Grant Sipeli – at work in the
Terroir kitchen

A summer working at Terroir, one of the world’s most highly ranked  vineyard restaurants, was a great stepping stone to a career in hospitality, says recently graduated chef Grant Sipeli.

Grant has always enjoyed food and grew up helping his mother cook the family meals. Supported and encouraged by Jo and her mother, he took the opportunity to enrol for EIT’s Diploma in Professional Chef Practice.

The 55-year-old started chef training two years ago. Before that he taught at-risk youth, worked in a cheese factory and as a scuba diving instructor and for six years he was a printer and production planner in a Wellington business co-owned with Jo.

Excelling in his studies, Grant topped his EIT class last year. Reliable, conscientious and hard-working, he was shoulder-tapped to be a learning facilitator for the Hawke’s Bay Secondary Schools Trades Academy’s hospitality class.

“This has been a complete change of direction,” he says of his new career, which has included cooking at the Westshore Hotel, Dish Catering and the Boat Ramp while studying at EIT.

Grant was delighted that family and friends joined him in celebrating his graduation in March.

“I think graduating is a huge achievement, one of the biggest in my life. The whole family was absolutely chuffed.”

Now aiming to find a position in the capital where hospitality work is less seasonal, Grant has found working the summer season as a wood fire chef at the Craggy Range restaurant, Terroir, a valuable addition to his cv.