Restaurant hits employment wall

A top Latin American restaurant owner says he is “banging against a brick wall” in trying to tell Immigration New Zealand that Kiwis who work in kebab shops are not Mexican food specialists just because they’ve handled avocado and jalapeno.

Besos Latinos owner and head chef Luis Cabrera (pictured right), who cooked for former US President Barack Obama during his visit to Auckland, is fuming that the restaurant’s bid to hire specialist chefs from overseas is being knocked back by INZ, which says that New Zealanders are available to do the job.

Employers must prove there aren’t any Kiwis who can fill a job vacancy and register with Work and Income New Zealand (Winz) for referrals.

Besos Latinos serves traditional dishes from Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela and claims to be “the first of its kind” in New Zealand.

About 20 people had been referred by Winz, jobseekers who “ticked the box” claiming they were familiar and had cooked Latin American food. But when interviewed, most couldn’t tell the difference between guacamole, empanada and ceviche.

“One was a kebab shop worker who ticked he could be a Mexican chef because the shop had offered a Mexican kebab, and another had worked in a cafe that had a sandwich which used guacamole,” Cabrera said.

It was vital for chefs to have a passion and cultural understanding of the food they produced: “It takes generations for that to happen and INZ just doesn’t get it that this cannot happen overnight.”

Cabrera, who has signed a lease to open a new restaurant near Wynyard Quarter on Auckland’s waterfront, said INZ’s lack of understanding was also affecting his expansion plans.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said restaurants were struggling to find trained and skilled staff.

Chefs remain on INZ’s longterm skills shortage, including chef de partie, commis chef, demi chef, second chef and sous chef. But Michael Carley, its operations support manager, said New Zealand citizens and residents had priority.

“Immigration officers need to be satisfied that there are no suitable New Zealanders available to take up a job which has been offered to a foreign national who does not already hold a visa which enables them to work,” Carley said.

The agency worked with

Winz to find if Kiwis were available for a job. If there were, it was “unlikely” a visa application would be approved.