From oligarchs and superyachts to fish and chips in Grey Lynn
Chef Nathan Ward has worked in top restaurants around the world but says his humble fish and chips is right up there on the "bougie scale".
When Nathan Ward bought a fish and chip shop in Auckland's Grey Lynn three years ago, it was a far cry from cooking for oligarchs on super yachts and in top restaurants in Melbourne and London.
But the owner of 'Nate's Plaice' says the fast-paced Friday nights can get the heart racing just as fast as any five-star establishment.
"We are right up there I would have to say with that bougie scale. I think our direct competition sort of set the benchmark for that and so we had to kind of answer that really and keep the freshness and that quality," Ward tells Nine to Noon.
Nathan Ward says he's never worked at a place like The River Cafe in London, which has been known for raising stars like Jamie Oliver.
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"I think fish and chips, especially now, for the younger generation, it's not necessarily just a greasy piece of fish and wrapped up newspaper anymore."
Although he says it's hard to please everybody, they cater to sustainability goals, offer more affordable fish and are considerate of dietary requirements such as gluten-free or vegan.
The Hawke's Bay-born chef caught the travelling bug about 20 years ago, and built an impressive resume with stints at Melbourne's Rockpool Bar and Grill (co-founded by Australian celebrity chef Neil Perry) and London's The River Café (which was the breeding ground of great names like Jamie Oliver).
"I've never worked in a restaurant like it [The River Café] and I still haven't worked in a restaurant ever again like it.
"The head chef walks down around about 10 in the morning, he writes the menu for lunch, so you don't know what you're doing until he comes and writes the menu. Then you get assigned what jobs you're going to do for lunch. Everybody gets the jobs done and then suddenly you go into lunch service and then that same thing happens in the afternoon.
"So it's a completely different menu from the lunch to the evening, and it's a crazy way of doing it, but it works. So your repertoire tends to build almost overnight, because you're just learning."
Larry Ellison's superyacht Rising Sun during America's Cup on 14 February, 2010.
AFP / Pool / Daniel Ochoa De Olza
His visa was expiring but Ward fell in love with Europe and managed to stay by finding jobs on super yachts - some of which he had to sign non-disclosure agreements for due to the VIPs on board. One of those yachts belonged to American tech billionaire Larry Ellison.
"It is a different world. I mean over the years now I've become a bit desensitised. But yeah, it was like a kid in the candy shop when I first started working on yachts like that. Everything was a new experience, you didn't take all these things granted.
"Larry was a good guy. He had a lot of respect for the Kiwis as well.
"It was challenging, but you get all the produce at your fingertips, you get whatever you want to do and so that's what's really cool. I mean a lot of restaurants wouldn't be able to afford to use wagyu and caviar and things the way we would use it to a certain extent, because we've got to think about food costs in the restaurants and things like that. So it was pretty eye opening ... basically like a playground for a chef really."
The Covid-19 pandemic brought Ward back to New Zealand.
"I sort of thought 'well [I] really want to open up a restaurant and a wine bar'. But I think that [a takeaway place] was kind of a safer option and [I] thought well, if we do go back into a sort of semi-lockdown, I was going to be able to do some takeaway meals and drop off to people's houses."
The fish and chip shop was initially just something to keep him busy while he was here, but three years later he's still at it.
Now, the big dream for him is to set up a farm-to-table homestead.
