00:00:00
Oh, good. You're here. Come on. This is
00:00:03
the center of performance. Whenever
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there's a top performance in New
00:00:06
Zealand, it all comes from here. That's
00:00:08
Lisa Carrington. She's been doing that
00:00:10
for days. That's the boys who got the
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hole in one in to
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Finn. How's the performance going?
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>> Top tier.
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>> Nice. This is our generate room. In
00:00:21
here, you'll find our top performers
00:00:22
helping Kiwis maximize their Kiwi Saver
00:00:24
investments. Get in here, Finn.
00:00:26
Maximize. Generate. putting performance
00:00:29
first.
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>> Simon go, welcome to my podcast and
00:00:37
thank you for the book. Tom, it's pretty
00:00:39
awesome to be here. Is it you um you
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came in before and you said something
00:00:44
like um I know what your your game plan
00:00:46
is or something.
00:00:46
>> Yeah. Well, I know you make everybody
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cry. I've been listening to your
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podcast, mate. Come on.
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>> Are you um I don't make everyone cry.
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Are you are you an emotional guy in this
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stage?
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>> Well, I'm not telling you that until the
00:00:56
end. You'll find out.
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Um, it's great to have you here today.
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Have we met before? I don't know if
00:01:02
we've met before.
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>> I don't know, but you know, I've
00:01:03
obviously seen seen you um and listened
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to your podcast. When you get invited
00:01:08
on, you think you better do a bit of
00:01:09
research on the guy who's going to dive
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into you, so yeah, I think I know a
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little bit about you.
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>> Yeah. Well, this is going to be this is
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going to be a lot of fun. How how does
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the um the phrase celebrity chef sit
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with you?
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>> No, I don't really like it. I mean, it
00:01:22
gets used, but
00:01:25
it's
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Yeah. There's no way around it. But no,
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I'm not a big fan of it. You know, what
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does it mean? You know, just you lucked
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out and got on TV and some people don't
00:01:35
never want to be on TV, right? But, you
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know, I got asked and ended up doing it
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and here I am. You know,
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>> it it's funny, isn't it? Because I
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suppose when people hear the name Simon
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G, their reaction will be, oh, the
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Master Chef guy, or oh, the the Brisco
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guy. Um, but it's like that's both those
00:01:53
things are very very small strands of
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your entire career.
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>> Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, Master
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Chef, I was a judge on there for 5
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years, but out of that came other TV
00:02:04
programs. I did Chef on a Mission and
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Descent from Disaster, a documentary,
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and it opened up some amazing doors and
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then into documentaries on health. um
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where I was as as it turned I thought I
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was going to be the host but it turned
00:02:19
out I was the guinea pig but you know so
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then you know you end up on TV and then
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you sort of you go somewhere like you
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know it's been on BBC Asia or Amazon and
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people go oh you're that guy that you
00:02:32
know you're the celebrity chef
00:02:35
>> so what does day-to-day life look like
00:02:37
for you these days you're not you're not
00:02:39
in the day-to-day running of restaurants
00:02:40
are you
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>> not out of that normal hours
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Yeah, within reason. I mean, I still do
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cooking classes. I've got a deli in St.
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John's and then a smaller one out in
00:02:50
Tanini in Oakuckland. So, it's kind of
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like walking into a really cool kitchen
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that's a shop. So, through my
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restaurants years ago, I lived in Italy,
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came back to New Zealand, couldn't find
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these things that I wanted and started
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bringing them in. You soon realize you
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can't just bring one wheel of cheese or,
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you know, you got to bring a bunch. So
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by default I ended up in that business.
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So now I'm doing cooking classes in
00:03:18
there for those that want to do it.
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Corporates, you know, you get the the
00:03:21
CEO handstretching a pizza with his
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forklift driver and or just people
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public who want to come and learn how to
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cook Sri Lankan or master how to cook a
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steak, you know, and that that's my
00:03:32
game. So, it's kind of my restaurant fix
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cuz, you know, I miss the restaurants,
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you know, you know, lived and breathed
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them all my life since I left school.
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And I do miss that. It's good fun. But
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the the deli is that sort of, you know,
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it's like only do 10 people. So, it's
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like 10 people coming for dinner.
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>> They can bring their own wine.
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>> I cook. They come around and get in if
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they feel like getting their hands
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dirty. And it it's really good. And then
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I'm trying to do all of these things as
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quickly as possible like you are in a
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restaurant. You're sort of conducting an
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orchestra with all these meals going
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out. So it's full on and it's great fun.
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And it's that's my restaurant fix.
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>> You love the theater of it, don't you?
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>> I do.
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>> You like the drama of it.
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>> I I It's like I remember when I first
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thought I want to work in a restaurant.
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I want to own a restaurant. is when I
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was in a restaurant as a young kid and I
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saw the head chef and it was kind of
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like he was conducting this orchestra
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that culminated in these amazing plates
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of food and I'm like that's a bit of me.
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You know, you got a team around you that
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all work together in harmony and you got
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to be that guy conducting that
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orchestra. And I I do like that. I I
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love it and I love, you know, the
00:04:48
service. You know, they say the service
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time in a restaurant is where it all
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happens. You know, your early bookings
00:04:53
are late, your late bookings are early,
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everybody wants to eat at once, and it's
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all go and and it's just great fun.
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>> Yeah.
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>> What What do you miss most and least
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about the dayto-day of running a
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restaurant?
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>> Well, what do I the probably the hours?
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I mean, I'm a dad. I'm a single dad, so
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I've got a 12year-old daughter and you
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know that restaurants and being a dad is
00:05:21
pretty hard work. I mean, I I literally
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used to back in the day, uh, you know,
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I'd get my daughter off to preschool,
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race into work, do lunch service, come
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home, pick her up, get dinner organized,
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tuck her into bed, pay a nanny, go back
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to work, and one night I was driving
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home and the road, I live out South
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Oakland on a lifestyle property. I'm
00:05:43
driving home and yet again, road works,
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motorway detour, an extra 20 minutes.
00:05:50
And next morning I drove into work and I
00:05:52
said to my business partner, "Merry
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Christmas. Here's half a restaurant."
00:05:56
And it's the best thing I ever did. Best
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thing I ever did cuz I want to be
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remembered as a dad.
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>> Not and you know I'm an older dad. You
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know I didn't have my daughter until I
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was a bit older than most.
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>> 4950.
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>> Yep.
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>> Did you think that ship had sailed for
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you?
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>> Yes, I did. Yeah, I did. And then when
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she popped out, it was like somebody
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just reached out, flicked the switch and
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everything was different for me, you
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know, like now looking after her was the
00:06:25
service that I loved in a restaurant.
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There was something better, you know,
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>> this beautiful little girl who became,
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you know, my world. And, you know, do I
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want to be remembered as that guy that
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was always at work at night? I want to
00:06:42
be I want her to remember me as a dad,
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not that chef guy.
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>> I think one of the perks about being um
00:06:48
a dad um during middle age is you have a
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greater appreciation of time and how
00:06:52
limited it is and how it's not not
00:06:54
renewable. So you realize that these
00:06:55
moments that you lose with Hazel, that's
00:06:57
her name, mate. You're not going to get
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them back.
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>> No, it crystallizes just how important
00:07:01
that time is. coming back and you know
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even she's just turned 12 and you can
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see the changes and I go oh I used to
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get big hugs and all of those things you
00:07:10
know and they're sort of it's not so
00:07:12
cool now dropping off at school you
00:07:13
don't give dad a kiss goodbye you know
00:07:15
it's like somebody might see I got some
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photos of her here I'm guessing this is
00:07:20
the cuddle the cuddle phase it is yeah
00:07:22
you do have some photos well done yeah
00:07:25
so it's yeah it must be quite sad as a
00:07:28
dad when it gets to that stage where you
00:07:30
know you're no longer They're like a
00:07:32
hero. They're everything.
00:07:33
>> Yeah. Although this weekend that's just
00:07:36
gone by, she said to me, "Dad, I'd like
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to learn how to fly a glider." Cuz I fly
00:07:40
gliders and airplanes.
00:07:42
>> Well, that was like music to my ears
00:07:44
because I don't want to be that dad
00:07:46
who's going, "Come on, let's go and I'll
00:07:47
take you gliding. I'll take you flying
00:07:48
in an airplane, tip you upside down."
00:07:51
>> And when she turns around and says to
00:07:53
me, "I'd like to have a go at that." I
00:07:55
mean, that that put a smile on my face.
00:07:57
I mean, 12 years old and she's going,
00:07:58
"Can I learn how to fly a glider?" And
00:08:00
I'm like, "Hell yeah." You know, what
00:08:03
what an achievement that would be slowly
00:08:05
to catch that monkey and when she's old
00:08:07
enough to be able to fly solo on her
00:08:09
own.
00:08:10
>> So, the fact that she's interested in
00:08:12
something that I love
00:08:15
>> might be we'll see how we go, right?
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>> Yeah. You see, your your love of flying,
00:08:19
that's something you got from your dad.
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>> Yeah.
00:08:21
>> Um and I know you had a a particularly
00:08:24
close relationship with him. Um I've
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seen some Facebook posts and Yeah. Yeah,
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>> you just wrote some wonderful posts when
00:08:31
he passed last year. How how are you the
00:08:33
same and how are you different as a
00:08:34
parent to your dad?
00:08:36
>> Well, my dad's dad died when he was 7
00:08:39
years old. So, I believe I had an
00:08:42
awesome dad. I mean, you know, he spent
00:08:44
a lot of time with me growing up. He was
00:08:47
an airline pilot, originally an Air
00:08:49
Force pilot, but it later became an aim
00:08:51
pilot. So, and did the long distance to,
00:08:54
you know, the states and all over the
00:08:56
place. So, he was away a lot of the
00:08:58
time, but when he came back, he sure as
00:09:01
hell made up for it. If I'd been a dad
00:09:04
when I was younger, I think I would have
00:09:05
been pretty hopeless at it. But given it
00:09:08
happened to me at a bit older, you know,
00:09:12
I'm going all out to do a good job.
00:09:14
>> Why were you being hopeless at it? Just
00:09:16
too selfish?
00:09:17
>> Yeah, too busy. I lived in the
00:09:18
restaurants, so my my world was
00:09:20
restaurants, you know. I just love them.
00:09:22
So, I was there all day, every day. And
00:09:25
you know I loved it and yeah I don't
00:09:27
think I would have been very good at it.
00:09:30
Yes. So um if we go back to the
00:09:32
beginning so young Simon Gold it was
00:09:34
like a a career path roads. Um it was
00:09:36
either going to be cooking or flying.
00:09:38
Why why did cooking went out? I remember
00:09:41
talking to my dad about it. He said you
00:09:43
know if you go down the flying route
00:09:46
you're always going to be subject to
00:09:48
needing a medical. But if you do what
00:09:51
you love most as a hobby and maybe
00:09:54
second most as a career,
00:09:57
you can do both. So I I really did love
00:10:01
cooking more.
00:10:03
I love the idea of being a pilot, but
00:10:06
sitting on a flight deck for 12 hours
00:10:08
doing nothing didn't really appeal to
00:10:10
me. It was just a takeoff and landing
00:10:12
bit, and I like going upside down. So, I
00:10:15
thought I'm going to, you know, I'm
00:10:17
going to fly as a hobby and get into
00:10:20
cooking as a career. I'd probably be
00:10:23
somewhat better off if I'd gone the
00:10:25
flying track, but
00:10:27
>> Oh, really? Financially speaking,
00:10:29
>> really?
00:10:29
>> I think probably. Yeah. You know, chefs
00:10:31
don't get paid a lot of money. That's
00:10:33
why you've got really got to own your
00:10:34
own place and then really dig deep into
00:10:37
it and work out how you can make money
00:10:39
out of it. You know, it's not an easy
00:10:41
industry to make money. That's for sure.
00:10:43
Huh. Well, that's an astonishing thing
00:10:44
to hear because in terms of New Zealand,
00:10:46
like you you don't get much bigger than
00:10:48
Simon Gol in terms of name recognition,
00:10:50
I don't think in that industry.
00:10:52
>> I mean, I've done okay, but it was the
00:10:54
fact that we needed to have a bunch of
00:10:56
restaurants to get economy of scale,
00:10:59
>> which is, you know, the restaurants I
00:11:02
love most were, you know, my first
00:11:03
restaurant and probably my second
00:11:06
restaurant that where that only had one
00:11:08
restaurant, but in the end we had nine
00:11:10
that I was looking after. So, you know,
00:11:13
you you touch a lot of people, but you
00:11:15
don't really you're sort of putting out
00:11:17
fires all the time. You know, we were in
00:11:20
Queenstown, Wellington, Tao, and
00:11:22
Oakland. So, I was traveling a lot and
00:11:25
you're just going in to sort of put the
00:11:27
fires out and rescue things and not
00:11:29
cooking as much. So, I loved it and it,
00:11:33
you know, it did served me well. But um
00:11:37
you know I was very lucky and I had my
00:11:40
first restaurant when I was 22. But now
00:11:42
to buy a restaurant for these young
00:11:44
people. It's a hell of a lot harder.
00:11:47
>> You know it's you know borrowing money
00:11:49
is harder.
00:11:50
>> You know the cost to fit out a
00:11:52
restaurant's just massive now.
00:11:55
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I was quite shocked when I
00:11:57
found that out. So you started at 16 um
00:11:59
with um Tony Estel at his um legendary
00:12:03
Panel restaurant Antoine. I actually had
00:12:05
um Tony on the podcast about a year ago,
00:12:07
towards the end of last year.
00:12:08
>> He's the godfather.
00:12:09
>> Yeah. How um how was that? Did he throw
00:12:11
anything at you? Did he did he make you
00:12:13
bleed or cry? He talked himself up as a
00:12:15
as as a bad man in the kitchen.
00:12:18
>> Yeah, he's pretty tough. I think it
00:12:20
would be fair to say he makes Gordon
00:12:22
Ramsay look like a I remember the
00:12:25
well I went for an interview there
00:12:28
>> and all he wanted really to know is who
00:12:32
my parents voted for. And
00:12:36
so once I got that out of the way and I
00:12:38
clearly had the right answer, I was
00:12:39
offered an apprenticeship with Tony and
00:12:43
I'll never forget the first day I turned
00:12:45
up. He said, "Well, that you know, you
00:12:47
really got to be good at washing dishes.
00:12:49
So, I'm sending you down the road to
00:12:50
Louis Bar, which was in down the bottom
00:12:53
of Parnau Road above the Exchange
00:12:55
Tavern. And when I hear after 6 weeks
00:12:58
that you're the best kitchen hand in the
00:13:00
world, you can come back." So, that was
00:13:04
a bit of a let down cuz I thought I was
00:13:05
going to be cooking and conducting the
00:13:07
orchestra on day one, but no. Off to
00:13:10
wash dishes. And in actual fact, it was
00:13:12
the best thing that ever happened to me
00:13:13
cuz they are the most important person
00:13:15
in a kitchen. And if you can't do a good
00:13:17
job of that and be prepared to jump in
00:13:19
and help, then it's pretty hard to have
00:13:21
that orchestra firing on all cylinders.
00:13:24
So I did that and then finally it came
00:13:27
time that I was allowed into the
00:13:29
kitchen. One of the chefs said to me,
00:13:31
"Now when Tony comes in, you say good
00:13:33
morning chef." I'm like, "Yep, I can
00:13:36
manage that." So eventually Tony turned
00:13:38
up and I'm been set this task and it was
00:13:40
actually cutting some fish up for
00:13:42
something and he walks in and I say,
00:13:45
"Good morning, chef." All excited. It's
00:13:47
my first day. And he comes up and he
00:13:49
gets about that far away from me and
00:13:51
that's about an inch and says, "What?
00:13:53
What's so good about it?" Well,
00:13:57
that absolute You imagine I'm 16 years
00:14:00
old. I'm just out of school. That just
00:14:03
terrified me. I'd been totally set up.
00:14:05
He didn't like being called chef at all.
00:14:09
He he was Tony or Louie. And um he was a
00:14:14
hard taskmaster, but he was a
00:14:15
perfectionist. And
00:14:18
you know, it was really a privilege to
00:14:20
work for him. There were times that
00:14:22
there were tears. I remember one day I
00:14:24
cut a piece of I fillet for a steak tar
00:14:28
dish and I was in the back kitchen where
00:14:30
we did the duck and the soulets and the
00:14:32
vegetables and passed things through to
00:14:35
the front kitchen where Tony was and I
00:14:37
cut this piece of eye full put it on
00:14:39
this little silver tray and I passed it
00:14:41
through to the front kitchen thinking
00:14:43
job done well done Simon. Next thing you
00:14:45
know I out the corner of my eye I
00:14:47
realized that this thing was airborne
00:14:48
and it was heading my direction. Well, I
00:14:51
took about three steps back and caught
00:14:53
it underarm. Good cricketing skills. And
00:14:57
next thing I know, he's coming around
00:14:59
from the front kitchen round to the back
00:15:01
kitchen, grabs it off me, and throws it
00:15:03
at me again. I definitely didn't catch
00:15:06
it on the second attempt. The moral of
00:15:08
the story is don't cut the steak the
00:15:11
wrong size. Yeah, he was just a
00:15:14
perfectionist in every angle. But, you
00:15:16
know, he was like dad and his wife Beth,
00:15:20
uh, ex hairdresser, she was mom.
