Having found that some of my jobs posts are getting a little long, I'm now going to exclude any cafe/barista work, and limit it to restaurant/bar.
Food and Beverage Attendant - Q, Westin, CBD
Busser - Sky City Convention Centre, CBD
Duty Manager - Dannemora
Part Time Bar Manager - Auckland University RFC, East Auckland
Wait Staff/Manager - Nguyen, City
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
26000
26000 Vodka has been in the news quite a bit lately. What started in Nelson in 2006 as a small, privately owned company, in 2008 they secured a contract with United States Beverages for $10 million (0r $16 million depending watch you read) to supply 250,000 bottles a year for six years.
It is a grain based vodka that comes in three flavours, the first being described as 'Crystalline,' which is unflavoured, Raspberry and Lemon, and Lychee. All three won awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2008.
When I found this article I got a little worried. New Zealand is a small country, so there were only a few options of what the company mentioned might be. On further digging, I found out that earlier this month 26000 had been sold to McCashin's Brewery, another business in Nelson. But only the brand has been sold, not the business itself. This article implies through its title that a vodka business is being sought for liquidation. But 26000 (or, Wakefield Quay, which is its company name), is no longer a vodka business, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. While I am not a big vodka drinker, I always prefer to support New Zealand products, and am pleased to find out that 26000 will continue to be produced.
As far as I can tell, the deal to supply USB still stands, as they are still displaying the 26000 product on their site, but I'll keep an eye out for any change.
Here a video of 26000 Lychee bring used in a cocktail
The recipe, in case you were wondering:
45mls 26000 Lychee Infusion
15mls Bacardi 151
30mls Lychee Juice
3 chopped Lychees (appear to be canned)
Shake and Dump into a Catalina glass
Top with Soda Water
It is a grain based vodka that comes in three flavours, the first being described as 'Crystalline,' which is unflavoured, Raspberry and Lemon, and Lychee. All three won awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2008.
When I found this article I got a little worried. New Zealand is a small country, so there were only a few options of what the company mentioned might be. On further digging, I found out that earlier this month 26000 had been sold to McCashin's Brewery, another business in Nelson. But only the brand has been sold, not the business itself. This article implies through its title that a vodka business is being sought for liquidation. But 26000 (or, Wakefield Quay, which is its company name), is no longer a vodka business, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. While I am not a big vodka drinker, I always prefer to support New Zealand products, and am pleased to find out that 26000 will continue to be produced.
As far as I can tell, the deal to supply USB still stands, as they are still displaying the 26000 product on their site, but I'll keep an eye out for any change.
Here a video of 26000 Lychee bring used in a cocktail
The recipe, in case you were wondering:
45mls 26000 Lychee Infusion
15mls Bacardi 151
30mls Lychee Juice
3 chopped Lychees (appear to be canned)
Shake and Dump into a Catalina glass
Top with Soda Water
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Coeliac Disease
Working in a restaurant, I am often questioned about certain menu items in terms of allergies, which is nothing abnormal. But that got me thinking; what about alcohol? I am aware that animal products are used in fining for wine and certain other products, so vegans steer clear, so I thought I should investigate different allergies to provide a resource for anyone who would find this sort of thing useful, starting with Coeliac disease.
For those who don't know, Coeliac disease is a problem with the autoimmune system that causes an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats (although this is currently being researched), which as you can imagine, includes a number of different types of alcohol.
The obvious alcohols that may include gluten are beers. However, due to the way that the barley malt protein is processed it becomes quite degraded, so only small traces of gluten remain. While I wouldn't go recommending to a customer that beer is therefore safe for them to drink, it is possible for someone to explore this option themselves if they are a Coeliac sufferer.
Wheat beer can potentially be a different story. Coeliacs have been shown to be more sensitive to the gluten proteins found in wheat to that in barley, so if choosing to drink beer, wheat beer is probably not the way to go, and neither is boutique beer, which has been generally shown to contain higher levels of gluten.
Something to also be conscious of is the use in gluten in some icing/superfine sugar preparations. If using this for cocktails it would be best to check the labelling just to be safe.
Virtually all distilled spirits are gluten free, even those containing wheat, due to the processing they undertake when they are distilled (the gluten peptide is too large to be distilled). The only thing that you need to be careful about, in general, is anything added after the distillation process that may contain gluten. A few Coeliacs still report sensitivity to grain based alcohol, so be vigilant.
