Top Honours for Top Restauranteur

Top Honours for Top Restauranteur

Tuesday 15 December

One of the leading women in New Zealand’s hospitality industry has become the first recipient of AUT School of Hospitality and Tourism’s top award.

Judith Tabron, owner of Auckland’s iconic Soul Bar and Bistro, was awarded for “Outstanding contribution to the hospitality and tourism community” at an awards ceremony held tonight (Tuesday 15 December).

The inaugural award recognises professionals who have made a contribution to raising the standard of hospitality in the country and to increasing awareness of New Zealand as a cuisine destination.

“It’s such an honour to be recognised by the AUT faculty,” says Tabron. “It’s a tough industry and it really does take a lot of good honest hard work and a whole lot of sweat and tears to work your way up the ladder to running your own restaurant.

“Once there, it’s all about keeping ahead of trends and really understanding what your customers want from a dining experience,” adds Tabron.

Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Lindsay Neill first met Tabron when she was head chef at Hotel de Brett in the 1980s. He says Tabron advanced the standard of customer experience and hospitality in this country, despite the dominance of men in ownership and management positions, to become one of the country’s top restauranteurs.

“Judith forged the way ahead for professional and talented women to succeed in what is a damn hard industry. She did it with style, grace and the embodiment of a key concept that many other restaurateurs ignore to their peril - that without happy customers, there is no business,” says Neill.

“Judith has gone from strength to strength, with a string of successful restaurants and a lineage of chefs and front of house staff that have enriched Auckland's - and consequently New Zealand's - hospitality scene,” says Neill. “Judith's success has come about because of two key factors - her own huge talent and her determination not to settle for 'near enough'.”

Tabron is no stranger to pushing the boundaries and making her mark. She became New Zealand’s first female chef apprentice and after cutting her teeth in the London restaurant scene, Tabron returned home to become the first woman to run her own restaurant.

Considered one of the city’s hippest dining spots in the 1990s, Tabron followed Ramses Bar and Grill with Soul Bar and Bistro in 2001, which opened to much acclaim. Almost fifteen years on, Soul is still the cornerstone of Auckland’s Viaduct and one of New Zealand’s greatest restaurants.

Tabron was recently inducted into the Hospitality Association of New Zealand’s (HANZ) Hall of Fame. Soul Bar and Bistro has also been awarded Cuisine magazine’s One Hat every year consecutively since 2013, acknowledging restaurant excellence in the country, and, has featured on Metro magazine’s list of Top 50 Auckland restaurants since 2011.

The AUT School of Hospitality and Tourism awards was held at the Sir Paul Reeves building on AUT’s city campus.

-ENDS-

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