‘The Difference’ might initially seem like an unusual name for a catering business, but when the Chef overseeing cuisine is a Michelin-starred chef it makes total sense.
Stephanie and Philip Reynolds have 56 years in the food business between them, including catering for America’s Cup boats, running restaurants and working as the head chef at a Michelin-starred establishment, as well as in other high profile eateries including Harrod’s. Quite the difference to your average catering company indeed.
Stephanie and Philip’s story started when they did their chef apprenticeships together at the Regent in Auckland. There was a definite connection, but Philip’s career took him away from New Zealand shores, and it would be another 12 years before they were to see each other again. Stephanie worked as a chef from the age of 19, including at Auckland icon, Mikano. On the side, she used to cater for friends’ functions, but this soon became a full time workload. In 1999 it became too much to do both, so she took a leap of faith and officially started her own catering company.
It was all go from the start, especially as she started catering for charter boats. During the America’s Cups, she would sometimes do two a day, finishing at midnight, only to return to the kitchen and start prepping for the next day. And it wasn’t just boats – there were many corporate and private functions too – over the years she gained regular large clients like Briscoes, Bradford’s, Deloittes, Westpac, Spark and others.
Meanwhile Philip had headed off overseas. He landed on his feet just three days after arriving in England, working for Anand Sastry, Marco Pierre-White’s first sous chef, at a restaurant called Avoirdupois. Every year he would do a ‘stage’ gaining experiences with the likes of Pierre Koffmann, Michel Gerard and Nico Lardenis. He even did a two year stint as the Head Chef of the main restaurants at Harrod’s. As if this line up wasn’t impressive enough, by the age of 24 he was Head Chef at L’Escargot in London when they got their first Michelin star.
Know your food from start to finish,” Executive Chef Philip Reynolds defines a good chef as one who must have intimate knowledge of the capabilities of the ingredients of any dish.
Philip had certainly proved himself in an international environment. The only problem was he was exhausted from regularly working 17 hour days. After 12 years abroad, he decided to come home for a holiday – and never went back. Perhaps it was the New Zealand sunshine or perhaps it was running into the gorgeous Stephanie again, who knows, but let’s just say by 2005 they were married and not long after had the first of their two kids.
Philip continued cheffing: at Otto’s, on Alinghi during the America’s Cup and at the Heritage Hotel as well as a stint in developing cheese and ice cream for the Kapiti range. He set up a restaurant, The Attic, in Mission Bay but ended up giving it all up when he realised he never got to see his son. The smartest, and most family friendly, solution seemed for him to come and work with Stephanie.
And that’s what they’ve been doing ever since, each bringing very complementary skills to the business along with their 20 full time staff. Aside from cooking and serving excellent food, their main goal has always been to truly listen to what clients need and provide that, even if it is slightly outside of the norm.
They once did a large corporate event for HP Intel during the Rugby World Cup where the client wanted a three course plated meal for the VIPS at the front and real ‘stadium food’ for everyone in the bleachers. After years of flexibility in kitchens, nothing is a problem and Stephanie and Philip always add their own touches – handmade sausages in the hot dogs and lamb and blue cheese burgers in this case. They have a huge focus on natural, sustainable food, minus any additives, and aim to use as much free-range and organic food as is viable cost wise.
We really enjoy cooking but that’s only half of the joy of it. When someone employs a caterer it’s usually because the event is really important to them, whether it be a 21st or a big corporate do. We love helping make it really special and it’s such a thrill when you see the client enjoying themselves with exactly the food and vibe they wanted to create. You don’t get that working in restaurants. We love food but we love people too and this gives us the best of both worlds.