OUR STORY
Started by sheer accident by being at the right place at the right time with a passion for all things BBQ.
I was a private chef working in Boston in 2017. The idea was born from a roadtrip across America on my Harley when I finished that job. I rode across 14 southern states over months solo to investigate the origins & flavours of the different BBQ there.
Fast forward to 2018/2019 I’m working in the Pacific & Indian Oceans for a client on his yacht. It had been a year since my last visit to NZ. I came back for a holiday that turned into a permanent stay.
I was setting up my personal chef business when I met Jarrad & Belinda, who were looking for a chef to help with their food caravan Puha & Pakeha. They had the site that is now SMOKIN COLE BBQ.
The site was only used as a prep kitchen, I immediately saw an opportunity for a pop-up of some sort.
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 first &largest Octo Pit built to date was still at the old site, so I bought it, transported it Surrey Crescent & here it sat for the next few months.Whilst I did another yacht delivery to Bali.
Nothing like a few month at sea to get the mind ticking over with possibilities! I used that time to discuss a aforementioned pop-up idea with Jarrad & Belinda & the possibility of taking over the lease.
I got back in mid October 2019 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.
Four years on SCBBQ is recognized as the best BBQ available in Auckland.
This is how it began the rest of the story is still being written…