00:15:23
>> She she used to cut all our hair.
00:15:25
>> Um, she'd pick the bits up at the end of
00:15:28
the night after we'd been yelled at,
00:15:29
screamed at, or told off and bring us
00:15:32
all back together. you know, Christmas
00:15:34
Day, we were always open for lunch, but
00:15:36
we all stayed behind and there were
00:15:38
presents and,
00:15:40
>> you know, it was an incredible family
00:15:42
environment and he was an incredible
00:15:45
mentor and to this day a a great friend.
00:15:48
So, I'm so grateful for that start cuz I
00:15:51
was working in the best place in town,
00:15:54
>> you know.
00:15:55
>> Yeah, we had a um it was a wonderful
00:15:57
podcast actually. He um he's a tough nut
00:15:59
to crack. Um, but I think we got there
00:16:01
towards the end when he was talking
00:16:03
about the passing of his wife Beth and
00:16:04
how he still sometimes wanders around
00:16:06
the house and talks to photos of her. It
00:16:08
was really sad.
00:16:09
>> Yeah.
00:16:09
>> Um,
00:16:10
>> she was a beautiful lady. Beautiful.
00:16:12
>> She passed away and then he shut the
00:16:13
restaurant like shortly after that. It
00:16:15
was And that restaurant was like their
00:16:17
child. It was his It was his life. Eh.
00:16:19
>> Yep. He'd be there all day every day. I
00:16:22
mean, I worked there for 3 years and I
00:16:23
could count on one hand the services
00:16:26
that Tony wasn't there. And Beth was in
00:16:29
there every morning cleaning the
00:16:32
restaurant, doing the flowers, going
00:16:35
home, coming back in the evening,
00:16:36
sitting down at the table with a glass
00:16:39
of port at the end of the night, doing
00:16:41
the cash up, and we'd go and sit with
00:16:43
her. I mean, just incredible people. on
00:16:46
the opportunities that came out of that.
00:16:48
You know, I remember one day Tony came
00:16:50
out to the kitchen and we're just
00:16:51
cleaning up and when Elton John was in
00:16:54
town, he always wanted he din there
00:16:56
pretty much every night and he said, "Do
00:16:58
you want to come and meet Elton John?"
00:17:00
And the next thing you know, I'm sitting
00:17:02
next to Elton John in the restaurant
00:17:03
chatting to him about gliding. he was
00:17:06
really interested in gliding and um you
00:17:09
know next thing you know it's 3:00 in
00:17:10
the morning and then that week I went to
00:17:14
the concert and I'm telling all my mates
00:17:15
I was sitting having a drink with Elton
00:17:17
John the other night and they're like
00:17:18
yeah you're right but you know I really
00:17:21
was and you know Tony was very good at
00:17:27
all sorts of things like so what are you
00:17:29
doing with your money you know all your
00:17:31
friends are out in the weekends but you
00:17:33
have to work every night so you're
00:17:35
saving your money.
00:17:37
Give it to me. I'll invest it for you.
00:17:39
So he he invested Bryley shares for me.
00:17:42
He bought Taylor's 77 port. By the time
00:17:46
I finished my apprentichip, I had a
00:17:47
bunch of Brley shares and it was all
00:17:49
this Taylor's 77 port. And let me tell
00:17:51
you, that was a good investment. I mean,
00:17:53
I think I used to pay about $37 a bottle
00:17:56
for this Taylor's 77 port, the best port
00:17:59
of the century. And when I opened my
00:18:01
first restaurant, I was selling it in a
00:18:03
little glass for $25 a glass. So it was
00:18:06
a and be worth a little bit more now.
00:18:09
I've got about two bottles left, I
00:18:10
think.
00:18:11
>> Wow. Um yeah, that sort of style, the
00:18:14
Tony style. I feel like you couldn't get
00:18:15
away with it now in in 2025. It would be
00:18:18
called bullying or
00:18:19
>> workplace harassment or something. But
00:18:21
did did you did you take that into your
00:18:23
shifting style? Like were you tough on
00:18:25
your staff? I remember always thinking,
00:18:28
I'll never be like that. I'll always be
00:18:29
the nice guy. Well, when you first open
00:18:32
your first restaurant and there's no
00:18:35
money and you're working every hour
00:18:38
under the sun, you run out of patience
00:18:41
to go over and listen, dear. That's not
00:18:43
how you do it. You don't have time.
00:18:45
You're in the middle of service. It's
00:18:46
all rock and roll. So, yeah, I probably
00:18:50
picked up a few of Tony's traits.
00:18:55
You got to do what you got to do, I
00:18:56
guess. I actually I I yeah, we'll jump
00:18:58
around a bit here, but um this was I
00:19:01
believe when you're in Euro, which was
00:19:02
um a fine dining restaurant on um on um
00:19:05
Oakland's Harour. Um if if if a customer
00:19:08
complained about a meal, you'd get the
00:19:09
chef from the kitchen and bring them
00:19:10
over to the table and make them
00:19:11
apologize.
00:19:13
>> Well, they got to learn, right? You
00:19:15
know, it's one team, but we got to own a
00:19:19
mistake. You know, like if we stuff up,
00:19:22
you got to own it and try and fix it.
00:19:24
Because once they walk out the door and
00:19:27
they tell all their mates how bad it
00:19:29
was, if it was bad, you have that
00:19:33
opportunity. If they declare this issue
00:19:35
in the restaurant, go out and I'll tell
00:19:36
you what, if a chef comes out and says,
00:19:38
"I'm the one who made it. I'm really
00:19:40
sorry about that. What can we do to fix
00:19:43
this?" and hopefully they've already got
00:19:45
a solution. They walk out the door and
00:19:47
tell that story and that's a hell of a
00:19:49
lot better story than the steak was
00:19:51
overcooked or whatever it was. Right.
00:19:54
>> That's smart.
00:19:56
So, owning your own restaurant at 22,
00:19:57
did you were you able to do that with um
00:19:59
the money that you made through the
00:20:00
investments that you talked about
00:20:01
before?
00:20:02
>> Yeah. So, when I finished my
00:20:03
apprentichip, I went to England to work
00:20:06
and started in London and then moved out
00:20:10
of London. and I worked at a a
00:20:11
restaurant called Leath which was you
00:20:13
know top top restaurant in London at the
00:20:16
time and then went and did a head chef's
00:20:18
job when I should never have done it. Uh
00:20:22
I remember in the interview they said to
00:20:23
me um have you have you catered any
00:20:25
weddings?
00:20:27
And I said yep. I've never been to a
00:20:29
wedding let alone cater one. Had I done
00:20:32
buffets? Yeah. Well, we'd done a buffet
00:20:34
at tech when I went to tech, but I'd
00:20:36
never really done a buffet and I bluffed
00:20:39
my way into this job and I got the job
00:20:41
anyway. And then I worked in a castle,
00:20:43
Thornbury Castle, which was incredible.
00:20:46
But what you did back then is you bought
00:20:48
a car back to New Zealand if you had
00:20:50
some money. So, fortunately, the Bryley
00:20:52
shares thanks to, you know, Tony AOL had
00:20:55
gone up and I had enough money to bring
00:20:57
a Porsche 911 back to New Zealand
00:21:00
thinking I was pretty cool by the way.
00:21:02
And that was sold and that got me the
00:21:06
money to get into the restaurant with a
00:21:08
bit of help from my mom and dad.
00:21:10
>> It's an absurd thought now. E like from
00:21:12
the position of where you are now in the
00:21:13
stage in life like a man in his early
00:21:15
60s like a 22-y old opening a
00:21:17
restaurant. It's just it's crazy, right?
00:21:19
>> Yeah. Unthinkable. I probably in
00:21:21
hindsight should have worked in more
00:21:23
places. So I had to sort of do a lot of
00:21:25
self-learning after
00:21:27
>> after that cuz I'd only really worked in
00:21:30
four restaurants
00:21:32
and you know there was a lot of learning
00:21:35
along the way. I used to go and whenever
00:21:38
I could get away I would go to the
00:21:41
culinary institute of America and do
00:21:43
week courses or go and work in other
00:21:45
restaurants around the world to keep
00:21:48
learning. But once you got a restaurant,
00:21:50
you're in and you know that's where your
00:21:52
head's got to be.
00:21:54
>> Was that a success?
00:21:55
>> Was. Yeah, it was a good good
00:21:57
restaurant. Took it was a little old
00:21:59
house built in 1851 out in the Howit
00:22:01
Colonial Village at a gravel road to it,
00:22:04
but it was a cool restaurant
00:22:06
>> and it took a while to get noticed. It
00:22:08
was a real struggle to start off with.
00:22:12
And then somebody said I should start
00:22:13
entering cooking competitions and that
00:22:16
would help me get my name out there. So
00:22:18
I did that and fortunately I managed to
00:22:20
win them the competitions and suddenly
00:22:23
we started to get a bit of a name for
00:22:25
ourselves and then people came out and
00:22:28
>> you know some really cool interesting
00:22:30
customers who were great at spreading
00:22:32
the word and then we became sort of the
00:22:34
the hottest. It was back in the day of
00:22:37
fine dining restaurants. We were a fine
00:22:38
dining restaurant and yeah it was a it
00:22:42
was a good success. Yeah. M. So that was
00:22:44
like 394 years ago. When you when you
00:22:46
when you look back and think about that
00:22:49
version of Simon Gol, how how are you
00:22:50
the same and how are you different to
00:22:52
that kid?
00:22:54
>> I don't think I've changed. You know,
00:22:56
I'm not scared of taking a risk, but now
00:22:59
I'm
00:23:01
somewhat more nervous cuz I don't have a
00:23:03
you know, your time's limited.
00:23:05
>> Time is limited and you
00:23:08
>> Yeah. I don't need to lose anymore. I've
00:23:10
done my fair share of losing over the
00:23:12
years with different things I've punted
00:23:14
on and have not worked.
00:23:17
>> Um, you've mentioned some of the
00:23:19
overseas experiences you've had. I've
00:23:21
got a card here called Bits and Pieces
00:23:22
um, which sort of focuses on this. These
00:23:24
are just some random sort of things. So,
00:23:26
you worked as a um, a private chef for
00:23:28
one of the world's wealthiest people.
00:23:29
Can can you can you talk about that or
00:23:31
is that an NDA scenario? I
00:23:34
>> I can talk about it to a certain extent.
00:23:36
>> Who was it? Can you say who it was or
00:23:37
no? Yeah. He's the second wealthiest
00:23:39
person in the world at the time.
00:23:40
>> He was. Yeah. And when I first I I
00:23:43
wanted to work on a super yacht. So I
00:23:45
applied to an agency in Fort Lauderdale
00:23:48
and before you knew it, I was doing a
00:23:50
phone interview with the chief
00:23:52
stewardess from this big boat and a lot
00:23:54
of questions and this went on for a
00:23:56
couple of weeks until finally they, you
00:23:59
know, submitted some sample menus and
00:24:01
things and they said, "We're down to the
00:24:03
final seven chefs. we'd like you to fly
00:24:06
to San Francisco and cook a lunch and a
00:24:08
dinner for the owner. I still had no
00:24:12
idea who the person was. So, I thought,
00:24:16
why not got to go and do that? They
00:24:18
actually said to me, you'll need to pay
00:24:20
for your own ticket, but we'll refund
00:24:21
you when you get there. And I thought,
00:24:23
what have I got to lose? Let's go and do
00:24:24
it. So, I went and did it. And I was
00:24:27
given a list of all the foods that he
00:24:30
definitely didn't like. And I thought,
00:24:32
wow, you know, these other sick chefs,
00:24:35
what are they going to do? I thought,
00:24:36
oh, they'll probably use truffles this
00:24:38
and fagra that, and you know, they'll
00:24:40
try and show off with all the expensive
00:24:43
stuff. So, I looked at his list and
00:24:44
thought, well, he doesn't like broccoli.
00:24:46
I can make a really good broccoli pesto
00:24:48
and all these different things. So, I
00:24:50
decided to go completely the other angle
00:24:52
and use some of the things he didn't
00:24:55
like, keep it quite kiwi and not super
00:24:58
super flash. I knew he loved Japanese
00:25:02
food. So that that was part of the
00:25:04
brief. And I fortunately had employed a
00:25:07
Japanese chef in my restaurant, Golong
00:25:09
Key down on the vioideuct for me to
00:25:11
learn about cooking Japanese food. She
00:25:14
did all the staff meals. So I had a bit
00:25:16
of a clue about Japanese food. So I did
00:25:19
this lunch and dinner. Anyway, I got the
00:25:21
job and it turned out to be a guy called
00:25:23
Larry Ellison from Oracle.
00:25:25
>> Oh wow. And Larry,
00:25:29
you didn't know about Larry in New
00:25:31
Zealand at that time. And anyway, I came
00:25:34
back to New Zealand and I rang a friend
00:25:36
of mine, Robbie Naymith, who had sailed
00:25:38
for, you know, the Sydney Hobart with
00:25:41
Larry and I said, "What's this guy
00:25:43
like?" And he says, "Great. Just don't
00:25:44
cook him a bad meal." You know, and he
00:25:47
said, "Just treat him like one of the
00:25:48
boys." And um yeah, so I went back and I
00:25:52
remember the first day I went back and
00:25:54
the the captain picked me up from the
00:25:56
airport and said, "Right, well, you
00:25:58
better get shopping because he's hopping
00:25:59
on with a journalist tonight. We're
00:26:01
doing a bay cruise, picking up from the
00:26:03
San Francisco yacht club, Bay Cruise. He
00:26:06
wants like a six course dinner and then
00:26:08
11:00 she's hopping off. The family's
00:26:10
hopping on and we're going sailing for 3
00:26:12
days. And by the way, you know, you
00:26:14
know, you're cooking for all the crew as
00:26:16
well." So it was just me in this this
00:26:19
tiny galley and I cooked the you know
00:26:23
got got busy in a big hurry and at the
00:26:25
end of the um the evening the chief
00:26:28
steward said you know Larry would like
00:26:30
to meet you properly and I thought this
00:26:32
would be interesting. She said he
00:26:33
doesn't normally ask for the chef to go
00:26:35
out. Okay. So anyway I get out there and
00:26:38
he said how are you? And I remember
00:26:40
exactly what I said. I said well I'm
00:26:41
I've just flown halfway around
00:26:43
the world and cooked you dinner.
00:26:45
And I could see the look on the chief
00:26:47
stewist is like, "That's it. You're
00:26:49
done. That was the shortest job in
00:26:51
history." Anyway, Larry says, "Pull up a
00:26:54
seat." And within 5 minutes, we're
00:26:57
talking about airplanes cuz he loves
00:26:59
flying airplanes. He has a whole bunch
00:27:00
of airplanes. Yeah, I could talk to you
00:27:02
all day about that. But yeah, this is
00:27:04
one of the best jobs I've ever had in my
00:27:06
life. It was incredible.
00:27:07
>> What What year was this? I feel like in
00:27:08
he's a big deal now. like um he he's on
00:27:10
the phone each week to Russell Coots
00:27:12
with Sale GP stuff, but I feel like in
00:27:14
New Zealand um we sort of first became
00:27:16
aware of Larry and Oracle during the
00:27:18
America's Cup.
00:27:19
>> Yeah. So it was about 2001, but he
00:27:22
wasn't in the America's Cup at that
00:27:24
stage.
00:27:25
>> Um so
00:27:27
>> Wow.
00:27:28
>> Yeah.
00:27:29
>> Good dude. Much to do with him.
00:27:31
>> Awesome guy. Yeah, you got to see him
00:27:33
cuz I ended up cooking at his house and
00:27:35
on the boat. So, that was a a pretty
00:27:39
cool gig. Uh, it was amazing. I remember
00:27:42
one day I'm cooking at the house and he
00:27:43
comes into the kitchen halfway through
00:27:45
lunch and says, "You're going flying
00:27:47
this afternoon." I'm like, "Who's
00:27:49
cooking your dinner?" He said, "Ah,
00:27:50
we'll worry about that later." And uh,
00:27:53
so I turn up out at the airport and the
00:27:57
pilot's there and he opens the hanger
00:27:59
doors and you could I was in my chef's
00:28:00
jacket and you could see, "Oh god, I got
00:28:02
to take the cook for a fly." And this is
00:28:05
quite funny really. So he opens up and
00:28:07
there's all these cool airplanes in
00:28:09
there. And he says, you know, what do
00:28:10
you want to go for a fly in? And there
00:28:12
was there was a jet fighter, there was a
00:28:16
um a pit special, there was a Palatus
00:28:19
PC7, which is a turbine rocket ship that
00:28:23
military air forces around the world
00:28:25
used to train their pilots. And I said,
00:28:28
"Oh, I've flown I used to own a pit
00:28:30
special cuz I'd had one previously."
00:28:35
And I said, "But I'd like to go in
00:28:36
that." You could see him sort of, "Okay,
00:28:38
well, you fly. If you can fly a pit
00:28:40
special, then you must be reasonable
00:28:41
because that's a high performance
00:28:43
aerobatic airplane." So he briefed me
00:28:46
on, you know, getting rid of the canopy
00:28:47
and said, "You can sit in the front."
