Taste hosts preparing to take their last orders

Many diners and reviewers developed quite a taste for this little gem a of restaurant in Wellington’s hilly suburbs.

Taste Suburban Dining Room in Khandallah has been a local favourite for more than 20 years, but owners Gary Boyce and David Jordan have decided it’s time for someone else to take the reins.

Partners in life and business, Boyce and Jordan have been a constant at each other’s side.

‘‘We’ve had 30 years of 24/7 working together, living together. We’ve never really had any time apart, so the next stage is going to be a challenge in many ways,’’ Boyce said.

‘‘Neither of us has had any time off. Every night we’ve been open, we’ve both been here.’’

It’s been tough going in the hospitality industry battling through Covid-19 and the subsequent staffing crisis.

‘‘This has been our most challenging year with staffing issues. We’ve had to patch a little bit during the year,’’ Boyce said. ‘‘We had a situation where I ended up in the kitchen for service, which I’d never done in my life, because we couldn’t find a second chef.’’

In its first season in the early 2000s, Taste was voted ‘‘Best in Suburbs’’’ restaurant in Wellington and garnered a great review from Dominion Post food critic Des Britten.

Boyce had previously worked with noted chef Lois Daish at Mt Cook Cafe in the 1980s and Jordan had 10 years working with well known Wellington culinary figure Ruth Pretty at the restaurant Marbles in Kelburn.

Boyce and Jordan met in the restaurant scene and hit it off. They started a catering business together, and had a stint in Martinborough running a restaurant for a friend.

‘‘Over the years we got to know each other, and we became partners, and then we were both out of our businesses, and we started working together doing catering,’’ Boyce said.

They bought Taste in early 2003, transforming it into their vision of a suburban dining room, hence the reworked name.

They both did some prep cooking before opening and moved into front-ofhouse during service every night.

Boyce said they ‘‘just tick’’ together, which has been their secret to success over the years.

Boyce planned to continue working in the hospitality industry and Jordan was thinking about retirement and possibly taking up some part-time work.

Jordan said he had some trepidation about the future after Taste, but he was keen to brush up on his IT skills.

‘‘I really don’t quite know when we finish up, but I really want to stop and smell some roses for a wee while.’’

Taste is under new management from February next year.