Meet The Couples Behind 12 Of The Best Hospo Joints In Tāmaki Makaurau
Alice Rich
Contributor & Former Editor | Urban List NZ
There’s an especially strong venn diagram for romantic dates and Tāmaki Makaurau’s best eateries. And that should come as no surprise given love is actually the reason many of these spots exist in the first place.
They say working with your partner is risky, but these couples prove it isn’t just possible–with an aligned vision and clear communication, the result can be gorgeous. Besides, isn’t seriously good kai a universal love language?
We sat down with the couples behind 12 of our favourite eateries in Tāmaki Makaurau to find out how they met, what it’s like working together and their pick for a romantic date night, or day date.
Caretaker
40 Roukai Lane, Britomart
Image credit: Caretaker | supplied
Heather and Ali met working at Melbourne cocktail bar, Everleigh. “At first the owner was deeply unimpressed his managers were dating and said he would only allow it if it was true love and demanded we decide on the spot. We had been dating less than a week at that time!” says Heather.
A few years later it became clear that working together and living outside both of their home countries (Ali is from the UK and Heather is from Aotearoa) was too difficult. It was hard enough coordinating holidays together let alone choosing whose family to visit each year so they moved to Tāmaki Makaurau and opened Caretaker.
“We love working together, we have an absolute blast. We have different strengths so naturally gravitate to different aspects of running the business,” explains Heather. “I do think it helped that we had already managed a venue together for a year before becoming a couple so we already had the working relationship sorted.”
Go-to date night: Apéro.
D.O.S.E. On High
5 High Street, Auckland CBD
Image credit: D.O.S.E. On High | supplied
Connie and Reinaldo met on Tinder. Just six months after they started dating they registered D.O.S.E. LIMITED, and later that year, in 2023, D.O.S.E. on High was born.
“It probably seemed a little crazy to start a business together so early in our relationship—but we did, and we haven't looked back. Running a business comes with plenty of sacrifices, and there are times when work can easily take over your life. We’ve had to remind each other that while the business is important, so is our relationship.” Clearly, their intuition has served them well because earlier this year D.O.S.E. On High won Bidfood Outstanding Café at The Lewishams.
“At the end of the day, we're incredibly grateful to build this dream together. We're not just business partners—we're life partners too, and we truly couldn't ask for a better teammate.”
Go-to date night: Ken Yakitori.
Cassia
Currently a pop-up at Ozone Coffee (until 23 August ‘26), then within voco Auckland
Image credit: Cassia | The Hospo Guy
Sid and Chand met through mutual friends—Chand was an international student flatting with a friend of Sid’s. They moved in together a few months later and got married in 2006.
Chand was originally an English teacher at Rangitoto College but Sid’s unsocialable hospo hours at Cassia prompted her to switch industries. “I didn’t feel like I was being fair to my child or my students. So I left teaching and joined Sid in the business instead, learning hospo from the ground up.”
“It was an intentional choice for us to work together,” says Sid. “We looked at the most successful restaurants in New Zealand and realised there were power couples behind so many of them: people like Creghan Molloy-Wright and Simon Wright at The French Café, or Natalia Schamroth and Carl Koppenhagen at The Engine Room. We figured it was worth joining forces towards the same goal, rather than pulling in different directions.”
Go-to date night: Apéro or Aarth.
Forest
243 Dominion Road, Mount Eden
Image credit: Forest | A. McVinnie
Plabita invited Kate to a Forest pop-up at The Midnight Baker. Kate was running influential Instagram account @relishthememory at the time and Plabita was keen for coverage to help grow the Forest brand. Seven years later Kate is the full-time restaurant host and Plabita leads the kitchen at Forest’s gorgeous bricks-and-mortar location, and the pair are engaged.
“The more time I spent with Kate, the more input she naturally gave. With a solid background in judging food awards, food writing, reviewing dining experiences and basically just professional eating, her knowledge became hugely valuable," explains Plabita. "The process of behind the scenes opinion-giver to full-time restaurant host was pretty gradual, but now we can’t imagine Forest without her on the floor."
“It’s generally a very positive experience working together! We work hard to keep a professional boundary at work, mainly for the sake of our team, so no one has to feel weird if we’re annoying each other. Working together also means having proper support—someone to make sure you had lunch or to grab a random ingredient from home when you need it.”
Go-to day date: Sunday lunch at Lucky G’s.
Cinnamon Squared
41 Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD
Image credit: Cinnamon Squared | supplied
True love is baking 600 cinnamon buns a day, even when you wouldn’t have chosen to be a baker—had Cupid not intervened.
Minseok Lee was working at a cafe when he met Ellie, who was finishing up a travel stint and was due to fly back to South Korea two weeks later. “We got along instantly, and she decided to stay.” It was Ellie’s dream to run a hospitality business. Specifically, a biz laced with sweet treats. So now the couple work day in and day out slingin’ square-shaped cinnamon buns and lattes at their whimsical (and hugely popular) bun joint, Cinnamon Squared.
You can tell these two are in their element, just from the calm, sweet atmosphere in the shop. “We have the same goal. It’s a symbiotic relationship!”
Go-to date night: Mr Katsu.
Morell
91-95 Upland Road, Remuera
Image credit: Morell | supplied
Sarah and Daniel met at SPQR in 2009. Sarah had moved back from Sydney and stepped into a front of house manager role and Daniel was head chef. “We managed to keep it a secret for months which is unheard of in hospo!”
Their dynamic is absolute alignment. “We met in hospo, we fell in love in a restaurant, we worked together for years. Every time we go out to dine we are in sync, we want everything the same from the menu (always sharing), we agree on the level of service and ambience. We have the same taste and expectations. We had always run other people’s restaurants,” explains Daniel. “When the Morell sight popped up Sarah said, we can do this. Together we have the recipe.”
