Food, Family & Fatherhood with Nick Loosley

Food and purpose! Food is at the heart of everything I do. Even as a dad, a large part of how I contribute is through food and cooking. At work, everything is focused around purpose. I realised at a relatively young age that I was pretty lucky and that I could use my time and skills to make a difference.

A good life is about balance. We all have different passions, hobbies and commitments that for me at least need to be balanced in order to be happy, and for me to help make the people around me happy. I’ve always been a very social person so naturally I put a lot of effort into connecting with friends. I also love food, so a lot of these interactions revolve around food and in particular me cooking for people.

The opportunity in Russell came through my family, who have been there for years. The Far North isn’t so much about great spots, but here are a few worth visiting:

Oke Bay, Kari Kari Peninsula, Ngawha Hot Springs, The Landing, Cavalli Islands. 

I’m not a fan of clichés about having children and how hard it is, so I’ll avoid them! But time disappears and particularly weekends look very different with kids. For me, because I own and lead businesses there is always work to do, things to consider and you are contactable 24/7. It is hard to parent and ‘work’ or at least be thinking about work at the same time. I’m not good at it, but I’ve realised it’s important to be fully focused on parenting when you are doing it. It is far more rewarding and a much richer experience for all involved if your phone is away and you give it 100.

Outdoors - Not strictly, but we make a big effort to get outdoors and encourage our kids to play outside, swimming etc.

Food - Rufus our toddler spends a lot of time in a tower (high chair substitute) watching me make food for him and others. He loves it and has definitely picked up on a few things. It won’t be long before we join adult and kids meal time so we all eat together. I am a huge advocate for stopping, sitting and eating together - it is the most human thing we do.

Being a relatively new dad, it’s not something I’ve really considered. I suppose ideally I would have my kids and my father all together in one place and delicious food would be involved.

Bringing it into food and wine, scent is really important to me. I find how powerfully nostalgic the sense of smell is really fascinating. There are so many. The powerful aroma of Gewurztraminer (wine) takes me to Turkey (Turkish delight) and other parts of the Middle East (Rose water). The smell of cut grass and/or mud takes me to soccer practice as a child. Wet wool (not nice) back to school. There are actually some really unpleasant smells that I associate with traveling which have made them quite positive for me. I won’t mention what they are.

Books - I’m not a big reader, but anything by Yuval Noah Harari, Michael Pollan or Malcolm Gladwell

Restaurant - Hot n’ spicy Pot Dominion Road

Travel - Bali has some of the best restaurants in the world. It is crazy how many good places there are to eat.

Drink - Wine. It’s becoming less popular. Let’s change that.

Toast Cafe (by Everybody Eats) Onehunga

Gentle Citrus.