Grant Jackson - A Culinary King
He may be driving the local school bus and tour coaches these days, but acclaimed Queenstown chef Grant Jackson has cooked for dignitaries like former US President Bill Clinton, and trained some of NZ’s best chef exports.
Renowned as an inspiration and mentor to many, he’s always had a heart for helping young chefs get into the trade, passing on the international expertise he gleaned from top chefs as a youngster.
Born and bred in Timaru, second of four boys, Grant’s parents owned a Milk Bar-Tearooms, instilling a strong work ethic in him. “They worked long hours and we did a lot of dishes and cleared a lot of tables for pocket money,” says Grant. “That’s where my original passion for cooking came from, serving milkshakes and rolling ice creams.”
A talented South Canterbury rep cricketer, he soon had to choose, giving up cricket at 15 to devote the necessary hours to his chef’s apprenticeship under French chef Claude Baudet. “He took us to a different level.”
Grant studied for his City & Guilds qualifications part-time in Dunedin, starting on the bottom rung at Trailways in Timaru, making appetisers and peeling spuds. “Claude taught me a passion for cooking, what the customer wants, and respect for food, whether I was grilling sausages for breakfast or making Crayfish Mornay. We did the classics and did it well.”
It worked. Grant won Otago Polytech’s Elms Award for top of his year in 1976 and Canterbury Apprentice of the Year in 1977.
During several years travel based in England the elderly directors of Kodak in London, for whom money was no issue, bought him off the chef temping agency to be their head boardroom chef, impressed with his temp offerings. He also worked for a high-end pub in Covent Garden saving 500 pound to buy a VW Kombi, travelling all over Europe in his time off. “I was 20 – young and free.”
Back home Grant met wife Del in his first NZ head chef’s role at The Golden Shears in Masterton. It had its moments, like the day his apprentice forgot to turn the beef on for a wedding. “I was a wee bit miffed.”
He wasn’t always the boss. Years later as father help on a Queenstown Primary School Stewart Island camp Grant got in big trouble with the teacher for changing her menu, crispy frying instead of poaching fresh blue cod - a hit with the kids.
After competing at the World Club Softball Championships in California and more travel, Grant worked at O’Connell’s Hotel in Queenstown then Travelodge, as interim head chef, already earning a reputation. General manager Nigel Harper soon headhunted him for Auckland Airport Travelodge – where he was second in command of 35 chefs. Grant continued climbing to executive chef of Pahia’s luxury Kahn Resort.
He and Del then bought the Panmure Bakehouse in Auckland just weeks before the sharemarket crashed. “Our business loan was 12.5 percent and six weeks later we were paying 22 percent. I worked up to 110 hours a week –midnight until 6pm.”
Other North Island posts followed, including Killarney Street Brasserie, before former Queenstown Travelodge mate and Minami restaurateur Tony Robertson, asked Grant to be head chef-partner at Boardwalk Restaurant in 1994. “We said we wanted to be the best restaurant in Queenstown in five years. I reckon we did it in half that.” Grant was on the phone at 6am daily working his Auckland contacts to serve 11 fresh fish species nightly.
In 1999 during APEC Grant had an hour’s notice he’d be serving US President Bill Clinton and his table of 12. “Within two minutes we were inundated with big security guys talking into their hands,” he says. “We didn’t realise they’d been checking us out for weeks. I’d taken the phone booking for ‘White’ six weeks prior from an Englishman.” A security desk with a satellite dish was set up in their office. “It was a normal night. Kim Wilkinson was there for a staff birthday party, and other locals. We just had to carry on. There were another 125 people paying just the same.”
Bill strolled among the guests, happily posing for photos, The White House later sending copies for guests, including Grant’s delighted 11 and 13-year-old daughters Keeley and Gemma.
US golf legend Greg Norman, just landed on his private jet, had to be turned away once as Boardwalk was full, locals just as important as fame.
Grant reached his own version of culinary royalty in the early 2000s. He was Chief Judge of the World Junior Chef’s Challenge and, as national vice president of the NZ Chef’s Association, was a key organiser of the World Association of Chef’s Society World Congress in Auckland. A WACS vice president for Asia Pacific, he’s attended forums in China, Korea and Mauritius, and helped bring key culinary greats to NZ to train our tutors. “You’ve got to give back to the industry,” he says.
