Started by sheer accident by being at the right place at the right time with a passion for all things BBQ.
An idea born from a trip across America on my Harley 2 years earlier riding across 14 states in 4 months solo to investigate the origins & flavours of the different BBQ there.
I’d been away in the Pacific & Indian Oceans working for a year or so on a yacht as chef since my last visit to NZ. I came back for a holiday that turned into a permanent stay after being relieved of my position via email (but that’s another story).
I was setting up my personal chef business when I met Jarrad & Belinda,(Puha & Pakeha) who were looking for a chef to help with their food caravan. They had the site that is now SMOKIN COLE BBQ. It was a site unused other than as a prep kitchen & I immediately saw an opportunity for a pop up of some sort or another.
A couple of days later I was having a wander around the Viaduct & bumped into Alisdair of Fireworks BBQ & he told me they’d sold up. Long story short the Mammoth Octo Pit was still at the old site, so I bought it, transported it to the site & here it sat for next few months.
Whilst I decided where I was heading with this idea, I did another yacht delivery from Auckland to Indonesia, nothing like a month at sea to get the mind ticking over with possibilities!
I got back in mid October and I set to work with a lot of help from friends old and new to create my version of a relaxed BBQ Joint here in the inner city suburb of Grey Lynn. Six weeks later I opened SMOKIN COLE BBQ on December 1st 2019.
This is how it began the rest of the story is still being written…