Earlier this year Morell received a Michelin accolade—a total highlight of their careers together.
Go-to date night: Lillius, Queens Rooftop & Wineshop and First Mates.
Parable House
45 New North Road, Eden Terrace
Image credit: Parable House | supplied
Dianne and Danny first met at church and were friends for many years before they started dating. “It’s been a journey that’s naturally led us to both life and business together.” Danny had always worked in hospitality while Dianne worked in corporate finance but they’d always wanted to work together.
In their first venture, Rumours Coffee, Danny did the day-to-day operations and Dianne supported with marketing, design and other behind-the-scenes details while juggling her career in finance. They’ve gone all-in on their newest cafe-lifestyle goods venture, Parable House (which does a mean plate of fried egg and hashbrown sticks).
“Working together has been even more rewarding than we expected. If you want a crash course in getting to know your partner, we recommend working together. It can take your relationship to a whole new level, but it also takes commitment, communication, and plenty of teamwork.”
Go-to date night: Eden Noodles or Zood in Sandringham, or Pici, Prego, Ragtag and Lillian.
Fort Greene
327 Karangahape Road
Image credit: Fort Greene | supplied
Andrea and Liam met in classic hospo style–working at a restaurant in Newmarket (Safran). “It was the typical chef/waitress scenario. No one outside the industry would ever understand the hours or the sense of humour.”
The pair had always dreamed of having their own spot one day. “When you start out in hospo, you work really hard on trying to improve and climb the ladder but it gets to a point where you can’t keep climbing.” They started Fort Greene as a specialist sandwich pop-up, which became a regular feature at a food truck spot known as The Street Food Collective in Ponsonby (where Eden Noodles Bar is now), before settling into bricks and mortar as a fully-fledged bakery and eatery, first in St Kevin’s Arcade and now at their current digs on Karangahape Road.
Go-to date night: Gemmayze Street, Apéro and Atelier.
Bear Gelato
327a Dominion Road, Mount Eden
Image credit: Bear Gelato | supplied
Kahwen and Ryan met while working in tech. “We were pretty stealthy about it and kept the relationship under wraps for about two years. Our big reveal was basically telling our boss that we were both resigning and heading to Europe for our OE,” says Kahwen.
They’d always envisaged starting some sort of business together but it wasn’t until they were living in Berlin and became “slightly obsessed” with their local neighbourhood gelateria and coffee shop (which serendipitously trained people in how to make gelato) that the idea for Bear Gelato began to take shape.
“Given we worked together before we got together, we had some idea of what were signing up for. Ryan is definitely the creative one and I’m the organised one, which means he comes up with the wild ideas and I figure out how to actually make them happen. Our work life balance has been a little off-kilter since starting Bear Gelato, so we’re very thankful we genuinely enjoy working together.”
Go-to date night: Ralph’s, Chongqing Noodles, Bianca and Ragtag.
Tempero
352 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD
Image credit: Tempero | Jerome Warburton
Tiffany and Fabio met shortly after Fabio returned to New Zealand to open Mr Morris with Michael Meredith as the head chef, and Tiffany returned home after almost 10 years abroad. Fabio, who had been a chef for half his life working in renowned kitchens all around the world, was keen to start his own venture and Tiffany recognised the potential in the vision, and Tempero emerged.
“While I was only supposed to be doing the back of house operational work like payroll, accounts, admin etc., I loved working the floor and meeting people so it just ended up that I worked front of house, too!” says Tiffany.
Her tip for anyone wanting to get into any sort of business with a partner is to be aligned on the vision “and make a promise that no matter how tough it gets (because it will), there will always be mutual respect for each other.” That and a few mini holidays throughout the year, schedules-permitting, “to unwind from the chaos.”
Go-to date lunch or dinner: Farina, The Butcher Baker, Onslow, Moreno, Pici, Apéro and Sagrado Cantina.
Beabea’s
160 Garnet Road, Westmere
Image credit: Beabea's | supplied
“We met masked up during lockdown working at Daily Bread,” explains Sarah. “Once we saw the rest of each other’s faces, it was true love.” Sarah and Benjamin were “young, dumb and had just done a pastry tour of Europe” before they started Beabea’s–after just 18 months together.
Some might describe it as a risky move, but it has certaintly paid off. Beabea’s is *the* bakery on everyone’s lips (and in everyone’s bellies).
“It’s great having complete trust in your business partner, but getting home and switching off is a challenge. We’ve just had a baby so we aren’t on the tools together much these days.”
Go-to date night (and brunch): Blue and Burnt Butter.
Sagrado Cantina & Deza
Within St Kevin’s Arcade, 183 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD
Image credit: Sagrado Cantina | supplied
Andrea and Jorge met when they were seven years old at primary school in Mexico. “Life eventually took us in different directions for a while, but years later we found each other again. Looking back, it’s funny to think that everything really began with two kids from the same neighbourhood.”
Jorge’s background is hospitality but Andrea was originally a dentist and pressed pause there to learn the craft behind Mexican cuisine.
“Honestly, we’ve found it surprisingly easy. Most days it doesn’t feel like work at all. Every service feels like we’re hosting a party for friends, and that’s exactly how we see our guests. We want people to feel like they’re walking into our home, sharing tacos, drinks, and a great time together. The funny part is that we probably spend more time at Sagrado than we do at home, so in many ways, it has become our home too.”
Go-to date night: Pici, Tempero, Gemmayze Street, Apéro.
Want more like this? Check out:
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- 20 Māori-Owned Eateries You Need To Know About
Main image credit: Caretaker | supplied.