Summer Series Interview #1 - Ella O'Dowd

Today is the day I am finally starting my latest and greatest feature on the blog - a series of interviews with a bunch of talented foodies, business owners and people from all different parts of the hospitality industry. The purpose of these interviews is to enlighten you all (and myself) on different aspects of the hospitality industry and also just simply to get to know the people I've interviewed a bit better. Hope you all enjoy this series as much as I'm enjoying putting it together!

Ella O'Dowd - Manager at F.G. Smith Eatery

My first interview is with the lovely Ella O' Dowd, who many of you Hawke's Bay followers will recognise from F.G. Smith Eatery in Ahuriri.  Ella lives in Napier with her fiancé and high school sweetheart Duncan, their three year old son Gus, and their dog Bowie. Ella grew up in Napier and then spent 10 years living in Wellington. Firstly starting a degree with plans to become a geography teacher and then working as General Manager at The Tasting Room for 7 years. Keep reading to find out a bit more about Ella and her career in hospitality.

Where do you work and how long have you been there for? 

I work for Parade Group Ltd, which is Jennifer Le Comte's wee collection of cafés. Opera Kitchen in Hastings is the big brother, then F.G. Smith Eatery in Ahuriri, Albion Canteen in Napier city and our bakery and retail store Picnic in Ahuriri. I'm based at Smith's Monday, Friday and Saturdays but have worked at all sites over the last 4 ½ years. I started at Opera Kitchen when we moved back from Wellington and then moved over to Smith's once my training with Jennifer was complete. I managed Smith's for about a year before I went on maternity leave with Gus and was stoked when, after 7 months, I was able to come back to a part time management position. 

What’s your favourite part about your job?

My favourite part of my job is the customer interaction, building relationships with our regulars is awesome and it's quite satisfying knowing most of our regulars' coffee orders. But my other favourite part of my job is building really strong teams, 'teamwork makes the dream work' is my number one saying, closely followed by 'if there's time to lean, there's time to clean', and I hope my team likes working with me as much as I like working with them. Training newbies and passing  on that 'hospo' passion is key, it can be an underpaid job here in Napier, so you have to love what you do.

What’s the hardest part about working in hospitality?

I find the hardest part of front of house hospitality is that it's not taken seriously as a career option or profession. It's a really hard job most weekends, managing staff, juggling tables and coordinating with the kitchen, it's not a job that just anyone can do well and when some people ask "so is this your full-time job? Or are you like, studying?" then it's frustrating. Although, a few of my high school teachers are some of our regulars and I'm pretty sure they think I do a sweet job of sorting them out and looking after them. 

What was your first experience in hospitality? 

Oh man, so my first hospo job was at The Steak Out, which is where the Boardwalk is now. It was actually only The Steak Out for a couple of months before the Pollet's brought it and turned it into the Boardwalk. But I still remember how nervous I was on my first night, I was 17 and my boyfriend, now fiancé Duncan, dropped me off but I sat in the car crying for 10 minutes before going inside. But it was all good in the end, for a year or so and set me up well for hospo in Wellington for the next 10 years. 

What does a typical day in your life look like? 

My days vary quite a bit as I only work 3 days a week but my typical non work day starts with a Gus alarm between 5:30-6:30, but lucky for me Duncan is always all over these morning starts, he's a builder who starts at 7:30 so I generally get up at 7am then it's porridge for Gus, banana and peanut butter toast for me and then we get ready for kindy. Kindy drop off at 8:30 where I generally play for a while before heading to Georgia or Crazy Good with our dog Bowie for a yarn, a coffee and a pastry. I love those places because even when I go there solo, I end up sitting with someone and chatting for ages and before I know it I've only left myself an hour to get all my jobs and errands done before I pick Gus up at midday. 

Then it's home for lunch and hopefully a nap for Gus then I'm into my favourite household job, washing. Seriously, I love hanging out washing, and that's lucky because we have a lot of it! Then Gus, Bowie and I will usually go for an arvo adventure and ice cream before coming home to sort dinner out. When I explain my day like that it sounds so boring but I actually love it. Like today we went to The Faraday Centre and it was amazing, being a mama is a great gig and I love the routine that you have to create. 

Where’s your favourite brunch spot in the Bay? 

This is a tricky one, I'm quite fussy, especially when it comes to service, I just get really frustrated when basics, like saying hello when someone walks into your café, aren't done. So we haven't done brunch in a while. Gus isn't really into the whole brunch thing (3 year old boy) so lately we've been grabbing coffee and pastries from The Box in Clive on the way out to Ocean Beach where we hang out till midday-ish. So right now, I don't have a favourite brunch spot in the Bay dammit. 

A big thank you to Ella for being the star of my first interview.  Stay tuned for next week's interview with two girls you might recognise from a local TV show... 

Have a great week x