If wanting to find absolutely gluten free alcohol, try Green's or Bard's Beer, or, you can try making your own gluten free beer using this recipe.
For those who don't know, Coeliac disease is a problem with the autoimmune system that causes an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats (although this is currently being researched), which as you can imagine, includes a number of different types of alcohol.
The obvious alcohols that may include gluten are beers. However, due to the way that the barley malt protein is processed it becomes quite degraded, so only small traces of gluten remain. While I wouldn't go recommending to a customer that beer is therefore safe for them to drink, it is possible for someone to explore this option themselves if they are a Coeliac sufferer.
Wheat beer can potentially be a different story. Coeliacs have been shown to be more sensitive to the gluten proteins found in wheat to that in barley, so if choosing to drink beer, wheat beer is probably not the way to go, and neither is boutique beer, which has been generally shown to contain higher levels of gluten.
Something to also be conscious of is the use in gluten in some icing/superfine sugar preparations. If using this for cocktails it would be best to check the labelling just to be safe.
Virtually all distilled spirits are gluten free, even those containing wheat, due to the processing they undertake when they are distilled (the gluten peptide is too large to be distilled). The only thing that you need to be careful about, in general, is anything added after the distillation process that may contain gluten. A few Coeliacs still report sensitivity to grain based alcohol, so be vigilant.
If wanting to find absolutely gluten free alcohol, try Green's or Bard's Beer, or, you can try making your own gluten free beer using this recipe.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Jobs #3
Duty Manager - Newmarket
Cafe Assistant - Albany
Bar and Restaurant Manager - Mission Bay
Cafe Assistant - Herne Bay
Bar and Wait Staff - Mission Bay
Full Time Wait Staff - Cornwall Park
Part Time Barista - Voila Cafe
Part Time Barista - Sale St
Function Co-ordinator/Maitre' D - Harbourside
Cellar Hand - Sky City
Part Time Wait Staff - Ming Court Sky City
Full Time Bar Manager - Fluent in Korean/Japanese
Part Time Wait Staff - Portside Brasserie, Viaduct
Duty Manager - O'Hagans, Viaduct
Barista - Blockhouse Bay
Cafe Assistant - Albany
Bar and Restaurant Manager - Mission Bay
Cafe Assistant - Herne Bay
Bar and Wait Staff - Mission Bay
Full Time Wait Staff - Cornwall Park
Part Time Barista - Voila Cafe
Part Time Barista - Sale St
Function Co-ordinator/Maitre' D - Harbourside
Cellar Hand - Sky City
Part Time Wait Staff - Ming Court Sky City
Full Time Bar Manager - Fluent in Korean/Japanese
Part Time Wait Staff - Portside Brasserie, Viaduct
Duty Manager - O'Hagans, Viaduct
Barista - Blockhouse Bay
Jobs #2
Barista - Onehunga
Bartender - Non Solo Pizza Parnell
Pita Pit Fixed Term Contract - CBD
two fifteen bistro - Part time floor staff Mt Eden
Barista/ Front of House Staff - Parnell
Duty Manager/ Bar Staff - Rose and Crown Group (multiple positions and locations)
P.S If you have a job you would like advertised, please feel free to add it to the comments below
Bartender - Non Solo Pizza Parnell
Pita Pit Fixed Term Contract - CBD
two fifteen bistro - Part time floor staff Mt Eden
Barista/ Front of House Staff - Parnell
Duty Manager/ Bar Staff - Rose and Crown Group (multiple positions and locations)
P.S If you have a job you would like advertised, please feel free to add it to the comments below
Monday, August 10, 2009
Jobs #1
So, as I mentioned in my first post, I will be informing you of any hospitality jobs that I come across in the Auckland region. This will be limited to front of house i.e. floor, bar, porter etc
Front of House/ Barista
O'Connell St Bistro Floor Staff
Restaurant Manager - Sale St
Front of House Manager - Sale St
Bar Manager - IBA Ltd
Barista - Starbucks Newmarket
Cafe Assistant - The Fridge Cafe Kingsland
Duty Manager/Wait Person - The Maple Room Remuera
Bar/Floor Staff - Paddington Parnell
Front of House/ Barista
O'Connell St Bistro Floor Staff
Restaurant Manager - Sale St
Front of House Manager - Sale St
Bar Manager - IBA Ltd
Barista - Starbucks Newmarket
Cafe Assistant - The Fridge Cafe Kingsland
Duty Manager/Wait Person - The Maple Room Remuera
Bar/Floor Staff - Paddington Parnell
Friday, August 7, 2009
Up for Grabs - Wither Hills
Another interest of mine in the realm of all things alcoholic is the business that goes on behind it.