00:28:49
And anyway, we go for a fly and
00:28:53
talks me about it all. I'd never flown a
00:28:55
turbine airplane before, so this thing
00:28:57
was a rocket ship. Anyway, I'm sitting
00:28:59
in the front and take off. Have to stay
00:29:01
low cuz it's very close to San Francisco
00:29:03
airport. fly out to this place called
00:29:04
Half Moon Bay to do some arerobatics.
00:29:07
Cuz obviously I'm an arerobatic pilot,
00:29:10
having owned a pit special. And he said,
00:29:12
"Oh, show me some arerobatics." So I was
00:29:13
just sort of getting a feel for it. Um
00:29:16
flying it around and this guy in the
00:29:18
back was getting a little impatient
00:29:21
and he said, "Do you want me to do some
00:29:23
arerobatics?" And I'm like, "Okay." So
00:29:26
anyway, I thought, "Bugger you." So, I
00:29:28
pointed the thing at the ground, got
00:29:30
some speed up, pulled up vertically, did
00:29:32
a vertical roll on the way up, stall
00:29:34
turn over the top. He never told me
00:29:36
you're not supposed to do stall turns in
00:29:37
a turbine, and then a vertical roll on
00:29:40
the way down, and all I can hear from
00:29:41
the back seat is, "FUCK."
00:29:45
We became very good friends. Larry comes
00:29:48
into the kitchen that evening, big smile
00:29:50
on his face, saying, "I hear you're
00:29:52
quite good at arerobatics."
00:29:54
And he said, "You can have an hour a
00:29:55
week in it. go fly it an hour a week.
00:29:58
And that was great. That was like, you
00:30:00
know, million multi-million dollar
00:30:02
airplane that I was having a play in
00:30:05
with um courtesy of Larry. He was
00:30:07
amazing guy. I mean, he loved food. The
00:30:10
only thing that he ever decided what he
00:30:12
was having was breakfast. Real food. He
00:30:15
loved Japanese food. Uh
00:30:19
I I really enjoyed it. you know, we'd go
00:30:21
to somewhere like uh Alaska or um you
00:30:25
know, all these crazy places, Mexico,
00:30:27
and so the first thing I'd do is get
00:30:28
into a hotel and try and learn the local
00:30:30
cuisine and overnight, which is pretty
00:30:33
hard to do. Then Larry would turn up and
00:30:35
I'd do my version of it. So, yeah,
00:30:38
awesome, awesome guy to work for. You
00:30:40
probably only ever cook him one bad
00:30:42
meal. I guess he's a hard taskmaster.
00:30:44
You know, we you hear about him with the
00:30:46
sailing and things, you know, he doesn't
00:30:47
like losing. He likes winning. And I
00:30:50
remember one day we were in Bora Bora
00:30:52
and it was going to be a challenge
00:30:54
between the guests and the crew were
00:30:56
these outrigger races and you know this
00:31:00
young crew of all these fat guys except
00:31:02
for the chef right super fit guys. I
00:31:05
thought well cream Larry and his old
00:31:07
boys. Well not with Larry mate. He had
00:31:10
it all worked out. They creamed us. You
00:31:13
know Larry and his old mates just nailed
00:31:16
us.
00:31:17
>> So yeah he's in his 70s now. He still
00:31:19
looks amazing though, eh?
00:31:21
>> It's incredible. When you've got
00:31:22
opportunities to do things like that,
00:31:24
why would you want to bother like owning
00:31:25
your own business, owning your own
00:31:27
thing, your own restaurant?
00:31:27
>> Well, your life's on hold when you're,
00:31:29
you know, floating around on a boat and
00:31:31
you, you know, one day you're on the
00:31:32
boat, the next day you're at his house.
00:31:34
I mean, terrible.
00:31:36
>> It's cool at the time. I mean, it's
00:31:38
amazing,
00:31:39
>> but it's, you know, it's fullon hard
00:31:41
work that, you know, there's very little
00:31:43
time off. I loved it and but your life's
00:31:47
on hold and I wanted to get back and get
00:31:51
my own restaurant again.
00:31:53
>> So, I've got a bunch of names here. Um,
00:31:55
according to the internet, these are
00:31:57
celebrities you've cooked for. So, we'll
00:31:58
we'll get these names out there and
00:31:59
we'll see if there's a story behind them
00:32:01
or not. Um, Bill Clinton,
00:32:05
>> don't know if I can tell, can I tell
00:32:08
you? Time's passed. But Bill Bill
00:32:10
Clinton was coming to the boat and we
00:32:13
were um supposed to be he was going to
00:32:16
be on board and got a list of all the
00:32:19
things that he liked as well. So I was
00:32:21
definitely not going to do what he
00:32:22
didn't like. Anyway, uh he never turned
00:32:26
up. It didn't turn up. So that was a
00:32:30
that's as short as that story goes.
00:32:33
Well,
00:32:33
>> that was a dead end. Okay. Um MJ Michael
00:32:35
Jackson.
00:32:36
>> No, haven't cooked for Michael Jackson.
00:32:39
Bono.
00:32:40
>> Bono? Not that I can recall. No.
00:32:43
>> Tiger Woods.
00:32:44
>> No.
00:32:45
>> Tom Cruz.
00:32:46
>> No.
00:32:47
>> Really?
00:32:47
>> No. Sorry.
00:32:48
>> The internet has got this very wrong.
00:32:49
>> Really? Have you been using chat GPT?
00:32:51
>> You may have been chat GPT. I tried
00:32:54
numerous sources. You never know what
00:32:55
you're going to get. Is there any names
00:32:57
that you can drop?
00:32:59
>> Oh, there's loads of names. I can't even
00:33:01
really talk before from Antoons. Was a
00:33:03
great story.
00:33:04
>> Elton John's pretty cool. Um, I worked
00:33:06
for Simon Fuller. Well, didn't work for
00:33:09
him. I had sold my restaurant on the VA
00:33:12
when we won the America's Cup and was
00:33:14
asked to cook on a super yacht in the
00:33:16
Bay of Islands for 5 days. And this guy
00:33:19
got on, didn't know who he was. And then
00:33:21
somebody said to me, you know, he
00:33:23
manages the Spice Girls. And anyway, he
00:33:26
was the same age as me. We got on really
00:33:28
well that did this 5 days cooking. And
00:33:29
then he said, I'm having a tax year out
00:33:31
from the UK. do you want to come and
00:33:32
have a holiday in the UK in Italy? He's
00:33:35
going to Italy for a year. Would I like
00:33:37
to go and have a holiday? And I was
00:33:39
like, yep, that was pretty quick. So I
00:33:41
went over there. So that was a pretty
00:33:43
cool experience, you know. You know, he
00:33:46
managed the Spice Girls, Annie Lennox,
00:33:48
Steve McManam, the famous soccer player,
00:33:51
Liverpool soccer player. So that that
00:33:54
opened some doors. And you know, Simon
00:33:56
Fuller just the greatest guy ever. You
00:33:58
know, you sort of hear of all these pop
00:34:01
idols and things and managers. You hear
00:34:04
about drugs. You know, Simon couldn't be
00:34:06
further from that.
00:34:08
>> You know, this absolute gentleman. You
00:34:09
never see him in the media. That's
00:34:11
probably why Chat GPT isn't linked me to
00:34:13
him. But that was an incredible year
00:34:16
where I, you know, there was a chef in
00:34:19
every villa that we stayed at for the
00:34:21
year who I would just learn from and go
00:34:24
shopping with and point at things cuz my
00:34:26
Italian was no good. and you know come
00:34:29
home, watch them cook it and that was
00:34:31
just an incredible year. And there were
00:34:32
some pretty cool people that came and
00:34:35
stayed with us through that year which I
00:34:39
thoroughly enjoyed.
00:34:40
>> Oh, like well known people.
00:34:45
>> What's your next question? Like
00:34:47
>> I'm not a name dropper, you know. I
00:34:49
thought I did pretty good with El and
00:34:51
John.
00:34:51
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And the Larry Ellison
00:34:53
stuff was good. What is it? Is it just
00:34:55
um Yeah. Is is it like an unspoken code
00:34:59
that you just don't talk about these
00:35:01
things or
00:35:01
>> Well, also I've forgotten. I mean, we
00:35:03
had the guy who was Captain Kirk into my
00:35:06
last restaurant. Oh, William Shatner.
00:35:08
>> Yeah. William Shatner. I just forget
00:35:10
their names. You know, we've had lots of
00:35:12
people over the years. You know, when we
00:35:14
were at Antoine's, there was royalty
00:35:16
that came in. I'll never forget doing um
00:35:20
Sir Michael Fay's wedding on Mercury
00:35:22
Island with Tony Estol. Wow.
00:35:24
>> Sorry, not his wedding. He did his
00:35:26
wedding at his home, but we did his a
00:35:28
big birthday party for all them him over
00:35:30
there and it was like a whole Mash
00:35:32
theme.
00:35:33
>> Uh just like on MASH, you know, the TV
00:35:35
program. So, you know, I've been very
00:35:38
lucky over the years to cook for some
00:35:41
amazing people. But for me, everybody's
00:35:43
amazing that comes in. You know, my job
00:35:45
is to put a smile on their face, put my
00:35:47
heart on a plate, and let them dissect
00:35:49
it. and hopefully they walk out going,
00:35:51
"That was pretty bloody awesome."
00:35:55
>> Um, I suppose on the the uh the other
00:35:57
end of that spectrum, um, an amazing
00:35:58
experience, but nothing glamorous about
00:36:00
it at all. Um, I think this was just for
00:36:02
a TV show. You spent time on um like a
00:36:05
gas rig, Maui, which is like 56ks off
00:36:09
the coast of Tatanaki. Um, yeah. Yeah.
00:36:12
What's that like? Well, the most
00:36:13
terrifying thing was doing the training
00:36:16
in the helicopter in the pool for it.
00:36:19
You know, if you went down in the
00:36:20
helicopter going out, you have to do all
00:36:22
these things before they let you on the
00:36:24
gap gas platform. I've never had anxiety
00:36:28
like it in my life. And if I think back,
00:36:32
you know, I just I'd built myself up to
00:36:34
this massive terror about being strapped
00:36:37
into this helicopter that went into the
00:36:39
water, then was tipped upside down, and
00:36:41
you had to escape. You had to stay in
00:36:43
the seat for x amount of seconds and
00:36:46
escape. So that was bloody terrifying at
00:36:50
the time, but when I look back on, what
00:36:52
was I so bloody worried about? You know,
00:36:54
>> and then we went out to the gas
00:36:56
platform. It was for a TV series called
00:36:59
Chef on a Mission. So I did I was, you
00:37:02
know, fantastic um on Bendigo High
00:37:04
Country Sheep Station on one of the
00:37:06
episodes. I was the last person to
00:37:09
interview Shrek, you know, the sheep.
00:37:11
>> Sheep.
00:37:12
>> Yeah. Before he passed away. Um, but you
00:37:17
know that that was exciting out on the
00:37:19
Maui gas platform because I had to cook
00:37:22
for all these guys and they didn't think
00:37:26
much of a celebrity chef. Let me tell
00:37:28
you, you know, they're hard asses, these
00:37:30
boys that work out on these gas
00:37:32
platforms. So, it was no big deal that a
00:37:35
celebrity chef had come along. That's
00:37:37
why I hate that word celebrity chef. So,
00:37:38
they were a tough audience. So, I had to
00:37:42
get out there and do things on the gas
00:37:44
platform. The weather was atrocious and
00:37:47
we were down there and I was doing this
00:37:49
welding underneath the gas platform and
00:37:51
I assisted with painting on deck and
00:37:53
then had to get into the kitchen and
00:37:55
cook and they had an assistant for me.
00:37:58
Well, he got so sick he was next to
00:38:01
useless he was didn't even come out of
00:38:03
his room.
00:38:05
So, uh yeah, and we went out. Another
00:38:08
one I did was out on a telly's fishing
00:38:11
troller. Same sort of audience. tough to
00:38:14
please. Did a girl's boarding school.
00:38:17
They were easier to please. Went to
00:38:19
police college. Did all the things you
00:38:21
do at police college. Had to do the
00:38:23
swimming in the pool. Swim down, get the
00:38:25
brick and get in and fight with the
00:38:28
batons and go out on on the patrol in a
00:38:32
police car. I remember the guy on the
00:38:34
first night. He said to me, "Oh, it's a
00:38:35
Tuesday night. Be pretty quiet with the
00:38:37
minutes. We had the siren going. We're
00:38:39
off to Pora. This guy wanted to kill us
00:38:41
with a golf club he had at the garage.
00:38:43
He was on drugs and Yeah, that was that
00:38:47
was that was a fun thing to do. You've
00:38:51
lived so many lives, eh?
00:38:52
>> Yeah, I've been I've been lucky.
00:38:54
>> You've done a lot.
00:38:54
>> Yeah. Yeah, I have been lucky with Yeah.
00:38:57
>> So, Euro on Oakland's waterfront. Um,
00:39:00
very very successful restaurant. So, um,
00:39:03
what's the story with that? So, a good
00:39:05
mate of mine, Leo Mallaloy, it's his
00:39:07
restaurant.
00:39:07
>> Leo's restaurant. Yeah. So he he opens
00:39:09
it and he hires you as the as the chef.
00:39:12
Yes,
00:39:12
>> it's important. He he pumped a lot of
00:39:14
money into it, like over a million bucks
00:39:15
at the time, which is a huge amount. So
00:39:17
you need a good chef.
00:39:18
>> Um, was that the first time you met him?
00:39:22
>> That was the first time I met him. Yes.
00:39:24
He he asked me if I'd like to go and
00:39:26
open this restaurant with him and,
00:39:29
you know, do a year's contract.
00:39:32
>> What did you know about him?
00:39:33
>> Not Not much at all. Nothing at all. and
00:39:37
I didn't want to do the job. I'd sort of
00:39:39
had a restaurant down in the vioaduct
00:39:41
and I was like, "No, I'm not really
00:39:42
interested." I kind of thought it was
00:39:43
like reheating the soule. I've been
00:39:45
there and done the waterfront. And he
00:39:47
kept pestering me and pestering me and
00:39:49
finally invited me to a lunch and I
00:39:51
turned up to this lunch and just Leo and
00:39:53
all these hot birds. And I'm okay, you
00:39:57
know, this is not too bad. You know, he
00:39:58
was seemed quite a character. And I
00:40:01
never forget cuz I'd only recently come
00:40:03
back from being overseas
00:40:05
and
00:40:07
I'm sitting next to this girl. I said,
00:40:08
"What do you do?" And she says, "It was
00:40:10
April her." And it was the dumbest thing
00:40:13
to say cuz she, you know, she was
00:40:14
famous.
00:40:15
>> Yes. Sports presenter, former net
00:40:17
baller.
00:40:17
>> Yeah. Yeah. Like quite somewhat more
00:40:20
famous than I'd ever be. And so that was
00:40:23
all a bit of humor. But anyway, he kept
00:40:25
offering more and more until finally I
00:40:26
said, "Yes, this is too good to be true
00:40:28
really." And the great the thing that
00:40:31
really appealed to me is that he said,
00:40:33
"Look, let's do all this wood cooking."
00:40:35
So I went off to Texas to find the best
00:40:40
wood grilling, cooking, rotisseries that
00:40:43
you could. And that was pretty exciting.
00:40:45
And the toilets at Euro were the big
00:40:47
talk of the town. You know, Leo is has a
00:40:51
great vision. He's very good. You know,
00:40:55
he's crazy as well. He's absolutely
00:40:57
nuts. Yeah, he's bonkers, but he is a
00:41:00
very clever guy.
00:41:02
>> I, you know, high respect for him and,
00:41:06
>> you know, he could dial it down
00:41:08
sometimes. But I enjoyed my year there
00:41:12
with Leo. It was good.
00:41:15
>> Yes, we we've been mates for over three
00:41:16
decades. I I got to know him just in
00:41:18
Palmer North when he just opened his
00:41:20
first place, The Fat Lady's Arms. So,
00:41:21
and we've been friends ever since then.
00:41:23
He's one of those friends I I often have
00:41:25
to justify my relationship with him to
00:41:27
people.
00:41:28
>> Yeah.
00:41:28
>> But he's one of the most loyal people
00:41:30
you could ever meet.
00:41:30
>> He is. And a lot of people say to me,
00:41:32
"What was he like to work for?" And I
00:41:34
remember early on we were shortly about
00:41:37
just about to open. And he threw his
00:41:40
toys out of the cop big time. And I
00:41:42
said, "Well, go find another chef." And
00:41:44
I started walking off down the down the
00:41:46
warf. And Leo will hate hearing this
00:41:48
story if he listens to this, but he came
00:41:50
running after me. And I never had a
00:41:52
problem with Leo from that day onwards.
00:41:55
He, you know, the
00:41:56
>> the benchmark was set and I loved what I
00:41:59
did for Leo. And you know, he is
00:42:01
creative. He gave me a Donna Haybook and
00:42:04
said, "This is the sort of food I want."
00:42:06
I'm like, "Okay, I could, you know, he's
00:42:08
he's the guy paying the bills, right?"
00:42:10
>> And you know, after years, I ended up
00:42:12
being a shareholder in Euro. And after
00:42:15
Leo sold it and, you know, that's a
00:42:17
whole another story. and was involved
00:42:19
with Euro for years.
00:42:22
>> Yeah. According to the internet, uh
00:42:23
turnover at Euro was like $6 to7 million
00:42:26
a year at its peak.
00:42:27
>> Yep.
00:42:27
>> Would that be right?
