The road to HILLSIDE

Wellington restaurant Hillside’s new head chef, Nikita Kuschke, doesn’t want to be pigeonholed. Yes, she’s a young woman experiencing success in a traditionally maledominated industry, but her story is more than that.

“Men never get asked about this,” she says over coffee at one of her local spots on Tinakori Rd. It’s just down the road from Hillside Kitchen & Cellar’s boarded-up flagship kitchen. The earthquake strengthening was supposed to take a few months. That was eight months ago.

But it’s hard to talk about Kuschke as a chef without acknowledging her work to improve inclusion in the country’s hospitality sector.

After arriving in New Zealand,

South African-born Kuschke organised national events for the NZ Women in Hospitality network and, four years ago, set up Welly Hospo Wahine as she worked to expand her community in the capital.

Every head chef wants to put their own stamp on a restaurant. And as someone who has worked at Hillside for six years (since soon after it opened), Kuschke knows what works, what doesn’t, and what has already been done.

Arguably, there’s not a lot that needs to change at the highly acclaimed restaurant. Hillside was named in the country’s top 100 restaurants shortly before going plant-based, and has received a raft of gushing reviews since removing meat from the menu in 2017.

But Kuschke says there is always space to take something good and make it better.

In terms of food, that means continuing to highlight good-quality ingredients in a simple way. She will stick to the restaurant’s ethos of foraging, preserving, and using seasonal vegetables from Hillside’s farm in Shannon. It produced

300 kilograms of food last year.

Beyond food, the new head chef is focusing on culture, particularly people and, in a small restaurant, she has the ability to make her people happier and healthier.

Right now, most people working in hospitality are doing a 60+-hour week, for a 40-hour salary. The long, unsociable hours are seen as a necessary evil for those who want to work in restaurants, but Kuschke says it doesn’t have to be.

She needs to lead by example, so if she works 42 hours one week, she will do 38 the next week. And she has taken up hobbies: crocheting with her partner, a bit of pottery, and looking after her many plants. “I want to go to work and thoroughly enjoy my work, and go home and thoroughly enjoy my home life,” she says.

While Hillside’s Tinakori kitchen is closed, the restaurant is running a pop-up in Victoria St. The spot has brought a different customer base, as well as a different experience for staff.

The more open kitchen allows Kuschke and her team to carefully observe diners. If someone is having a nice night and the conversation is flowing, she knows she doesn’t need to rush out their dishes. If she witnesses a break-up over dinner, her approach is the opposite.

This flexibility is a key part of the overall experience at Hillside. That means finding the right people, with the right skills, who can work across different areas of the restaurant. On a busy night, Kuschke can be seen pouring wine matches, or helping with other front-of-house tasks.

Everyone helps each other; no-one is left to sink. That doesn’t mean hard conversations don’t happen, but you will never hear shouting in Kuschke’s kitchen.

“You can have a polite, human discussion at the end of service or the next day,” she says.

When asked about her ultimate goals, Kuschke is a little taken aback. She doesn’t want to own her own establishment. That’s a very different skill set to being a chef.

“I’m a little bit over the idea that there always has to be something else,” she says. “I’ve got what I wanted. Can I not just enjoy it?”

It wasn’t an easy road to get where she is.

A raft of visa issues, which saw her ability to work in New Zealand explicitly tied to a job title, stopped her taking a promotion earlier.

When former head chef Max Gordy left in March to set up his own place, Kuschke was told the role was hers if she wanted it.

From there, she faced a turbulent five months waiting on approval for her partnership visa and residency. Kuschke was finally able to take up the role in August. The next day, the country went into lockdown.

So, for now, she’s not looking too far ahead. Instead, she wants to make the most of what is in front of her. “I want to serve delicious food every day, and work with people I enjoy working with.”