01:31:06
he would have to be at my dinner party
01:31:07
because you know we could get rid of the
01:31:09
people early just no um no red caps oh I
01:31:12
quite like I see you got a bit of red
01:31:14
there no but I mean um would you let
01:31:16
them through the uh you know the the
01:31:19
door with a with a cap on oh totally but
01:31:21
I know he have to take his hat off once
01:31:23
he got in but I'd like like everyone to
01:31:24
see him walking up with the head someone
01:31:26
just came came back from from America
01:31:29
and they bought they I'm sorry it's such
01:31:31
a silly little present but it's a block
01:31:33
of chocolates with Don Donald Trump he
01:31:37
said I just bought it for your Lolly
01:31:38
Jazz just to piss everybody off it's the
01:31:41
best chocolate people tell me it's the
01:31:42
best chocolate I I quite like watching
01:31:45
like comedians do impressions of a m
01:31:46
it's very easy to imp personate he's the
01:31:48
easiest person in the whole world you
01:31:50
China China I just love all that stuff
01:31:52
when of my friends said to me it's the
01:31:53
best chocolate I've ever had I don't
01:31:55
know is as well it's the
01:31:58
hand hey um Tony EST thank you so much
01:32:01
for your time today mate I've really
01:32:02
enjoyed it and um yeah congratulations
01:32:04
on an epic career and life and and
01:32:06
business hey thank you for having me
01:32:08
let's hope it keep keeps going on H oh
01:32:11
100% I'm sure it will cheers man great