00:42:28
>> Yeah, that would be right.
00:42:29
that's a lot of money for food and
00:42:30
drink, isn't it?
00:42:31
>> Yeah. Was a successful restaurant. It
00:42:33
was busy. I remember um
00:42:36
uh
00:42:38
what's the cup? The racing cup.
00:42:40
Melbourne Cup. You know, that was just a
00:42:42
huge day. The revenue on that day just
00:42:44
was nuts. I hated Melbourne Cup because
00:42:47
it was just full on and it was everybody
00:42:50
showing off to everybody and they
00:42:53
weren't really there for the food, you
00:42:54
know.
00:42:55
>> Mhm.
00:42:56
>> And um you're at Euro. Did that overlap
00:42:58
with Master Chef? Were you the Master
00:43:00
Chef guy when you were still at Euro?
00:43:02
>> Yes. Yes, I was still involved with
00:43:05
Euro. So, we had a bunch of restaurants
00:43:07
then.
00:43:07
>> Mh.
00:43:08
>> And yeah, I was asked to do Master Chef.
00:43:11
In fact, they asked me to audition for
00:43:12
it, but I was going overseas to do a I
00:43:15
think a guest chef spot in a hotel in
00:43:19
Asia and I couldn't do the interview and
00:43:23
I came back and then they rang me and
00:43:25
said, "Oh, we've they'd been in and
00:43:27
filmed something
00:43:29
before that and it never went anywhere."
00:43:32
So, they had some footage and they
00:43:34
watched that and that was my audition to
00:43:35
become judge on Master Chief. And I'd
00:43:38
never heard of Master Chief. I didn't
00:43:39
know what it was or anything about it.
00:43:41
And that was my first TV gig apart from
00:43:45
Good Morning Television which didn't
00:43:47
start very well actually. Um I had a bit
00:43:49
of a disaster on that. They asked me to
00:43:52
go and cook on Do you want to hear the
00:43:54
story?
00:43:54
>> Oh yeah. Yeah.
00:43:55
>> Everybody likes I love a disaster. Yeah.
00:43:57
Yeah.
00:43:58
>> I was asked to go and cook on Good
00:44:00
Morning Television. You had to fly to
00:44:01
Wellington and take your food and they'd
00:44:03
have all the pots and pans in a kitchen
00:44:04
there. So off I go turn up with my
00:44:07
polytorian box. Never been on TV before
00:44:10
in my life
00:44:12
and it's live. So you do one segment and
00:44:14
then everything cooks and then they come
00:44:16
back and you finish it off in the second
00:44:18
segment. And I was doing a whole roast
00:44:21
chicken dish. And they had this pot
00:44:24
there and I was sealing the whole
00:44:26
chicken cuz I wanted to get a little bit
00:44:28
of caramelization mayard effect on the
00:44:30
outside of this bird before I cooked it.
00:44:33
And I'm sautéing it round in this pan
00:44:35
and I'm listening to this. It wasn't a
00:44:37
pan. And it was sort of a shallow pot.
00:44:40
And suddenly I realized it was making
00:44:41
all these noises. And I realized that
00:44:43
this is one of these ones that you don't
00:44:45
actually put on a gas hob.
00:44:48
It's just for going in the oven. And it
00:44:50
was creaking. I thought, my worst
00:44:52
nightmare is about to happen. This is
00:44:54
going to crack or something. So I
00:44:57
quickly reached down, grabbed another
00:44:58
pot, put the other pot up there, picked
00:45:00
this pot with the whole chicken in with
00:45:03
both hands, lifted it up, tipped it
00:45:06
upside down. and the chicken fell into
00:45:08
the pot and the new pot and this bad pot
00:45:12
just exploded and went absolutely
00:45:15
everywhere and it's live TV. So, I just
00:45:17
carried on as if it was all intentional.
00:45:19
Nothing had happened. And as soon as we
00:45:22
went to the break, the the producer came
00:45:25
downstairs and said, "THAT WAS GOLD
00:45:27
TELEVISION. GOLD TELEVISION. Do you want
00:45:29
to come back next week?"
00:45:31
That's how I got into doing Good Morning
00:45:33
TV. Threw a complete stuff up. Oh,
00:45:36
that's why I suppose live TV. What
00:45:37
happens? Is it is it online anywhere? Is
00:45:39
it still on YouTube or
00:45:41
>> I've got no idea. It should be, right?
00:45:42
It's a good blooper moment.
00:45:44
>> Yes. So then Master Chief came along um
00:45:46
and you were a judge for the first five
00:45:47
seasons in that time. Um helping create
00:45:50
the careers of Nadia Lim and Chelsea
00:45:52
Winter who both phenomenally successful.
00:45:56
>> Yeah, it was uh it was a cool
00:45:58
experience. It was a lot of cold food to
00:46:00
eat.
00:46:02
>> I you know I really enjoyed it. I didn't
00:46:05
know what to expect really. Just sort
00:46:08
of, you know, turned up for the first
00:46:10
day and sort of got briefed and away we
00:46:12
went and it seemed to go pretty well the
00:46:15
first season and they asked me back for
00:46:17
the second season and so it went on for
00:46:19
5 years and I really enjoy. I love what
00:46:22
it did for kids in New Zealand. You
00:46:25
know, the number of kids when you'd go
00:46:26
out and they got inspired about food and
00:46:30
I think
00:46:31
>> you know that we need that. We need
00:46:32
Kiwis cooking. We don't do enough
00:46:34
cooking. We're very good at buying jars
00:46:36
and packets and things that are just
00:46:39
full of e- numbers and preservatives and
00:46:42
rubbish in them. But we actually want to
00:46:44
do some cooking. You know, you get young
00:46:47
kids. I I never forget out of Master
00:46:49
Chef, lots of other things happened for
00:46:52
me. you know, suddenly the speaking
00:46:54
circuit opened up or
00:46:56
>> I was cooking in Wellington at a
00:46:59
Westfield shopping center and I used to
00:47:01
challenge people out of the audience to
00:47:03
come and make an omelet against me. And
00:47:06
the idea was that they would normally
00:47:09
win, right? And it would be fun. And I
00:47:12
never forget this one kid comes up and
00:47:14
he was probably 13 years old and he
00:47:18
cooked an omelette against me and won.
00:47:20
So I gave him a cake mixer as the prize.
00:47:24
So he, you know, his mom went off with
00:47:27
his box that was almost as big as him. I
00:47:29
was back there a couple of years later
00:47:32
and he came up to me and said, "Do you
00:47:34
remember me?" And I said, "Oh, not
00:47:36
really, but remind me." And he opened
00:47:38
this book up and in this book he had a
00:47:39
photo of everything he'd cooked using
00:47:41
this cake mix and written a recipe. And
00:47:44
his mom said to me that, "You know,
00:47:45
we've brought him here today because
00:47:48
you're his hero." his dad died and
00:47:51
you're his hero. And to cut a long story
00:47:55
short, all these years later, I I've
00:47:58
sort of become like a dad for him. He
00:48:00
ended up working in one of my
00:48:01
restaurants. He went off the rails. We
00:48:04
sort of talked about it and we stay in
00:48:06
touch all the time. And in fact, we he's
00:48:10
now living in Sydney. I was over in
00:48:12
Sydney. I took him out for dinner.
00:48:15
And if that's what Master Chef brings
00:48:17
along that, you know, that's been so
00:48:20
rewarding for me. And, you know, I get
00:48:22
on Father's Day, he sends me this these
00:48:24
texts that make you cry. You know, it's
00:48:26
just amazing. And, you know, now he's in
00:48:28
his late 20s and, you know, got this
00:48:32
great girl and, you know, he's going
00:48:34
places
00:48:35
>> and not cooking either, by the way. He's
00:48:37
not cooking, but you know, he did that
00:48:39
for a period of time. But, you know,
00:48:41
>> what what do you think was special about
00:48:43
him? What was the link that that meant
00:48:44
you kept in touch, you know, cuz see
00:48:45
there's there's people in your life that
00:48:47
you have some sort of contact with and
00:48:49
you know often you just sort of drift
00:48:51
apart.
00:48:52
>> Why is this one different?
00:48:52
>> I think in restaurants you do end up
00:48:56
mentoring people a lot more
00:48:58
>> because you need somebody good. So you
00:49:00
want to help them get as good as
00:49:02
possible and you want them to take over
00:49:04
at some stage so you don't have to be
00:49:05
there. So, you're always looking for
00:49:08
that person who's got that extra 5%
00:49:11
magic, that little spark. And he just
00:49:14
had that. I remember when um I got out
00:49:17
of all the restaurants with this group
00:49:19
called the Nourish Group, and we had a
00:49:20
restaurant in Wellington called Prafter,
00:49:22
and we were doing a big finale dinner
00:49:24
down there cuz it was my last time. And
00:49:26
I made James, this young fellow, the
00:49:29
head chef on the night. you know, when
00:49:32
you see good in somebody, you know, I've
00:49:34
got a lot of chefs that have worked for
00:49:35
me that are now, you know, top chefs,
00:49:38
you know, one of the the head chef at
00:49:40
Paris Butter used to work for me.
00:49:42
Michael Meredith used to work for me
00:49:44
years ago. You know, they've, you know,
00:49:46
they've way surpassed me. But, you know,
00:49:48
you you help them on their journey,
00:49:50
whatever it is, whether it's telling
00:49:52
them off or inspiring them, whatever it
00:49:55
is. Like Tony Esto told me off. That was
00:49:58
at the time bloody horrible, but a good
00:50:00
thing. when you look back on it.
00:50:03
>> So that's an example of one amazing
00:50:05
thing that came out of Master Chef. Um
00:50:07
but yeah, how was the overall
00:50:09
experience? So it started in 2010, so
00:50:10
you would have been in your mid-40s at
00:50:12
the time. Um and this is when free to
00:50:14
wear TV was a massive thing in New
00:50:15
Zealand. The ratings on this show were
00:50:17
phenomenal. What what's it like like
00:50:18
being sort of, you know, entering middle
00:50:20
age and becoming like a household name?
00:50:22
Did you did you cope okay with the fame
00:50:24
and the recognition?
00:50:25
>> Well, you don't have a choice really. I
00:50:27
mean, you know, you start and you don't
00:50:29
think you'll become well known, but
00:50:31
then, you know, you do and people are
00:50:33
like come up to you and chat to you like
00:50:35
they know you and you sort of think, "Do
00:50:38
I know them?" And then they'll walk off
00:50:39
and then they'll suddenly remember how
00:50:41
they know you. They don't actually know
00:50:43
you. They know you from television.
00:50:45
They'll come around and go, "Oh, sorry.
00:50:46
I realize who you are now." And you know
00:50:49
that sort of grew and grew and you know
00:50:52
lots of signing and you know now it's
00:50:54
sort of dropped off a bit really which
00:50:57
has been good because I kind of wanted
00:50:59
that like I've stay I've hidden away for
00:51:02
the last I don't know how many years
00:51:05
really since Hazel came along cuz I want
00:51:08
to be a dad and I didn't need that
00:51:10
limelight. I remember my ex-wife did,
00:51:13
you know, hated that whole limelight
00:51:16
thing, you know. I mean, whenever we'd
00:51:18
go somewhere, you know, I somebody would
00:51:20
come up and want to talk to me. And I'd
00:51:22
go, well, this is my wife and introduce
00:51:24
her and then just normally just hand her
00:51:27
the phone and say, "Could you take a
00:51:28
photo of us?"
00:51:30
>> And that went down like a cup of cold
00:51:32
sick. And I remember one night it really
00:51:35
didn't work out very well because
00:51:38
the limit had been hit. So, you know,
00:51:40
with Hazel, my daughter, I don't want
00:51:42
her, you know, it's bad enough even now,
00:51:44
but she's now growing up a bit and, you
00:51:47
know, I'm starting to do podcasts again
00:51:50
and looking at, you know, another run.
00:51:54
Uh, you know, to just tee things off is
00:51:58
is my plan.
00:52:00
>> Yeah. Well, it's great to have you in
00:52:01
here. Gez, we've been going for 15
00:52:02
minutes. We haven't even talked about,
00:52:03
you know, the the it's out of the
00:52:06
kitchen stuff really. Yes. Yeah. So, you
00:52:07
just mentioned your ex-wife. So, that's
00:52:09
You've only been married the one time.
00:52:10
>> Yeah.
00:52:10
>> So, that's um Hazel's mom.
00:52:12
>> Yeah.
00:52:13
>> Um and if my facts are correct, um she
00:52:16
used to be a customer at Euro. You'd see
00:52:18
her. You quite liked her. You gave her
00:52:20
free puddings.
00:52:21
>> That's true. I did. Yeah. I tried very
00:52:23
hard to smoo her.
00:52:27
>> Yes, I did.
00:52:29
>> Yeah. Um Yeah, that's something you and
00:52:32
I have got in common. We're um we both
00:52:34
had um an unsuccessful marriage. Um
00:52:36
Yeah. How how do you reflect on that?
00:52:38
It's sucks, eh?
00:52:39
>> It sucks. And at the time it really
00:52:42
sucks. I mean, when when it all sort of
00:52:44
falls apart around you
00:52:47
>> and you know it and people don't realize
00:52:51
that haven't been through it. People
00:52:52
that have been through it get it and
00:52:54
they're supportive and understanding.
00:52:57
>> And those that haven't, oh, we can be
00:52:58
friends with you and your ex-wife. And
00:53:00
I'm like, really?
00:53:01
>> Yeah. The dynamics are hard. And no one
00:53:04
goes into these things thinking it's
00:53:05
going to fail. Yeah,
00:53:06
>> you know, you go into it and it's till
00:53:08
death do us part. So, anything less than
00:53:10
that feels like a fail.
00:53:12
>> Oh, I definitely failed in that regard.
00:53:14
And uh did you how sorry?
00:53:18
>> Well, you know, prioritizing work.
00:53:21
>> My eyes got the better of me. Okay.
00:53:23
>> Um
00:53:24
>> and
00:53:26
you know,
00:53:27
>> it's a big admission.
00:53:28
>> Yeah, my eyes got the better of me. And
00:53:31
we had a lot of great times, don't get
00:53:33
me wrong,
00:53:34
>> but I think, you know, I was a celebrity
00:53:38
and girls like celebrities, but then
00:53:41
they realized that actually you're just
00:53:43
a normal bloke underneath it all. And I
00:53:45
think that's probably where it went down
00:53:48
the track. But, you know, Hazel has got
00:53:50
an awesome mom and you know, I have
00:53:53
absolutely no regrets and um you know,
00:53:58
that's how it ends up.
00:54:00
>> Were you unfaithful or just a big flirt?
00:54:02
>> No, I don't think I was a big flirt or I
00:54:04
definitely wasn't unfaithful.
00:54:06
>> No.
00:54:06
>> No.
00:54:08
>> Yeah. It's tough. These these things are
00:54:10
complicated. Life's complicated. Hey, I
00:54:12
find as I get older, you realize there's
00:54:13
there's less black and white and way
00:54:15
more gray than what anyone thinks. It's
00:54:17
tough. Yeah, it's tough, but you know,
00:54:19
there's a lot of people that go through
00:54:21
it and
00:54:22
>> what needs to when there's children
00:54:24
involved, you've got to be diplomatic
00:54:27
and really good at it, right? So, and
00:54:30
the interesting thing is, you know, now
00:54:31
Hazel's grown up, she has no
00:54:33
recollection of ever her mom and dad
00:54:36
being together. So, it's just normal to
00:54:38
go from one house, so she spends a week
00:54:40
with her mom and a week with me.
00:54:42
>> And, you know, she's got the best of
00:54:44
both worlds. She's got a great mom and
00:54:46
she's got a great dad and get two lots
00:54:49
of everything, right? So, she's probably
00:54:51
a little too spoiled, but there you go.
00:54:53
>> And how's how's your relationship with
00:54:54
the ex these days?
00:54:55
>> Good.
00:54:56
>> Yeah.
00:54:56
>> Good. Cool. As long as I kill with
00:54:58
kindness.
00:55:01
>> Well, you learn what it takes.
00:55:02
>> Yeah.
00:55:02
>> Yeah. So, Hazel. Yeah. Um, you became a
00:55:05
dad at about 50. She's now intermediate
00:55:08
age. Um,
00:55:10
do you get roped into lots of school
00:55:11
things?
00:55:12
>> Like I like because of your celebrity
00:55:15
status. Not I'm not doing like just
00:55:17
being a dad on a school camp as a
00:55:19
>> you know occasionally. Yeah. I've been
00:55:22
in to talk about you know on their
00:55:24
careers day you know talk about
00:55:27
what it's like to be in a restaurant. So
00:55:31
>> um
00:55:32
>> yeah that's that's sort of about it. Um,
00:55:35
there's been talk of me going in to do
00:55:37
some cooking classes in this school that
00:55:40
she's got when they've got this kitchen
00:55:42
that's better than any kitchen I've ever
00:55:44
worked in. So, I probably should go and
00:55:46
do it at some stage
00:55:47
>> and have a bit of fun with them.
00:55:49
>> What So, yeah. What What does your day
00:55:51
look like with her now when she's with
00:55:52
you? Are you there for the the school
00:55:54
drop off in the morning? You there for
00:55:55
breakfast and there in the afternoon
00:55:57
again?