In particular, it as just come to my attention that Lion Nathan is looking to sell part of its Marlborough wine producer Wither Hills.
Lion has found it tough with the economic downturn, having heavily invested in premium brands, as overseas markets are looking to purchase at the lower end of the scale.
This will come as a blow to the New Zealand wine industry, especially after Pernod Ricard cutting Gisborne wine growers contracts, and Constellation having its growers leave around 650 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc blending grapes (such as Chenin Blanc) on the vines in the same region.
Lion purchased Wither Hills in 2002 from wine maker Brent Marris. Originally established in 1994 as a small boutique label, and in time their Sauvignon Blanc became the most popular in the country. Once Marris had sold to Lion (for $52 million) he stayed on to continue running Wither Hills. Following this, Marris was accused of creating separate batches for entry to competitions, and lost his judging positions, but this was subsequently disproven, although there is still some debate about this. He left Wither Hills in early 2007, and now is currently working on his new brand, The Ned.
What makes this story all the more interesting is that currently Lion Nathan is negotiating a takeover bid from Kirin, who is already a major shareholder in the company. The prospect of selling Wither Hills has arisen due to a report commissioned for Lion's shareholders. It will be interesting to see whether it goes ahead, who will purchase it, and what will happen to the brand after this.
Note: Since the creation of this post it has been reported that Lion is not, in fact, selling Wither Hills, and that the NZPA got this wrong. However, I will continue to watch what happens on the purchase of Lion Nathan by Kirin, and see what changes, if any, occur when this does eventuate, once the Kirin shareholders have voted at their meeting in September.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Bar Smarts by Pernod Ricard USA
If you are a bartender or cocktail enthusiast that resides in the US, I would hope that you would be aware of Pernod Ricard's BarSmarts programme, a training facility that utilises the knowledge of such luminaries as Dale DeGroff, Doug Frost, Steve Olson, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour and David Wondrich, who collectively form B.A.R (The Beverage Alcohol Resource)
Originally by invitation only, and available in limited locations, they have recently launched BarSmarts Wired, an online version available to anyone, as long as you live in the US or Canada.
I think this course is an excellent idea for raising standards of service within the hospitality industry, my only gripe being that I can't participate! I had patiently waited for the launch of Wired on the 1st of August, only to find out that everyone else is excluded. While I understand that this is a new undertaking, and it will take time for it to extend to the smaller market of Australasia, I do recommend that if you are in a position to complete this programme that you do it!
Originally by invitation only, and available in limited locations, they have recently launched BarSmarts Wired, an online version available to anyone, as long as you live in the US or Canada.
I think this course is an excellent idea for raising standards of service within the hospitality industry, my only gripe being that I can't participate! I had patiently waited for the launch of Wired on the 1st of August, only to find out that everyone else is excluded. While I understand that this is a new undertaking, and it will take time for it to extend to the smaller market of Australasia, I do recommend that if you are in a position to complete this programme that you do it!
Education
I have created this blog as a means of keeping track of the research I am doing in order to further my education into the hospitality industry. I hope to include any interesting information I find in my travels, any industry news, particularly that pertaining to New Zealand and Australia, and anything else that I come across that I'd like to file away for a later date.
If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see here please don't hesitate to let me know, if it means I will have a better understanding of my passion then I will be particularly appreciative.
I will also include short posts about any hospitality jobs that I come across being advertised, in the Auckland region to begin with, but hopefully nationwide with time.
Just as an indication of what I intend to include in the future, here is a video of cocktail historian David Wondrich on the Colbert Report
If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see here please don't hesitate to let me know, if it means I will have a better understanding of my passion then I will be particularly appreciative.
I will also include short posts about any hospitality jobs that I come across being advertised, in the Auckland region to begin with, but hopefully nationwide with time.
Just as an indication of what I intend to include in the future, here is a video of cocktail historian David Wondrich on the Colbert Report
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Colbert Bump Cocktail - David Wondrich | ||||
| ||||
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