BRING A LITTLE JOY
You can’t help but notice the range of talent we have collected when it comes to the food and drink small businesses and individuals across our nation. In bringing this Food & Drink Aotearoa edition together, it has been enlightening to discover the enthusiasm and undeniable spirit that all of these companies have in common. No matter what, in reading their stories, failure was never an option. It is part of the Kiwi psychology of looking out for an opportunity, of creating something unique and doing something we love. Help from other Kiwis is never far away as that, too, is a strong national trait – helping your neighbour out and giving someone or something a go. At this time, all those special small food and drink businesses need our help, so start spending and get out there and enjoy the range of foodie experiences across the country that are on offer.
Our stories range from chefs in big cities, to small-town catering companies, to beachside shacks, to dessert bars, to artisan fishermen, to wines out west – there are many stories from coast to coast and between our islands. One thing is clear, there is a movement for respect around our locally sourced produce and ingredients, and a growing thirst to understand how best to grow and replenish from the land. Creating sustainable businesses with a soft footprint that allow future generations to pick up the ongoing challenge is paramount in a world full of uncertainties. It is the passion of these Kiwi foodies that is inspiring.
As we were creating this issue, I received a phone call that stopped me in my tracks and made me reflect on a time many years ago. Bonnie Shanahan and I worked together more than 20 years ago, launching a new food magazine in Auckland at the then ACP company. As editor, I worked alongside the then Bonnie Derbidge, who was the young brand manager. I remember her saying often, “This is my dream job”, and she would sit in my office where we would laugh, thinking of different ideas to launch the magazine with hardly any budget. Bonnie was fun and had this almost explosive positive energy – she was a joy to be around. We also both loved magazines and could talk endlessly about different brands and stories and photos we had seen in the pages of glossies around the world.
She was ambitious and eventually left the world of media, heading to an impressive career in the beauty industry. In launching MiNDFOOD, our paths crossed again – this time in her role as general manager across a portfolio of brands in the prestigious Estée Launder company. Bonnie was in her element and when we met to discuss future plans for collaboration our meetings often went longer due to the amount of laughter and running off track on all sorts of different subjects. Most meetings ended with, “Ah, why were we meeting again?” Then we would discuss what we had met for in the first place.
We would have lunches, the odd dinner here or there and I met her husband, Marty, and her kids. One night I was invited to dinner at her lovely home – it actually did look like it had come from the pages of some fabulous glossy magazine – with Marty, a talented foodie, cooking a delicious meal from the outdoor oven. The kids were busy doing homework, watching telly and just playing and I remember thinking then, as we drank wine and had the most delicious home-cooked meal, that Bonnie was really in her element, juggling a fabulous career and being wife and mother and centre to this swirl of love and family life around her. She was so passionate about what was happening in her life, and she just loved Marty and her children, Eloise, Ludi and Daniel.
The times shared over great food and wine and stories that made us both laugh and cry all flooded back to me when Bonnie’s work colleague, Teresa, rang to tell me the news of her death. Our lovely, bright, funny friend who was so generous of spirit and kindness gone. I still can’t quite believe we won’t be meeting again. I dedicate this food and drink issue to Bonnie, whose joy and sense of fun is just the perfect memory for now. She would have loved this issue and would be suggesting foodies and restaurants I should be looking at. My thoughts are with Marty, and with Bonnie’s children, as we celebrate a wife and mother and friend we will all miss. Love ya, Bon.
“TIMES SHARED OVER GREAT FOOD AND WINE FLOODED BACK TO ME.”