00:55:57
>> Yep. Yep. I'm up in the morning and
00:56:00
we're getting ready for school, school
00:56:01
drop off and then pick up and everything
00:56:05
else that comes along with it.
00:56:06
Gymnastics classes and all those sort of
00:56:08
things, which is which is great. I love
00:56:11
it.
00:56:11
>> I absolutely just love it. And I think I
00:56:15
mentioned earlier, you know, she said to
00:56:16
me that she'd like to learn how to fly a
00:56:18
glider. Don't know whether she's told
00:56:20
her mom that yet, but
00:56:23
you know, that's that's pretty exciting.
00:56:25
And a lot of people go, "Oh, you 12's
00:56:27
way too young." But we'll just get her
00:56:28
up in the air and see I've taken her
00:56:31
power flying and um first time I took
00:56:34
her, you know, I said, "Oh, go and fly
00:56:36
over your mom's house and we're going
00:56:37
around and around and around and she
00:56:40
couldn't see her mom who was standing
00:56:42
out in the middle of the road." And
00:56:44
finally she saw her and I thought,
00:56:45
"Right, we've gone around and around a
00:56:47
lot here." And we went off and then she
00:56:50
said, "Dad, can we do a roll?" So I did
00:56:52
a roll and then I looked at her and she
00:56:53
was white and I thought, "I need to get
00:56:56
this thing on the ground." in a big
00:56:58
hurry. My dad had said to me, "Whatever
00:56:59
you do, don't do any aerobatics on the
00:57:01
first flight with her and I didn't
00:57:02
listen to that." But we've since been
00:57:04
flying and she's an ace now. Loosens off
00:57:06
a strap, flies it round, loves going
00:57:08
upside down.
00:57:10
>> Yeah. Yeah. So, your dad, Brian Gol.
00:57:12
>> Yeah.
00:57:12
>> Um that's where the love of flying come
00:57:14
from, which seems like it's a been going
00:57:15
to be passed down to another generation.
00:57:17
Um and you lost your dad in June last
00:57:21
year.
00:57:21
>> Yeah.
00:57:22
>> 2024. So, who was Brian Gold?
00:57:25
He was the most awesome dad in the
00:57:28
world. And I was lucky that uh what he
00:57:31
did for a living ended up being my
00:57:34
passion. And when I wanted to learn how
00:57:37
to fly, I remember him saying, and I
00:57:38
guess I'm sort of deviating onto the
00:57:40
flying thing. But uh you know, he said,
00:57:43
"If you want to learn how to fly, get
00:57:45
yourself out to the gliding club and
00:57:47
learn how to fly a glider, and that will
00:57:49
make you a better pilot." And he had
00:57:50
really nothing to do with my flying and
00:57:52
was not really interested. It was kind
00:57:54
of like do it on your own. And
00:57:57
eventually once I became a glider pilot,
00:58:00
he came out and started getting
00:58:02
involved. And then eventually I said to
00:58:04
him, you know, "Dad, you're you're
00:58:06
really good at this. How about you teach
00:58:07
me how to fly powered airplanes?" Which
00:58:09
he did. And then he sent me solo in a
00:58:14
Harvard,
00:58:16
which is an ex Air Force Harvard,
00:58:20
>> 49 years after head
00:58:23
>> flowning it in the Air Force in the same
00:58:25
Harvard.
00:58:26
>> And that was a pretty cool dad son
00:58:29
>> experience to do. And then with my love
00:58:33
of flying, I bought an airplane called a
00:58:36
Mustang with three other guys and
00:58:40
brought it to New Zealand and super high
00:58:43
performance, fastest piston engine
00:58:45
airplane in New Zealand like a real
00:58:48
weapon. And that's when I said to dad,
00:58:51
could you test fly it for us? Which he
00:58:54
did. And then he taught us all how to
00:58:55
fly it. And then eventually, so he did
00:58:57
all the air shows in it originally going
00:58:59
around and displaying it at, you know,
00:59:01
Wanuker Air Show and all the big air
00:59:03
shows. And then he taught me how to do
00:59:06
that. But those trips away together,
00:59:09
flying and poor weather conditions,
00:59:12
great weather conditions. It was just
00:59:15
the ultimate fatherson thing to do.
00:59:20
>> And I'm so grateful for him. And you
00:59:23
know, he worked in the the import
00:59:25
business that we started to supply my
00:59:27
restaurants. He ran that after he
00:59:30
retired. Uh he worked until the day he
00:59:33
had a stroke actually. And yeah, the the
00:59:36
most incredible father, supportive,
00:59:40
>> so grateful.
00:59:40
>> Yeah. I've got a photo here. I don't
00:59:42
know what the plane is in the
00:59:43
background, but it's a photo of you and
00:59:44
him.
00:59:45
>> That's the Harvard that he sent me solo
00:59:48
in. Yeah.
00:59:49
>> Yeah. Yeah, it seems like it was a
00:59:50
really special relationship and um
00:59:52
ultimately it was motor neuron disease.
00:59:54
>> Yeah.
00:59:54
>> That that got him. What does that look
00:59:56
like in real terms?
00:59:57
>> What is mo neuron disease?
00:59:58
>> Horrendous.
00:59:59
>> Yeah.
00:59:59
>> Yeah. Horrendous.
01:00:00
>> Is that where your body just stops?
01:00:02
>> Yeah. Everything stops working. So in
01:00:05
the end, unfortunately, you know, he was
01:00:08
uh bedridden and couldn't do it. But you
01:00:12
know, my dad being his dad when he found
01:00:14
out that he had motor neuron disease and
01:00:17
heard the outcome cuz eventually you you
01:00:19
know, you can't swallow, you can't you
01:00:21
can do nothing. It's a horrendous way to
01:00:25
die and he took advantage of the
01:00:30
assisted death
01:00:32
and that takes some balls, right?
01:00:35
>> And so he was straight on to that and
01:00:39
yeah, that was
01:00:41
And you know with thank you to
01:00:46
our leader David Seymour,
01:00:49
not leader but you know who brought that
01:00:51
in because
01:00:53
>> you know that would have been it was bad
01:00:55
enough to watch what it was and I
01:00:57
remember when dad said you know it was
01:00:59
scheduled for 6 weeks away and things
01:01:01
started to decline. He just looked at me
01:01:02
and said make the call.
01:01:06
>> Um how did that look? The reason I asked
01:01:08
this, I I had a lady on the podcast last
01:01:10
year called Tracy Hickman and um she we
01:01:12
did the podcast. She she chose to go the
01:01:14
same way. She had um
01:01:16
>> I heard her. He just did it on the
01:01:17
beach, right?
01:01:18
>> Yeah. Incredible. Yeah. Went went to the
01:01:19
beach, had a Bluetooth speaker, had some
01:01:22
friends there, and um everything went
01:01:24
exactly the way that she planned it,
01:01:26
which is perfect cuz she was a planner.
01:01:28
>> Um Yeah. How was it for your dad? So I
01:01:31
sort of imagined that when someone did
01:01:32
this it was going to be in like a I
01:01:34
don't know like a cold sort of cold sort
01:01:36
of doctor's surgery or something.
01:01:38
>> It was hospice in Manora and they do the
01:01:41
work of angels. They are incredible.
01:01:44
Hence I try and help them with
01:01:46
fundraising when I where I can.
01:01:48
>> Uh the people there were just
01:01:52
angels. That's the only way you can say
01:01:53
it.
01:01:54
>> They were incredible.
01:01:56
Uh we were all around him. The night
01:02:00
before I went and got a bottle of wine,
01:02:02
put a straw in the glass and uh
01:02:09
is that when your your sister was there?
01:02:10
She was singing Ava Maria.
01:02:13
Is that a different occasion?
01:02:27
That's the silence where you get me
01:02:29
right.
01:02:32
>> I think that's good though. It shows the
01:02:33
impact.
01:02:35
Yeah.
01:02:38
must have been so proud of you.
01:02:41
Well, he was an amazing singer. He
01:02:43
actually did a record and he sang opera
01:02:45
and was
01:02:48
you know he was a great golfer
01:02:51
both uh you know he played off of you
01:02:55
know I think he was a one handicap uh
01:02:59
one or two uh his brother was a great
01:03:01
golfer who became captain of Saint
01:03:03
Andrews he loved golf and he was a great
01:03:05
singer and my sister ended up singing as
01:03:09
well and she's a great singer so yes
01:03:11
there was that song sung and
01:03:15
it's pretty hard to talk about.
01:03:17
>> Well, it's still quite recent. It's like
01:03:19
a year and a bit.
01:03:20
>> Yeah.
01:03:21
>> But you kind of hope it's um It's always
01:03:23
hard to talk about, I guess, cuz it
01:03:25
means he's still Yeah.
01:03:26
>> Yeah. Yeah. It'll always be hard to talk
01:03:28
about it. And um it'll always get me
01:03:30
probably.
01:03:31
>> Um
01:03:32
>> When do you miss him most?
01:03:36
>> Oh, all the time. like, you know, I
01:03:37
often think about him and um
01:03:42
you know, life life has a limit. We're
01:03:44
all going to die, right? So, you just
01:03:46
got to get on with it. But I've got so
01:03:47
many incredible memories and stories
01:03:50
and, you know, just just good things
01:03:53
that are, you know, he wouldn't want me
01:03:56
sitting here bloody crying. He'd want
01:03:57
me, you know, he he would hate me
01:04:00
talking about him, you know. Yeah. He's
01:04:03
the most humble guy. Um, you know, I've
01:04:06
had so many people who he taught how to
01:04:08
fly the 747
01:04:10
400 for in New Zealand. He was a
01:04:12
training captain who said, "You know
01:04:14
what? Your old man didn't know about
01:04:15
flying those things. Wasn't worth
01:04:17
knowing."
01:04:18
>> And um, you know, I think I had a have a
01:04:21
legend of a father in the aviation
01:04:23
industry. You know, super highly
01:04:26
respected
01:04:27
>> and you know,
01:04:30
they were a team, my mom and him. You
01:04:32
know, I've got an incredible mother
01:04:34
who's tells me everything every day and
01:04:36
she's normally bloody right.
01:04:40
>> Yeah. Is she still around or is she
01:04:42
>> She's she's still around kicking and she
01:04:44
tells me she's passed a used by date,
01:04:46
but she's, you know, they have, you
01:04:49
know, both my sister and I and even
01:04:52
Hazel is the granddaughter of, you know,
01:04:55
we've been very lucky. And that's why
01:04:57
family is so important to me. We have a
01:04:59
very tight-knit family
01:05:02
>> and you know that's what family's about.
01:05:04
Sitting at a dinner table breaking bread
01:05:06
and
01:05:07
>> being on one another's side even when
01:05:09
you've done something wrong, you know.
01:05:12
>> Yeah. Um you were your mom and dad
01:05:14
married till the end.
01:05:15
>> Yep.
01:05:15
>> Yeah. 66 years.
01:05:18
>> Right. Yeah. They were
01:05:20
>> together a long time. Yeah.
01:05:22
>> Yeah.
01:05:22
>> How's she coping?
01:05:24
>> She she's done pretty well, I think. um
01:05:27
you know she was a full-time carer in
01:05:29
the end. So when suddenly that role
01:05:32
disappears it's pretty hard.
01:05:34
Unfortunately my mom has a uh a disorder
01:05:37
called neuropathy which is where your
01:05:40
legs suddenly don't work and things. So
01:05:45
she's got a little tough road ahead of
01:05:47
her at the moment. But um
01:05:49
>> she's driving and still telling me what
01:05:52
I should and shouldn't do. So things are
01:05:54
good. Is she right?
01:05:57
That's the goddamn problem, isn't it?
01:06:00
>> Yeah. This is um It's wonderful though,
01:06:03
like losing your first parent at the age
01:06:04
of 60.
01:06:06
>> Yeah.
01:06:06
>> Like it's how things are supposed to go.
01:06:08
>> Yeah. Exactly.
01:06:09
>> It's not It's not easy.
01:06:10
>> Yeah. Well, my dad was 90, right? And
01:06:13
you know, he was flying airplanes until
01:06:14
he was 79 at air shows. I remember he'd
01:06:18
taxi in
01:06:19
>> to and the crowd line would be there and
01:06:22
all the crowd would go up to see the
01:06:23
airplane. and you pull his helmet off
01:06:25
and everybody go, "Oh my god, he's a
01:06:27
freaking granddad. Look at how old he
01:06:29
is." And he just been flying past at 350
01:06:33
knots, pulling up and doing loops and
01:06:35
rolls and things, you know.
01:06:37
>> And where's it? Um where's your knife
01:06:39
with his with his wings on?
01:06:41
>> Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. Wow. So, yeah,
01:06:45
I said to dad before he passed away that
01:06:48
I wanted something special that could go
01:06:51
in the handle of a knife and he gave me
01:06:53
his Air Force wings. And uh a Oakland
01:06:59
guy called Willie and his wife Angela
01:07:02
make these beautiful knives called Kiwi
01:07:05
Blade knives. And so they did this
01:07:08
project. So the handle is in the same
01:07:10
color as his Air Force uniform and the
01:07:13
wings are in the handle. So it's an
01:07:15
everyday knife that will last for
01:07:17
centuries that one day I'll hand down to
01:07:20
my daughter. So you know we have all
01:07:22
these things that we get from our
01:07:24
grandparents or parents that just end up
01:07:26
in a drawer. Might be cufflinks or Air
01:07:29
Force wings or whatever it is and they
01:07:31
disappear and you never look at them.
01:07:33
And I just wondered,
01:07:35
you know,
01:07:37
>> is that something you think about? you
01:07:39
think about him when you use that knife?
01:07:41
>> Yeah, every time I look at the
01:07:43
>> wings, I think,
01:07:44
>> wow, that's pretty cool. Unfortunately,
01:07:46
you never got to see it,
01:07:48
>> but uh
01:07:51
>> Yeah. What does your mom think of it?
01:07:54
>> Beautiful
01:07:54
>> was her words. I mean,
01:07:56
>> yeah.
01:07:57
>> Yeah. Everybody who sees it goes, "Wow,
01:07:59
what a cool idea." And you know, I use
01:08:02
it every day. It's not one of those
01:08:03
knives that you bring out for show. It's
01:08:06
just
01:08:06
>> it's an everyday knife. and I call it my
01:08:09
wingman, you know.
01:08:11
>> So,
01:08:12
>> that's cool. Thank you. I know this this
01:08:15
stuff's um not easy to share, but I do
01:08:17
appreciate you sharing it today.
01:08:19
>> Pleasure.
01:08:20
>> It's really cool.
01:08:21
>> Yeah. Well, it cements it all back,
01:08:23
isn't it? You care. And
01:08:25
>> um you know, I've had a very lucky life.
01:08:28
A lot of amazing opportunities have come
01:08:30
my way
01:08:31
>> and you know, I'm grateful for all of
01:08:34
it. But it ain't over yet, right? Fat
01:08:35
lady hasn't sung. No way. You're Yeah, I
01:08:38
mean, you're in great shape. I said this
01:08:39
when you arrived. I said, "Shit, you're
01:08:41
looking good." And uh you accuse me of
01:08:42
making a fat joke.
01:08:45
I can't remember exactly what you said,
01:08:46
but yeah. Um yeah, let's talk about the
01:08:49
health for a little bit. So, am I right
01:08:51
in saying your your mom um was diabetic
01:08:54
as well?
01:08:55
>> No, but it ran in the family.
01:08:57
>> Okay.
01:08:57
>> Diabetes. And uh you know, I
01:09:00
progressively got bigger and bigger
01:09:03
>> just as a result of your lifestyle and
01:09:05
job.
01:09:05
>> Yeah. just, you know, eat, grazing all
01:09:07
day, you know, tasting food all day in
01:09:10
the restaurants and then getting home at
01:09:12
late at night. Probably had couple too
01:09:15
many drinks, opening the fridge door and
01:09:17
going better eat something.
01:09:20
>> Never really sitting down often for a
01:09:23
meal and then getting up and doing it
01:09:25
all again. And
01:09:27
um you know, it wasn't you know, she
01:09:30
said, "You need to be careful. you need
01:09:32
to lose some weight cuz diabetes runs in
01:09:35
the family. And of course, I just
01:09:36
ignored it until one day um I'd done
01:09:39
some blood tests for an insurance thing
01:09:42
I wanted to get and they said, "We can't
01:09:44
ensure you because you've got type 2
01:09:45
diabetes. You better go and see your
01:09:47
doctor." Well, no, they didn't say type
01:09:49
2 diabetes. They said, "You've got high
01:09:51
blood glucose levels." So, I went along
01:09:53
to the doctor. Sure enough, and then
01:09:56
they start prescribing you medication,
01:09:59
but I was still into the restaurants and
01:10:02
you know, I pretty much ignored it
01:10:04
because they give you these tablets,
01:10:07
right, to take
01:10:09
and you know, did Master Chef, you know,
01:10:11
and embarrassed to talk about it
01:10:14
>> because you eat your way to diabetes yet
01:10:17
it is genetic and you're predisposed to
01:10:20
it. But you know and type 1 diabetes is
01:10:24
very different right? So that's
01:10:26
completely different thing to type 2
01:10:28
diabetes. So you know basically I was
01:10:30
overweight unfit and had eaten my way to
01:10:35
type two diabetes. So I was highly
01:10:37
embarrassed about that. So I didn't tell
01:10:38
anybody. You know my family knew but you
01:10:41
know nobody you know it wasn't something
01:10:43
I wanted to talk about. In hindsight
01:10:45
should you have been embarrassed about
01:10:46
it
01:10:47
>> in hindsight? No. Cuz I guess I'm
01:10:49
talking about it right now. I like and
01:10:51
it wasn't until I actually changed
01:10:53
doctors to a guy Tom Doo who I went all
01:10:58
through school with who was a doctor and
01:11:00
he said you know what you should change
01:11:02
and come to me as a doctor and he said
01:11:04
and when you make your first booking do
01:11:06
it just um right before lunch
01:11:10
so I thought we're planning on going out
01:11:12
for a lunch right so you know sure
01:11:14
enough I I booked this doctor's
01:11:16
appointment and I'll never forget being
01:11:18
in the surgery and it is Hazel was
01:11:22
almost one
01:11:24
>> and he said to me, "Do you want to walk
01:11:26
down the aisle with your daughter?"
