Kitchen Day

Kitchen Day Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Kitchen Day, Podcast, 280 Karangahape Road, Auckland.

Kitchen Day uplifts hospitality through storytelling, bringing the industry together at live events and through a dedicated podcast that celebrates the people, passion, and stories behind service.

08/06/2026

There’s only one service that’s crazier than Mother’s Day - and that’s Mother’s Day during a pandemic.

Dragons Restaurant

06/06/2026

Eric Kong is 24 years old and runs Dragons Restaurant, Wellington's most beloved yum cha institution on Tory Street in Wellington. But the story starts in 1908, when his great-great-grandfather arrived in New Zealand alone at 14, paid the Chinese poll tax, and started a fruiterers' guild that gave the Chinese community a foothold in Wellington. Five generations of hospitality has followed, and Eric has been part of it since before he could really choose otherwise.

In this episode Dom sits down with Eric to trace the whole arc. The fruit shops, the fish and chip shops, the fine dining restaurant his aunt founded, and the massive yum cha room Eric now runs with a team of twenty through weekend services of 600+ covers.

This is a story about legacy, about family, and about a deeply held belief that service is the most honourable career you can have.
A huge thanks to the rostering gods at Droppah (www.droppah.com) for backing Season 2 of The Kitchen Day Podcast.
We also couldn’t do this without the support of the team at Coffee Supreme NZ and Craggy Range Winery. These guys love hospo as much as we do.

05/06/2026

Meet Eric Kong. A fifth generation Chinese Kiwi, at just 24 Eric manages his family’s iconic restaurant Dragons Restaurant in Wellington, as well as being a successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right. You could say he was born into it - with one heck of a legacy to uphold: Eric’s great-great-grandfather arrived in Wellington in 1908 at just 14 years old, and started something for his family that never really stopped.

Tomorrow on The Kitchen Day Podcast, Eric sits down with me to talk about what it means to grow up inside a restaurant, and carry a family's whole story with you into work every single day.

I loved this chat with Eric, and got to know a side of him Wellington diners don’t see very often.

Episode out tomorrow 🎧

June’s session saw of take the pass to share a story shaped by relentless work ethic, built from a very young age and ...
05/06/2026

June’s session saw of take the pass to share a story shaped by relentless work ethic, built from a very young age and carried through every part of his career.

We talked about his competitive, almost athletic approach to cooking, his instinct for spotting and mentoring young talent, and the creative drive that now stretches well beyond the kitchen into cars, fashion, photography and videography.

What a story - and what a feast!

Thank you to all of you who joined us on Tuesday, despite the rain ☔️

And on behalf of Wellington hospo, welcome to town !

31/05/2026

The craziest things can happen in service, and when they do, it’s sink or swim 🧈🧈

Catch Melissa Lind’s hilarious episode now.

Melissa Lind, General Manager of Charley Noble, joins me for one of the most candid conversations we’ve had so far. Thre...
30/05/2026

Melissa Lind, General Manager of Charley Noble, joins me for one of the most candid conversations we’ve had so far. Three months after walking into the restaurant with a CV and no appointment, Mel was running the floor. Eight years on, she’s leading one of Wellington’s busiest hospitality operations, managing huge services, big teams, impossible customers, brutal reviews, and the kind of pressure that makes restaurant life so damn addictive.

We talk about leadership, culture, post-COVID hospitality and the systems that hold everything together when service starts falling apart. There’s celebrity walk-ins, stories from Chambar in Vancouver, and one all-time comeback to a cheeky customer. Funny, sharp, thoughtful, and honest, this is one of my favourite episodes of the season. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

As always, a huge thanks to the team - key sponsors of this season of The Kitchen Day podcast.

We also couldn’t do what we’re doing without the help and support of our friends and

Thanks for listening, and if you enjoyed this chat, send it to one of your hospo-loving mates.

29/05/2026

If you’ve ever been in the elegant and enormous when it’s humming, and wondered how such a massive team operates with such efficiency and attention to detail, I have two words for you: Melissa Lind.

Mel is a hospo-lifer who lives for the intensity of a big and busy service, dancing on that knife’s edge between control and chaos, with natural optimism and her signature beaming smile. She’s always been a thrillseeker, in life and in business, so it makes sense that hospo-boss is her gig.

Episode out tomorrow! Head to our website to watch or listen, and if you’re enjoying these chats, be sure to subscribe!

25/05/2026

Sometimes the greatest meals are found in the most unexpected places.

What’s your favourite food memory? I’d love to know!

Catch Natalia’s incredible episode on The Kitchen Day podcast, wherever you get your pods!

23/05/2026

Natalia Schamroth never planned to open a restaurant on the North Shore. She and partner Carl Koppenhagen had a list, they'd searched for a year, and the day they went to see the old post office in Northcote Point they'd already talked themselves out of it. But then they saw the steel-framed windows, and the rest is history. Twenty years later, The Engine Room is the restaurant everyone in this city has a story about, and this week Natalia tells us hers.

It's a conversation about what it actually takes to build something that endures. We talk about hiring for warmth and teaching everything else. Borrowing against the house, then borrowing against it again. And surviving the last five years when, as Natalia puts it, the business basically ran as a charity. And through all of it, never once compromising on the things that matters most.

If you've ever wondered what real, genuine hospitality looks like from the inside, this is the episode.

The Kitchen Day Podcast is proudly supported by Droppah (www.droppah.com). These guys make rostering for hospo feel like a walk in the park.

A big thank you also to the team at Coffee Supreme NZ (www.coffeesupreme.com) and the folks at Craggy Range Winery (www.craggyrange.com) for bringing these episodes to life.

Natalia Schamroth never planned to open a restaurant on the North Shore. She and partner Carl Koppenhagen had a list, th...
23/05/2026

Natalia Schamroth never planned to open a restaurant on the North Shore. She and partner Carl Koppenhagen had a list, they’d searched for a year, and the day they went to see the old post office in Northcote Point they’d already talked themselves out of it. But then they saw the steel-framed windows, and the rest is history. Twenty years later, is the restaurant everyone in this city has a story about, and this week Natalia tells us hers.
It’s a conversation about what it actually takes to build something that endures. We talk about hiring for warmth and teaching everything else. Borrowing against the house, then borrowing against it again. And surviving the last five years when, as Natalia puts it, the business basically ran as a charity. And through all of it, never once compromising on the things that matters most.

If you’ve ever wondered what real, genuine hospitality looks like from the inside, this is the episode.

The Kitchen Day Podcast is proudly supported by Droppah . These guys make rostering for hospo feel like a walk in the park.
A big thank you also to the team at and the folks for bringing these episodes to life.

Head to our website for the full chat!

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280 Karangahape Road
Auckland
1010

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