Author Archives: Eddie Parker

Eddie Parker, our general manager talks about one of the things that he loves about being here at 35 Degrees South & Alongside. 

One thing I love about my job is the team I work with, they are the source of my influx of grey hairs and deteriorating hair line for sure. But they are also the reason I get out of bed on those days I just want to stay wrapped up in my blankets, they are the ones that make me smile and laugh when I’m not feeling at the top of my game.  And during six months of the year I spend more time with each of them than my friends or family. Actually scratch that, they are my friends and family. I guess that would make me the father. Urgh… Lets change that, how about we make Mike, the father in this family and I can be the ruggedly handsome younger uncle known for his swagger and style.

Right now we got that sorted, some Happy Facts about my team – Most of them have been part of our family for 2-3 years. All of them have a personality which is their own, although we have systems, scripts and structures they use these as a base line to shine through with their own personalities. They are all inspired to get involved in self development. They all (almost all.. it's a work in progress!) have a savings plan of 10%-30% of their weekly wages which go into a savings account that can’t touch for 90 days. That is on top of Kiwisaver contributions!

They all take part in every aspect of our business from menu and beverage list design to stock control, ordering, marketing and event planning. This business is a business of 20 leaders rather than that of 1-3 chiefs and 17 indians. No offense intended towards those that wish to just be Indians but my team is full of people who are striving towards being chiefs in their own right. We are involved in the local gym and our own company boot camps (healthy body and minds), we sit down together once a day and have a healthy meal and talk about our days events with each other. We all have learning journals with goals and a leadership team devoted to helping us all reach them. We are all humans, we make mistakes but we own up to them, we don’t blame, we admit when we are wrong . We are solution orientated rather than whiners and whingers, give us a problem and we will show you a solution. We spend a good deal of time joking & pranking as we do our learning and getting our hands dirty. We are in the business of experiences and memories and I think, well I know I have a team and family of individuals who are dedicated to this and dedicated to improving themselves so they get even better at this.

Ask me why I do this? On those really tough days what picks me up? What makes me go home and get ready to do it all again the next day? And I will answer easily without thought or hesitation and give you 20-40 names depending on the time of year or season. These are the names of my Team Members, the names of my Family. 

Is it just me or has the whole world stepped up its game when it comes to what we eat? Dinner was very standard when I grew up and followed simple guidelines. Monday nights were sausages, potato & vegetables. Tuesday nights, chicken, potato & vegetables. Wednesday nights, chops (Could be lamb, could be pork, depending on how “ris-kay” Mum was feeling,) potato & yes you guessed it vegetables.

The rest of the week followed the same principle except for Fridays. we all loved Fridays, “Takeaways Night". Dessert was something we only got if we had friends or family visiting. Not to mention how breakfast stepped up from toast and spread or porridge to bacon & eggs on those same occasions. But now with the back drop of shows like Master Chef & My Kitchen rules, a greater awareness of what we should be eating and whole television channels dedicated to food, the domestic cook is now able to turn their kitchen into their very own 5 star restaurant. We are just so spoilt now with tastes, flavours and options.

I’m going to share with you today one of my favourite dishes at Alongside & 35 Degrees South.  Two words people, “Lamb Ribs”. For those of you out there that know me, would know how I treat my body like a temple.  I make sacrifices to it daily. Normally I spread the sacrificial love around not wanting to snub a certain type of meat for another.  Living by the unshakeable principle that if you are a meat sitting portioned up at a restaurant or a super market your days are numbered, no use trying to hide. You have just booked a one way ticket to the temple of Ed.

Anyway back to Lamb Ribs, take a seat and let me paint you a picture. Lamb breast with ribs still attached placed in a casserole dish with white wine, peeled and then finely sliced garlic, rosemary and a dash of seasoning placed in an oven for around 2 hours. After cooking we are going to take that casserole dish and separate into individual ribs and then gently apply with a brush (as Michelangelo did when creating the Sistine chapel) some our very own home made BBQ sauce (a secret recipe but we will let you know there is a splash of beer in there just to get the party started). They then get roasted again for another half hour until the sauce is a rich brown in colour and sticky to the touch and the lamb just falls away from the bone.

Enough said I’m off to order some Ribs! Care to join me?