01:11:29
>> And he said, "You know what? Cuz the
01:11:31
rate you're going, you're not going to."
01:11:33
He said, "You're on the maximum dose of
01:11:35
metformin for this type 2 diabetes. You
01:11:38
probably eventually go blind. You
01:11:41
probably might even get a foot chopped
01:11:42
off
01:11:44
or a leg as it progresses. You won't die
01:11:48
of diabetes, but you'll die of a related
01:11:50
effect from the type 2 diabetes
01:11:54
and you know, you probably end up having
01:11:55
to go to the hospital, go on a diialysis
01:11:57
machine,
01:11:59
you know, multiple times a week
01:12:02
at which age I I sort of said, I guess
01:12:05
lunch is off.
01:12:09
>> Scared straight.
01:12:10
>> Yeah. I went hopped in the car and I was
01:12:13
absolutely shell shocked and it was
01:12:15
exactly what I need to be told. You
01:12:17
know, it was, you know, he had some
01:12:20
pretty stiff words as I walked out the
01:12:22
door. It was like something along the
01:12:25
lines of, "Pull your finger
01:12:27
out."
01:12:28
>> So, I went home and I Googled
01:12:32
reverse diabetes. Reverse diabetes.
01:12:35
There's got to be, you know, some silver
01:12:37
bullet out here. So then I found this
01:12:38
place in Nevada that said they could
01:12:41
reverse diabetes. So I thought I better
01:12:42
do a bit of research on this. So found
01:12:45
some YouTube clips and it just looked
01:12:47
like a bunch of hippies sitting around
01:12:49
smoking a bunch of joints. I thought,
01:12:52
well, maybe that's not the place to go.
01:12:55
So then I continued looking and then I
01:12:58
found this place in the UK that believed
01:13:01
they could help with tire type 2
01:13:03
diabetes and I found a YouTube clip of a
01:13:05
guy kind of looked just a bit like me
01:13:08
who was singing its praises and said got
01:13:10
him off all the medication. So I rang
01:13:12
them and said, "Hey, I'm in New Zealand.
01:13:14
I'd like to come up." They said, "Oh, we
01:13:16
don't really deal with it anymore
01:13:17
because you got to have a nurse and all
01:13:20
this sort of things and doctors." And I
01:13:22
said, "Well, what would it take for you
01:13:24
to do it?" So they came back to me and
01:13:26
said, "So long as I paid the extra." And
01:13:28
back then I was like master chef. It was
01:13:32
I just finished the fifth season. So,
01:13:35
you know, I I could afford it. And they
01:13:37
said to me, "You need to come for
01:13:39
minimum four weeks, but if we need you
01:13:41
for 8 weeks, you'll have to stay 8
01:13:43
weeks." I'd never taken eight weeks off
01:13:45
in my life,
01:13:46
>> you know, eight weeks.
01:13:49
And anyway, with some discussion with my
01:13:52
ex at the time, it was decided that I
01:13:55
should do it. So, I went there and I'll
01:13:58
never forget arriving into London,
01:13:59
getting some friends. I had been seen. I
01:14:01
like had this last supper. I turn up at
01:14:05
this place the next day and it was like
01:14:07
checking myself into
01:14:09
I don't know what because you know it
01:14:11
was this old sort of villa sort of
01:14:15
castley looking place and it was just
01:14:18
the only people that were there when I
01:14:20
walked in was just people in I felt like
01:14:23
I was checking myself into a funny farm
01:14:25
and you know the bed was terrible and
01:14:28
then next morning and I come down and
01:14:30
it's just raw food and juices and and
01:14:34
take me into a room and it's all these
01:14:35
beautiful people. I'm the only big guy
01:14:37
there. It's all people that are detoxing
01:14:39
and actresses and writers and creator,
01:14:42
all these sort of beautiful people there
01:14:45
who are just doing the detox.
01:14:48
>> And they said to me, "You're going to
01:14:49
have a personal trainer. You're going to
01:14:53
be doing yoga. You're going to be doing
01:14:55
meditation."
01:14:57
And I'm like, "You're kidding me. I
01:14:59
mean, I'd never been to a gym in my
01:15:01
life." um you know and yoga and
01:15:04
meditation. What a croc of I
01:15:06
thought this is going to be ridiculous.
01:15:08
And you're going to be doing these
01:15:09
sauners and you're going to be doing all
01:15:11
this stuff and then we're going to be in
01:15:12
the lounge each night and we're going to
01:15:13
teach you about fats and superfoods and
01:15:17
it's going to be all raw food. I'm like
01:15:20
awesome. Here I am. Chef's the version
01:15:23
of hell for a chef.
01:15:25
>> Yeah. And I remember the first day when
01:15:27
I ran on a running machine and you you
01:15:30
won't cope with this at all. Well, I
01:15:31
couldn't even run 2 minutes. I couldn't
01:15:33
even run 2 minutes. I went to the first
01:15:37
um yoga and I'm down the back of the
01:15:40
class and let me tell you, Dom, the view
01:15:42
was really good from the back of the
01:15:43
class. So, I was starting to think,
01:15:44
"This isn't so bad." And
01:15:48
about, you know, a fair way into the
01:15:50
classes, the trainer was going, "Imagine
01:15:53
you're floating." And I'm like, "Oh my
01:15:55
god, what a load of crap." Anyway, I
01:15:58
persevered with it and the long story
01:16:02
short is that at the end of it, I was
01:16:05
running good on that running machine and
01:16:07
this guy is going, "You're doing it for
01:16:09
your daughter." I had tears running down
01:16:11
my face
01:16:14
and you know, at the end of it, I was
01:16:17
off all the medication.
01:16:19
I lost a lot of weight just in the four
01:16:22
weeks. After four weeks, they said,
01:16:24
"You're done. you've done great.
01:16:28
And then because I'd taken the eight
01:16:30
weeks off, I met Hazel and my ex-wife in
01:16:33
Los Angeles. And I just went on a
01:16:35
mission to learn more about superfoods,
01:16:37
fats, and learn all about this. And LA
01:16:40
is just the greatest place on the planet
01:16:42
for, you know, all these juice bars and
01:16:45
things. And it changed my life, you
01:16:48
know. Um, I was far more aware of food.
01:16:52
I was never eating bad food, you know. I
01:16:54
wasn't a McDonald's guy or, you know,
01:16:57
occasionally I'd have a Georgie pie on
01:16:59
the way home, but you know, I wasn't a,
01:17:01
you know, I didn't eat bad food. I was
01:17:02
just eating at the wrong time. So, I'd
01:17:04
learned all about fasting. I learned
01:17:06
about microbiome, our gut health, and,
01:17:09
you know, how it affects us,
01:17:12
communicating via neurons to our small
01:17:14
brain, and, you know, um, nutrition.
01:17:19
Learned all this stuff. came back to New
01:17:22
Zealand and put a healthy menu on at
01:17:24
Euro made the big mistake of telling
01:17:26
everybody it was healthy so nobody
01:17:27
wanted to come and dumb mistake or and
01:17:30
all I did was actually go right let's be
01:17:32
conscious of the carbs with everything
01:17:34
and the fats that I was using not that I
01:17:36
was ever using bad fats but you know I
01:17:39
was tailoring it to something that I
01:17:41
thought everybody would love and that
01:17:43
was a huge mistake so I had to quickly
01:17:46
reverse and put another menu on but and
01:17:49
then you know they asked me cuz I'd lost
01:17:51
a bunch of weight at this time was asked
01:17:53
if I would um actually go get back a
01:17:57
step because whilst I was there I
01:18:00
remember they asked me to do a list of
01:18:02
all my you know things that were most
01:18:06
important to me. So obviously family was
01:18:08
at top and then there was work and all
01:18:10
these things and I remember this woman
01:18:12
saying to me, "Do you know what
01:18:14
>> I'd like you to do now? I'd like you to
01:18:16
do a pie chart of how much time you
01:18:19
spent on everything." So then it was
01:18:21
here was this pie chart and it was just
01:18:22
all this work and very little for
01:18:25
anything else. And then she said to me,
01:18:26
"Do you know you is there a reason why I
01:18:29
haven't put health on there
01:18:32
or exercise?"
01:18:34
>> I didn't put any of that on there, you
01:18:36
know. I just had never occurred to me.
01:18:38
Most people listening to this will go,
01:18:39
"You serious?" You know, but it had
01:18:42
never occurred to me. So that was a big
01:18:45
eye opener. And then we talked about uh
01:18:48
you know the master chef thing and how I
01:18:51
was eating all this cold food. Not not
01:18:53
that the cold food is a problem but I
01:18:55
was just eat again. You know when you'd
01:18:58
start you got so much food to taste. Is
01:19:00
this really good for you?
01:19:03
And that's when I decided that actually
01:19:05
Master Chef was not good for me and I
01:19:08
came back and you know quit. Never been
01:19:12
on TV and Zed since. So, it went down
01:19:16
like a probably a cup of cold sick. I
01:19:18
don't know. Maybe they were ready to
01:19:19
move on. Who knows? But, so then I was
01:19:23
asked if I would do um a documentary
01:19:26
called Why Are We Fat and be the host on
01:19:28
it. So, I was quite excited about that
01:19:30
because it was going to be this
01:19:31
opportunity to travel around the world
01:19:32
and meet the world's experts on all
01:19:36
different facets of the science behind
01:19:40
losing weight. You know, we all know
01:19:41
diets don't work. They work in the short
01:19:44
term. Everybody puts more weight on.
01:19:45
Diets do not work. Science works. So, I
01:19:48
was really excited cuz I'd started this
01:19:50
journey about, you know, superfoods,
01:19:52
fats, and, you know, fiber and what your
01:19:56
gut likes and doesn't like and all of
01:19:58
that sort of thing. So, I was on this
01:20:00
mission like, "Yeah, I'll I'll do this."
01:20:03
I remember the first day I turned up to
01:20:04
this doctor's surgery for the first
01:20:06
filming and they said, "Could you just
01:20:08
take your shirt off and get into your
01:20:09
undies?" And I'm like, "Hey, I'm the
01:20:11
host."
01:20:13
Nope. I was the guinea pig and the host
01:20:17
who would interview people and that was
01:20:22
>> it's conf confrontational.
01:20:24
>> Yeah, it was pretty confrontational. And
01:20:26
you know, I'm like, well, I guess
01:20:28
everybody's going to know I got diabetes
01:20:30
or had diabetes, right? Like it's, you
01:20:33
know, I'm going with it. So, and I've
01:20:36
never looked back, you know.
01:20:37
>> What was that like going public with it?
01:20:39
Was there an outpouring of support at
01:20:41
the time or?
01:20:42
>> No, I don't think anybody cared. I think
01:20:43
it was me that was more worried about
01:20:45
it. You know, I think I'd built it up
01:20:48
to, you know, I look back at photos of
01:20:49
me now and go, I really was grossly
01:20:53
overweight. I was gross. I mean, I'm 32
01:20:56
kilos lighter than what I was then.
01:20:58
>> Wow.
01:20:58
>> That's a lot of weight, right?
01:21:00
>> So much weight. You must feel so much
01:21:01
better. That's so much less weight to be
01:21:03
carrying around.
01:21:03
>> Yeah. And you know, unlike you who runs
01:21:06
every day, you know, I've never loved
01:21:08
that. You know, it's never been me. But
01:21:11
and that's why I've really enjoyed
01:21:13
helping people now get better sleep. I
01:21:17
mean, sleep is massive. We don't teach
01:21:18
people how to sleep at school. We should
01:21:20
be,
01:21:21
>> you know, it's so important for us. And
01:21:24
there are so many ways that we can help
01:21:26
with sleep. I'm so strict with my
01:21:28
daughter about, you know, when she stops
01:21:29
using her phone in at night and not
01:21:32
having the phone in the room and reduce
01:21:34
those blue lights and the all the little
01:21:37
things we can do because when we go to
01:21:40
sleep, we're slowly filling this gas
01:21:42
tank up in our frontal cortex. And if we
01:21:45
don't get a good night's sleep, we wake
01:21:48
up in the morning and the gas tank's
01:21:49
only half full. And then we're on our
01:21:51
way home going, I just don't want to
01:21:52
talk to anybody else anymore. I'm like,
01:21:54
I'm tired. I'm done. Yeah, I'll just get
01:21:56
takeaways or I'll open that jar of crap
01:21:59
sauce and pour it over some pasta and
01:22:03
you know, so
01:22:06
it w it was an incredible experience
01:22:08
doing the whole program and what I
01:22:11
learned. And then we did another one
01:22:12
called how we eat. So we went to Turkey
01:22:15
and Greece and looked at the whole
01:22:17
Mediterranean diet. We hear about the
01:22:19
Mediterranean diet, right? How good it
01:22:21
is. But, you know, when you actually
01:22:23
hear the real truth about it, 30% less
01:22:26
cancer than we get in New Zealand, 50%
01:22:29
less heart disease, one ninth the amount
01:22:31
of diabetes. They live to be older,
01:22:34
they're having fun when they're older,
01:22:36
they're drinking and partying when
01:22:37
they're older, whereas we're all slowing
01:22:40
down and our joints don't work and all
01:22:42
that sort of thing. The Mediterranean
01:22:44
diet's the way to go. So, we were going
01:22:46
into universities and going to slow slow
01:22:50
um cities where they just had all the
01:22:52
things that weren't highly processed and
01:22:55
refined. It's why you hear a lot of
01:22:57
people go, you know, when I eat good
01:22:58
pasta, I don't feel bloated. You know,
01:23:03
our flour here is so refined and you
01:23:05
know, kids, you've started me in here,
01:23:07
Dom, but you know, like
01:23:08
>> I love the passion.
01:23:09
>> We we send our kids to school with a
01:23:12
with white bread sandwiches. There's one
01:23:15
gram of fiber in white a slice of white
01:23:18
bread. There is no nutrition. It's
01:23:20
rubbish. We send them to school with a
01:23:22
little red packet of raisins. May as
01:23:24
well fill it up with sugar. Why not put
01:23:26
some goji berries in there? Use a
01:23:28
sourdough bread.
01:23:29
>> You know, let's start feeding our kids
01:23:32
better. You know, we we're the second
01:23:35
most obese nation in the world and our
01:23:37
kids are the second most obese kids in
01:23:39
the world. So, we got to start looking
01:23:42
at what we eat. And I'm so passionate
01:23:45
about that now and trying to help people
01:23:47
and and you know I piss some people off
01:23:49
at what I say.
01:23:50
>> You know that's why I've just started
01:23:51
this podcast with Kate. We've called it
01:23:53
the fork. Can I get that plug in for my
01:23:55
podcast?
01:23:56
>> You know forking good podcast where
01:23:58
we're talking about waste and you know
01:24:01
expiry dates on food and best before
01:24:04
dates and educating on that. And my
01:24:06
mission is to get people cooking again.
01:24:09
I don't need to be in a restaurant
01:24:10
making this beautiful prissy plate of
01:24:12
food. have been there, done that. I just
01:24:14
want us cooking food and you know using
01:24:17
olive oil to cook. The old science told
01:24:19
us, "Oh no, don't use olive oil, use
01:24:20
avocado and coconut, you know, olive
01:24:24
oil, extra virgin olive oil is so good
01:24:27
for us to use
01:24:28
>> for our cooking drizzled on everything.
01:24:31
The average kiwi consumes about 200 mls
01:24:34
of extra virgin olive oil a year. In the
01:24:36
Mediterranean, where I just told you all
01:24:37
the stats, how much healthier they are,
01:24:39
the average person's consuming about 25
01:24:42
L.
01:24:42
>> Wow.
01:24:43
>> It's massive. The tomatoes that they
01:24:46
consume versus what we do here, you
01:24:49
know, we're about 8 kilos a year. Over
01:24:51
there, they're 40 something kilos. And
01:24:53
it's the lycopen and tomatoes that helps
01:24:56
fight cancer.
01:24:57
>> You know, we need to be cooking with
01:24:59
more spices, ginger, turmeric, and
01:25:02
garlic. You know, top things that help
01:25:04
fight cancer. So, I'm passionate about
01:25:06
that.
01:25:07
>> Well, I can I can take or leave tomatoes
01:25:09
here, but in Croatia a few years ago, I
01:25:12
had some tomatoes and they were real
01:25:13
flavorsome, but you put them in your
01:25:15
mouth and bite into them and they just
01:25:16
like an taste bud explosion
01:25:18
>> because they vi ripened on the vine as
01:25:21
opposed to the supermarkets here buying
01:25:23
something that is nowhere near ripe. So,
01:25:26
last forever on the shelf
01:25:28
>> and they've got very little flavor. We
01:25:30
all know when somebody's growing
01:25:31
tomatoes and they ripen on the vine,
01:25:34
they're just sweet and delicious, right?
01:25:37
>> So,
01:25:39
>> so I guess so when you when you went to
01:25:42
the UK, which seems like it was a
01:25:43
circuit breaker and like a like a game
01:25:46
changer in terms of your life. So, at
01:25:47
that point, you had you had a lot of
01:25:49
money, but you had very little time. Why
01:25:50
why didn't why did you go there and not
01:25:52
look at, you know, just getting some
01:25:54
elective surgery?
01:25:56
I went for the appointment to the guy
01:25:59
and the before I changed doctors. My
01:26:02
last doctor keep telling me you need to
01:26:04
lose weight
01:26:06
and he gave me a uh formula to start
01:26:10
drinking. And I went home and looked at
01:26:12
all the ingredients on that. And this is
01:26:14
before I really got into this. I'm going
01:26:17
to change my life. And I looked at
01:26:18
that's just I'm not I'm not drinking
01:26:20
that. And then he suggested that I get
01:26:22
some surgery. And I went along there and
01:26:25
the guy said to me, you know, do you
01:26:26
really want to do this? You're a chef
01:26:29
and once you get this done, food will
01:26:33
never be the same for you. And it was at
01:26:35
that exact around that time that Tom
01:26:39
Doo, Dr. Tom Doo, my old school buddy,
01:26:42
said, "Come and see me."
01:26:44
>> And that's when, you know, when he
01:26:47
really read me the riot act. And I guess
01:26:50
more doctors should, but because we were
01:26:52
mates, he could do it what he could say
01:26:55
really what he think. And I listened
01:26:58
>> and it got my attention. So
01:27:01
>> it was a game changer. What was the
01:27:02
question?
01:27:04
>> I know. Yeah. Why didn't you just go the
01:27:06
easy way and go for I don't know if it's
01:27:07
the easy way that maybe that's harsh on
01:27:09
people that have done it, but you I mean
01:27:10
you had the money and you had very
01:27:11
little time. Why didn't you just get
01:27:13
surgery?
01:27:15
>> Because of that exact thing. you know,
01:27:17
the doctor saying to me that it will
01:27:19
really affect your career with food if
01:27:21
you do this cuz you won't be able to eat
01:27:23
much. And basically, they tie your
01:27:25
stomach up, make it a quarter of the
01:27:27
size, and you can't put as much in. And
01:27:29
I love food. You know, life's too short
01:27:31
for twigs and berries.
01:27:33
>> You know, we got to, you know, food's my
01:27:36
life. I love it. You know, wherever I go
01:27:37
away, the next plan is where we're going
01:27:39
for dinner.
01:27:40
>> You know, that's that is my life. I love
01:27:44
it.
01:27:44
>> Yeah. You are so passionate about it,
01:27:46
eh? Uh, you just your eyes light up when
01:27:48
you when you talk about talk about food
01:27:50
and the dining experience. Um,
01:27:53
>> yeah. Did Mike Hoskin make a fat joke
01:27:55
about you on stage at an event?
01:27:57
>> He did. He did. Yeah. And I got to thank
01:27:59
him for what did he say? Uh, I won, it
01:28:02
was the Ernston Young Entrepreneurs
01:28:06
winners and I won a category
01:28:09
and he basically introduced me as the
01:28:12
fat chef and you know I didn't like it
01:28:16
much at the time but it it resonated
01:28:18
with me. It was like my doctor saying it
01:28:20
you know he said it in front of hundreds
01:28:22
of people everybody laughed and I was
01:28:25
the fat guy you know I was. So, he
01:28:28
wasn't telling a lie. And um I, you
01:28:33
know, I'd thank him for it if ever I saw
01:28:34
him. You know, it was a good call. It
01:28:37
kind of made me go that's how people are
01:28:39
seeing me. Because you you look in the
01:28:41
mirror, but you know, it's not until
01:28:43
you've lost weight
01:28:44
>> that you look back at photos photos and
01:28:47
go, "Wow,
01:28:49
>> that's a big difference."
01:28:51
>> What does it mean now on for day-to-day
01:28:54
living with diabetes? Like have have you
01:28:56
re re are you on medication or have you
01:28:58
reversed it?
01:28:59
>> I take some medication for my heart and
01:29:01
things like that but I eat in an 8h hour
01:29:04
window and you know 16 I fast
01:29:08
timerestricted eating so I've had
01:29:11
nothing to eat today. Um yeah what's the
01:29:13
time now? I've got no clue.
01:29:14
>> Oh my god it's almost 1:00 in the
01:29:16
afternoon.
01:29:16
>> Yeah but I'm not missing it at all. You
01:29:18
know it's I'm used to it. So I eat in an
01:29:20
8 hour window maximum. Um, sometimes,
01:29:23
you know, I I say to everybody, 80% of
01:29:26
the time we should be really good and
01:29:28
20% of the time we can be as naughty as
01:29:30
all hell, right? But, you know, just cuz
01:29:33
I eat in an 8 hour window doesn't mean I
01:29:35
eat twigs and berries, right?
01:29:37
>> And I might have a nice omelette for for
01:29:40
my first meal of the day, but it might
01:29:41
be at 2:00 in the afternoon perhaps, you
01:29:44
know?
01:29:45
>> So, that's kind of my secret weapon. And
01:29:48
because I'm still educating and helping
01:29:51
people with this, it's always top of
01:29:52
mind for me. And I'm always researching,
01:29:55
looking for the new science that's out
01:29:57
there. And you know, even starting to
01:30:01
learn more about mental health. And you
01:30:04
know, if somebody sleeps poorly,
01:30:08
>> they remember
01:30:11
more of the negative stuff than they do
01:30:13
of the positive than the impartial stuff
01:30:16
>> from a conversation. All this
01:30:18
culminates, right? You know, sugary
01:30:20
drinks culminate in depression and all
01:30:23
of these things. White bread is the
01:30:25
devil.
01:30:27
You know, I'm not a greenie. You know,
01:30:29
I'm not and I'm not a twigs and berries
01:30:31
guy. I'm not vegan. I'm not a
01:30:33
vegetarian.
01:30:35
Everything within balance, right?
01:30:38
>> And I I like it and I'm learning more
01:30:40
about it.
01:30:41
>> How's your mental health been?
01:30:44
>> Good, I think. Good, I think. I mean,
01:30:46
I'm going through a pretty interesting
01:30:48
time with business at the moment. It's
01:30:50
tough. I mean, my core business supplied
01:30:53
restaurants and everybody said to me
01:30:54
when co, "Aren't you glad you didn't
01:30:56
have a restaurant?" I said, "Well, try
01:30:58
having a business that supplies them." M
01:31:00
>> so it's been incredibly tough. So you
01:31:03
know we're probably uh 50% down from CO.
01:31:07
So hence why now you know I have a deli
01:31:09
and we now supply people nationally.
01:31:12
They can go on to my website
01:31:13
coltsdally.co.nz and Zed and we deliver
01:31:15
it to their door. And you know, I'm
01:31:18
about I'm the guys who's finding the
01:31:20
secret weapons for your pantry that make
01:31:22
things taste great with a little drizzle
01:31:24
of or a shake of or you know, that sort
01:31:27
of thing and doing the cooking classes.
01:31:30
So, yeah, it's I mean, how's my mental
01:31:32
health? I think I'm okay. I think I'm
01:31:35
because I'm sort of reading about it all
01:31:37
the time. You you start checking
01:31:39
yourself. I should probably come running
01:31:41
with you. That's probably the thing I'm
01:31:42
missing, but I wouldn't be able to keep
01:31:44
up.
01:31:45
>> Oh, no, no, no. I'll slow down for you.
01:31:48
You gave me a copy of your book, um, No
01:31:50
Half Measures, which, um, yeah, came out
01:31:51
in 2019. You can still buy it online
01:31:53
now.
01:31:54
>> You can buy it on my website,
01:31:56
doley.co.nz.
01:31:57
>> Yeah.
01:31:57
>> Yeah. There's, um, a quote in there that
01:31:59
I really like. People see my name on
01:32:00
products in the supermarket and they
01:32:02
think I'm a multi-millionaire. If only
01:32:04
they knew. Fail fast, fix fast.
01:32:07
>> That's sort of like your mantra. What
01:32:08
does What does that mean to you? Fail
01:32:10
fast, fix fast. Well, you got to see
01:32:12
when it's not working and fix it. And
01:32:15
too often we keep we keep going back to
01:32:17
the battle with the same guns and we
01:32:20
keep losing the battle. So, we got to go
01:32:23
with new guns. And you know, I remember
01:32:26
I did a ketchup that had no added
01:32:30
refined sugar to it. Kids loved it. It
01:32:33
was just like, you know, your hind sort
01:32:35
of watties type ketchup without all the
01:32:38
rubbish in it. Everybody loved it. got
01:32:41
it into the supermarket, spent a fortune
01:32:45
developing it and getting it there and
01:32:47
it was a dismal failure because
01:32:49
unfortunately it costs more and you
01:32:52
unfortunately a lot of healthy things do
01:32:54
cost more and it was like do we just
01:32:57
keep pushing this or do we go didn't
01:32:59
work done back the truck up
01:33:02
>> move on what's the next thing we can try
01:33:04
and do
01:33:06
>> what's been your biggest business win
01:33:08
>> biggest business win Yeah.
01:33:12
>> As in winning awards or
01:33:13
>> No, as as in successes.
01:33:17
>> You you're you're very open talking
01:33:18
about your your your fails, but there
01:33:20
have been like a lot more wins than
01:33:21
fails. At least from an outsiders
01:33:22
perspective.
01:33:23
>> Oh, it was a pretty good feeling when we
01:33:25
got uh Euro into the top 50 in Condon
01:33:28
magazine. I I was pretty excited about
01:33:30
that. I think Euro was a great success.
01:33:32
I started Juvoy Steakhouse and uh with
01:33:35
the guys that I was in business with in
01:33:38
Wellington uh sorry Oakland and
01:33:40
Queenstown. I love Jvoy Steakhouse.
01:33:42
>> It's still going. It's iconic.
01:33:43
>> I don't know what it's like. I haven't
01:33:44
been back. I should go back and have a
01:33:46
look. But I haven't been there over 10
01:33:48
years. But
01:33:49
>> why don't why don't you go back? Is it
01:33:50
is it like an ex-girlfriend sort of?
01:33:52
>> Yeah, probably. Yeah, you sort of been
01:33:53
there, done that. And you might they
01:33:55
might make it better than what you had
01:33:57
it so that would just annoy me.
01:33:59
>> No, it wouldn't. I'd be I'd be happy.
01:34:01
But no, you I don't know. It's like been
01:34:03
there, done that. It's like trying to
01:34:05
reheat a soule, you know, they don't
01:34:06
rise.
01:34:07
>> Is it um odd for you when you go into a
01:34:09
restaurant like a restaurant that you've
01:34:11
either had an association with or even a
01:34:13
restaurant that you've got no
01:34:13
association with? Like do you do you
01:34:15
notice everyone sort of like sits up
01:34:17
straight? Do you know what I mean? Or
01:34:19
they're sort of on edge cuz oh
01:34:20
it's Simon Gold. You do you do get a bit
01:34:23
of that. But I don't go into a
01:34:25
restaurant to be that critical guy. I'm
01:34:27
not, you know, I go to a restaurant to
01:34:29
enjoy it and just like everybody else
01:34:32
does and I'm probably way more forgiving
01:34:34
than anybody else if something doesn't
01:34:36
go right cuz I know what it's like on
01:34:38
the other side.
01:34:40
>> Um,
01:34:41
>> you got a bit of compassion. You're not
01:34:43
the master chef judge.
01:34:44
>> Yeah. Occasionally, if I see a waiter or
01:34:46
waitress or somebody that's serving
01:34:49
something from behind the counter and
01:34:52
they're doing a disservice to the owner,
01:34:54
I won't be shy to say something.
01:34:57
because the owner is not there to see it
01:34:59
and
01:35:00
>> you know what it's like.
01:35:02
>> I feel like I owe it to the whoever does
01:35:04
own it and I don't know is to actually
01:35:06
say something. So I might be a little
01:35:08
harsh sometimes then but you know I'm
01:35:11
trying to support restaurants. I've got
01:35:13
I've started doing uh what I call road
01:35:16
hooking in the mini
01:35:19
videos for um Instagram of a restaurant
01:35:22
I go to. And if it's not good, I don't
01:35:24
even ever edit it and put it in. They're
01:35:26
very amateur-ish, but you know, the last
01:35:28
one I did, it's had over 80,000 views.
01:35:32
>> I saw one on social media this morning,
01:35:33
um a restaurant on Richmond Road.
01:35:35
>> Yeah.
01:35:35
>> Yeah.
01:35:36
>> Yeah. They got a a thousand new
01:35:38
subscribers in a weekend to their
01:35:41
Instagram page. So, if I can help in
01:35:43
little ways like that, I love to do it,
01:35:45
you know, to show people there's some
01:35:47
great things that we have in New
01:35:50
Zealand.
01:35:51
>> Um, what about your biggest or most
01:35:53
painful failure? Is that the the stock
01:35:55
cap thing?
01:35:56
>> Oh, the stocks. Yeah. So, uh, we
01:36:00
launched a concentrate stock and we were
01:36:04
very excited because when we're when I
01:36:06
was on Masteref and I'm going have to be
01:36:08
careful with this. They were sponsored
01:36:10
by Campbell and I never rated it and I
01:36:13
don't I want can't speak on behalf of
01:36:15
other judges but I didn't rate it and I
01:36:19
thought wonder if I could make a stock
01:36:21
that's better than that. So we came up
01:36:23
with a stock concentrate that comes in a
01:36:25
pouch and you take it home and you just
01:36:28
squeeze it into hot water and you can
01:36:30
drink it like soup. No E numbers, no
01:36:33
preservatives and when it once it's open
01:36:37
you can put it in the fridge for months.
01:36:38
sort of last and last and last cuz it's
01:36:40
real whereas you other stocks liquid
01:36:44
stocks you left to throw away after 3
01:36:46
days. So we launched we were launching
01:36:49
that 2 days before we learn launch we
01:36:52
had a cap failure. So the entire lot and
01:36:54
this was going into every super every
01:36:56
countdown in New Zealand. So we had to
01:36:59
throw the whole lot away and start
01:37:00
again. So that was
01:37:03
horrendous cost and
01:37:06
>> like what if you had to put a figure on
01:37:07
it? couple of hundred grand.
01:37:09
>> Oh yeah. And of course the cat people
01:37:12
blamed the package
01:37:15
the the the tightening of it. It was
01:37:17
overtightened and everybody blamed
01:37:20
everybody and we ended up carrying the
01:37:22
can. So we had to pull the launch back
01:37:27
launch again. But you know we're in most
01:37:28
supermarkets around New Zealand with our
01:37:30
gouls stock which is beef, lamb, chicken
01:37:35
and vegetable. And people who use them
01:37:38
absolutely love them. They're
01:37:40
>> price similar to the competitive stocks,
01:37:44
but you can keep ours if you don't use
01:37:46
it all for much longer. So the little
01:37:48
tiny sachets make 2 L. So biggest fail
01:37:53
to start off with. Probably one of the
01:37:55
most proudest things that I've done
01:37:58
that's actually in the supermarket. That
01:38:00
is fantastic. I so wish the ketchup was
01:38:02
still there
01:38:03
>> because you know the amount of ketchup
01:38:06
that is consumed in New Zealand when you
01:38:08
think most ketchup bottles are almost
01:38:11
50% sugar.
01:38:12
>> It was a great thing for this country
01:38:14
but we just couldn't make it work.
01:38:16
>> Have you started making money on the
01:38:18
stock yet? Have you
01:38:20
>> not a scent but we're still going. Well,
01:38:23
we are today. We are today. Like a
01:38:26
little bit more loyalty out there.
01:38:28
Please, people, if you can, please.
01:38:30
Where do I look?
01:38:31
>> And what about the um the Brisco
01:38:33
collaboration at How does that come
01:38:35
about? You're everywhere in Bris.
01:38:37
>> Yeah. So, I was asked by Rod Duke if I'd
01:38:40
like to do a range with him, and I
01:38:43
thought this sounds cool because, you
01:38:46
know, it's something everyday New
01:38:48
Zealanders can afford to buy cuz, you
01:38:50
know, obviously there's a lot of
01:38:51
specials at Brisco. Most people buy on
01:38:53
special. And when they showed me the
01:38:57
sort of products that they were going to
01:38:58
do, I thought, "This is really great
01:39:00
quality stuff that everybody can
01:39:02
afford." And I've been in there for
01:39:05
years now with Bristo, you know, from
01:39:08
everything from pots and pans and knives
01:39:10
and tea towels, aprons, plates, glasses,
01:39:16
and that's been a really fantastic
01:39:19
collaboration with Brisco.
01:39:22
>> Yeah. How do you feel when you go to a
01:39:23
Brisco? iconic New Zealand store and
01:39:25
your name's on this whole range.
01:39:27
>> I tell you when I feel really good is
01:39:29
when I go to a restaurant and I pick the
01:39:30
plate up and it's one of mine cuz I
01:39:32
think somebody's bought some, right?
01:39:35
Going in into the store like Hazel was
01:39:38
saying, "Dad, you know, faces on
01:39:39
everything." But some of the some of the
01:39:42
original packaging is still there. And
01:39:44
she said, "Dad, that's your fat face."
01:39:49
>> Oh, that's awesome. Seems like you have
01:39:50
a really good relationship with her.
01:39:53
real good mates.
01:39:54
>> Yeah, I'm dad,
01:39:56
>> you know. I'm not one of these people
01:39:58
who's asked to be mates. I'm dad there.
01:40:00
And
01:40:01
>> she's a cool kid and she's my world. I
01:40:04
love it a bit. And I just love seeing
01:40:06
her grow,
01:40:08
>> fall, get up,
01:40:10
you know, she's an absolute joy to a
01:40:13
mother and myself and grandparents.
01:40:16
>> Yeah, that's No. No more kids for you.
01:40:19
>> No, I've been there, done that. I mean,
01:40:22
you're younger than Barry Soap, I think.
01:40:24
>> You would you would you ever get married
01:40:26
again or No, that that's done as well.
01:40:28
Or
01:40:29
>> No, no. No, that's too risky.
01:40:34
>> Yeah.
01:40:35
>> Lost a lot of money on the last one.
01:40:36
Can't afford to do that again.
01:40:39
>> I um I watched an interview with Russell
01:40:41
Crow yesterday. I think he's exactly the
01:40:42
same age as you, 61. And um he was asked
01:40:45
in this interview like uh will you get
01:40:46
engaged or married? And he goes, "No, me
01:40:48
and my girlfriend, we're extremely
01:40:50
happy. Why would we ruin it with a
01:40:51
wedding?
01:40:52
>> Yeah, exactly.
01:40:52
>> I thought it was a great line.
01:40:54
>> Um, so the book's called No Half
01:40:56
Measures. Uh, what does that mean to you
01:40:58
personally, that saying?
01:41:00
>> It means to me that I'm not doing it
01:41:02
half
01:41:04
>> I always try and
01:41:07
excel. I remember saying to all my team
01:41:10
in the restaurants, you know, people
01:41:13
pass a lot of restaurants to come to our
01:41:15
restaurant. It's not like we're the only
01:41:17
ones. So they're consciously driving or
01:41:19
walking past restaurants and if they're
01:41:22
to come to ours. So if they go into that
01:41:25
restaurant and they're having a perfect
01:41:28
day and everything goes swimming well so
01:41:31
they get 100% peak performance out of
01:41:33
their experience there. How are we going
01:41:36
to differentiate ourselves? We need to
01:41:39
find that extra 5% magic. We need to be
01:41:42
at 105 to make people realize that it
01:41:45
was worth coming that extra distance.
01:41:47
And if that's just when they walk in
01:41:49
looking up and going, "Hey, how are
01:41:51
you?"
01:41:52
>> Doesn't matter what it is. We need to
01:41:54
find that extra 5% magic with whatever
01:41:57
we do. So to me, that's what no half
01:41:59
measures are. Let's do it as well as we
01:42:02
can because sure enough, your
01:42:04
competitors trying just as hard, if not
01:42:07
harder. M I I feel like that is um has a
01:42:11
bit like the impression I've got from
01:42:12
this this podcast. That's how you've
01:42:14
lived your life. It's like your guiding
01:42:15
star like just doing everything to the
01:42:18
absolute best of your ability.
01:42:20
>> Try to try to My problem is I say yes
01:42:23
too much. I should I need to Everybody
01:42:25
tells me I need to start saying no to
01:42:27
everything. But I love I I love the
01:42:29
challenge of things. I I I really enjoy
01:42:32
the challenge
01:42:34
>> and don't like it when I don't do as
01:42:37
well as I'd like to. But
01:42:39
>> what would you say are your best and
01:42:41
worst habits?
01:42:43
>> Best and worst habit.
01:42:44
>> I had um I had sir sir Steve Hansen on
01:42:47
the podcast a few months ago and he he's
01:42:49
got a theory that for most people um
01:42:50
their greatest strength is also their
01:42:52
greatest weakness. So I wonder if um if
01:42:54
if you like one of your best and worst
01:42:56
habits is saying saying yes to
01:42:57
everything. I I think that would be I
01:43:00
mean I've got something coming up this
01:43:02
weekend where it was a charity thing.
01:43:04
What I do this cooking thing with dads
01:43:07
and their child son or daughter and I
01:43:11
thought that's a cool thing. And so then
01:43:14
I quickly wrote down a menu and sent it
01:43:16
off to them. And now I'm thinking I
01:43:19
got to work all the recipes out and get
01:43:22
it all organized. So, you know, it's a
01:43:24
charity again. It's another thing I do
01:43:26
for nothing. But
01:43:27
>> um yeah, I I say yes way too easily and
01:43:30
then end up stressing out or carrying
01:43:33
the consequence to deliver on it. And of
01:43:36
course, I want to deliver well on it, so
01:43:37
I'll you know how
01:43:39
>> Yeah. I'll go all out.
01:43:40
>> What are you most afraid of?
01:43:45
>> What am I most afraid of?
01:43:52
not having enough money to relax when
01:43:55
I'm a bit older,
01:43:57
>> you know.
01:43:57
>> Are you on track?
01:43:59
>> You You're not going to stop working.
01:44:00
Eh, what what are your thoughts?
01:44:01
>> I love No, I love working, but I you
01:44:03
know, I I love traveling and yeah, I
01:44:06
hate to go bust and you know, you're
01:44:09
hearing this all the time now, right,
01:44:11
with restaurants and different business.
01:44:14
It's tough and I'm not immune to it. So,
01:44:17
you know, at the moment it's it's
01:44:19
stressful and you know, I would yeah,
01:44:22
that would be the thing I'm most afraid
01:44:24
of is going bust. So, it's not about how
01:44:26
much money it's, you know, just need to
01:44:28
be comfortable
01:44:29
>> and not go bust.
01:44:31
>> So, you know, I'm working hard on all of
01:44:33
those things at the moment.
01:44:35
>> Four more years until the pension cuz
01:44:37
that's not that's not going to go far
01:44:38
though, is it? A few hundred bucks a
01:44:40
week.
01:44:40
>> No. No.
01:44:41
>> Um, you'll keep working until until the
01:44:43
day you drop.
01:44:44
>> I think so. I mean, you know, I like
01:44:46
projects. I love projects and I love,
01:44:49
you know, I'd love, you know, people say
01:44:51
to me, will you do another restaurant?
01:44:52
And I say, never say never. You know, if
01:44:54
some young person came up and I thought,
01:44:57
this is the right person to back in a
01:45:00
restaurant where they're running it, but
01:45:01
I'm just a support role.
01:45:04
I' I'd like to do that. Maybe if the
01:45:06
right person came up, you never know. My
01:45:09
daughter might say, I want to do a
01:45:10
restaurant. Hopefully not, actually. But
01:45:14
>> so you're okay with her her gliding.
01:45:17
>> Yeah, I'm okay with the fine, but I
01:45:18
don't want her to have a restaurant life
01:45:20
because it's a killer. You know, it's
01:45:22
antisocial. It's hard work and not a big
01:45:25
enough routine.
01:45:25
>> Well, that's good. As apparent, you got
01:45:27
to have your boundaries. Yeah. What
01:45:28
about regrets?
01:45:30
>> Regrets? Um,
01:45:33
yeah, there there is a couple. Um, I
01:45:35
remember Kevin Roberts had said to me,
01:45:39
"Want to help you into a restaurant in
01:45:41
New York?" And I said, "No." And also
01:45:45
Simon Fuller was keen to do a restaurant
01:45:48
in London and I said no. Because it was
01:45:51
the Kiwi in me wanting to come home. But
01:45:53
I would have loved to have done either
01:45:55
of those to go, "Yeah, I did that."
01:45:58
>> For a guy whose worst habit is saying
01:45:59
yes to things, you cocked those ones up,
01:46:01
didn't you?
01:46:02
>> Yeah. It's the two that cuz I do love
01:46:05
New Zealand. New Zealand is home and I I
01:46:07
love it. And both of those sort of
01:46:10
offers were at a time that I hadn't been
01:46:12
here for a while. So
01:46:14
>> So after everything you've been through,
01:46:16
um the restaurants, the products, the
01:46:19
fame, the failures, what is it that
01:46:21
you're still hungry for?
01:46:25
>> H
01:46:28
more time to go gliding and flying
01:46:30
probably.
01:46:32
>> Yeah. Yeah. What is it about gliding?
01:46:34
I'm intrigued about gliding. The only
01:46:35
person I I know and I don't even know
01:46:37
him that glides is Richie Mccor.
01:46:39
>> Yeah, Richie is a a very good glider
01:46:42
pilot or sail planes. So, most people
01:46:46
think a glider just goes up and flutters
01:46:48
down, right? But the actual reality of
01:46:51
it is they're heavy high performance
01:46:55
machines that can go massive distances.
01:46:58
So there's a great Kiwi soaring glider
01:47:02
pilot called Terry D'Lore. They call him
01:47:03
the master of the wave. Very good friend
01:47:05
of mine and flies a lot with Richie
01:47:07
Mccor too. And he took off in Omar in
01:47:12
the morning and flew to the bottom of
01:47:15
the South Island and that evening landed
01:47:19
in Drury in South Oakland in a glider.
01:47:23
I mean that's the entire length of the
01:47:27
South Island and almost up you know to
01:47:31
Oakland Drury landed there and then had
01:47:34
a few days and then flew to Cape Banger
01:47:36
and back in a glider you know they can
01:47:39
go phenomenal distance and from a
01:47:43
competition point of view once you get
01:47:45
skilled enough you know they have these
01:47:48
fantastic competitions how fast can you
01:47:50
fly around the course And invariably
01:47:53
they're faster than you could do it in a
01:47:55
little 172 Cessna. You know, they're
01:47:58
fast, high performance. They're
01:48:00
beautiful to look at. They're they're
01:48:01
just sleek, graceful machines. It's like
01:48:05
strapping a pair of overalls on and
01:48:07
going flying. You can be in a thermal
01:48:10
and look out and see a hawk flying and
01:48:13
his head is turning like this, looking
01:48:16
at you. And if you're in a thermal that
01:48:19
a hawk's in, you know you're in the best
01:48:21
lift. And all of a sudden the hawk will
01:48:23
go, "Oh, he's a bit bigger than me." He
01:48:24
flaps his wings and flies off. But you
01:48:27
know, flying in the mountains in the
01:48:30
South Island, you know, round the face
01:48:32
of Mount Cook, you see scenery that
01:48:35
nobody else sees. It is you against the
01:48:39
elements and you know there are all
01:48:41
sorts of sources of lift. You don't just
01:48:44
go up and soar off. So there are
01:48:46
thermals, right? So in a you see a
01:48:49
little white puffy cloud. There's
01:48:51
generally a column of rising air under
01:48:53
that. So the sun heats the ground and if
01:48:55
you're bare feet and you're running
01:48:57
across an ash felt road it's hot on your
01:48:59
feet. Then over the grass it's not as
01:49:01
hot. So the air over that ashfelt road
01:49:04
is warmer so it rises and as it rises it
01:49:08
condenses and forms a little white puffy
01:49:11
cloud. So under that white puffy cloud
01:49:13
there's a column of rising air. So if
01:49:15
you fly under under that in your glider
01:49:17
and then circle you go up in the lift
01:49:20
>> and then you go off to the next one.
01:49:23
Then there's ridge lift. So you've got a
01:49:25
big hill and you know like something
01:49:27
like the Kaimai Rangers or the Alps in
01:49:30
the South Island and there's a westerly
01:49:32
blowing and a wind hits the hill. Well,
01:49:34
it can't go into the ground. It's got to
01:49:36
go up. So if you fly along the face of
01:49:38
that lift, the face of that hill, you're
01:49:42
in rising air. So you can go phenomenal
01:49:44
speeds. You can be going like, you know,
01:49:47
180 kilometers an hour in this rising
01:49:50
air and cover huge distances. Then
01:49:52
there's wave lift which you see in the
01:49:55
South Island with these beautiful
01:49:57
lenticular clouds. So the wind hits the
01:50:00
hill and when it's a big hill like in
01:50:02
the South Island of the Alps, hits the
01:50:05
hill, rises up and then it gets cold and
01:50:07
it falls down again, hits the ground and
01:50:10
then it bounces even higher the next
01:50:13
time. And that's when you can fly to
01:50:15
incredible altitudes, higher than a a
01:50:18
jet airliner. You know, you're on oxygen
01:50:21
up there. So there's all these different
01:50:23
forms of lift and that is such a
01:50:27
challenge as a pilot to be up there. You
01:50:29
against the elements. No engine,
01:50:31
>> just you flying against the elements.
01:50:34
How fast can you go? How far can you go?
01:50:37
>> It it is just the most incredible sport
01:50:41
that you could do.
01:50:42
You love it, don't you? What
01:50:43
What's it like up there? Pardon my
01:50:44
ignorance. Is it um everyone imagines
01:50:47
super still, but is is it noisy with the
01:50:49
wind? Everybody thinks it's quiet, but
01:50:51
it's actually reasonably noisy because
01:50:53
you're going fast. So, you're in this
01:50:55
very sleek machine. So, you don't want
01:50:57
any tiny cracks or anything letting air
01:50:59
in,
01:51:00
>> otherwise it will be really noisy and
01:51:03
causes drag. So, you know, you're in
01:51:04
this like capsule. So, but it is
01:51:07
relatively noisy. It's not quiet.
01:51:09
>> And can your mind wander or do you are
01:51:10
you fully engaged? And
01:51:13
>> you can your mind can wander when you're
01:51:15
set up in a lift and just going up, but
01:51:17
no, you're pretty That's what I love
01:51:18
about it. It's completely different to
01:51:20
everything else you do. You go, you
01:51:22
strap into that glider, you go flying,
01:51:24
and that's what you're doing until
01:51:26
you're back on the ground at the bar
01:51:28
telling how telling everybody how well
01:51:30
you did or didn't do. You've got good
01:51:32
energy, eh? Like you you really do live
01:51:35
the um the no half measures um
01:51:38
lifestyle. Like everything you do,
01:51:40
you're just so enthusiastic when you
01:51:41
talk about it. It's really really
01:51:42
captivating.
01:51:44
>> Yeah. Well, I probably can't talk about
01:51:45
running like that, right?
01:51:48
Well, it's not something you're into.
01:51:50
Um, do you think about legacy at all?
01:51:52
Not really.
01:51:54
>> Uh,
01:51:56
not until you just mention really.
01:51:58
>> No, I just want to be a good dad. I want
01:52:00
I want to be remembered as like he was a
01:52:03
good dad. That's all I care about.
01:52:05
>> Yeah. When the time comes that you pass,
01:52:07
say 30 years from now.
01:52:11
What what what three words would you
01:52:12
like Hazel to use to describe you
01:52:15
>> as a man and as a dad?
01:52:19
>> I love my dad.
01:52:23
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I can tell how much you
01:52:25
love her, too.
01:52:26
>> Yeah. Yeah.
01:52:26
>> Yeah.
01:52:27
>> Are you proud of yourself?
01:52:29
>> Yeah. Yeah. I think I've done pretty
01:52:31
good. And uh
01:52:34
you know, definitely done things I'm not
01:52:36
proud about. Don't ask me what cuz I
01:52:38
can't really remember, but you know,
01:52:40
like I you know, nobody's perfect,
01:52:42
right?
01:52:43
>> Nobody's perfect.
01:52:45
>> You know, oh no, there's a few people on
01:52:47
the internet that are
01:52:48
>> in the comment section.
01:52:49
>> Oh, yes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The
01:52:52
keyboard warrior, I call them.
01:52:54
>> Yeah.
01:52:54
>> Hey, this has been a wonderful
01:52:55
conversation. I'm so pleased we made
01:52:57
this happen. Yeah. How's it for you
01:52:59
reflecting on the highs and lows.
01:53:01
>> Yeah, it's pretty good. You you you draw
01:53:03
in the bits that you don't think about,
01:53:05
you know, to get me to talk about. So
01:53:07
no, I've enjoyed it. It's been
01:53:09
>> Well, it's been wonderful. I feel like
01:53:10
you're an old mate.
01:53:11
>> Yeah, I suppose the TV connection, but
01:53:14
it's been really enjoyable. So,
01:53:15
>> you'll have to come to my deli. Come
01:53:17
into my deli. I've got all the secret
01:53:19
weapons for your pantry at home, and
01:53:21
I'll turn you into a salt snob, olive
01:53:25
oil and balsamic snob.
01:53:28
>> So, come and see me in St. John's.
01:53:29
>> Mate, you you'd hate me. I can I can eat
01:53:31
for survival. Like, I could eat salmon
01:53:33
and broccoli every night of the week. I
01:53:35
can I can make your broccoli taste
01:53:37
better than anything. I get people who I
01:53:39
don't like Brussels sprouts. I'm like,
01:53:42
I'll get you liking Brussels sprouts.
01:53:44
You're a great New Zealander and
01:53:46
you've done some stuff. Simon Golton,
01:53:47
thank you very much for being on the
01:53:48
podcast.
01:53:49
>> Pleasure. Thank you very much for having
01:53:50
me.