{"id":5565,"date":"2025-11-05T17:04:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T07:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/?p=5565"},"modified":"2025-11-07T09:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:29:10","slug":"a-lifelong-love-learned-in-mums-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/news\/commercial-kitchens\/a-lifelong-love-learned-in-mums-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lifelong Love Learned In Mum’s Kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"[spb_column col_sm=”12″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

As a child Sarah Searancke stood beside her mother as she planned meals for the week or prepared hors d’oeuvres for guests at their home, and imagined a time when she would do the same. “That’s how my love of cooking really started” says Sarah.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

That early love of food set the course for a distinguished career. After completing training in her hometown and refining her skills in London\u2019s five-star hotels, Chef Sarah returned to New Zealand to co-found Sarah Searancke Catering (SSC) with her husband Nigel.<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

Full circle: Back to the joy of cooking<\/h2>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

What began as a small operation, soon evolved as the business grew. Over time, Sarah shifted her focus from hands-on cooking to overseeing the organisational and operational side of the company. SSC grew to manage catering for major venues across Wellington, producing restaurant-quality food at scale.<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/2″ el_position=”first”]\n

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Despite the success, Sarah never lost her love for hands-on cooking. With the opening of Zephyr Caf\u00e9 in the Takina Convention Centre, she returned to the kitchen full-time, delighting in crafting every item\u2014from scratch-made breads to relishes. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of enjoyment that\u2019s come back into what we\u2019re doing now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_image image=”5570″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/2″ el_position=”last”][\/spb_image] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

Designing a kitchen with a purpose<\/h2>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

Sarah\u2019s vision extends beyond flavour. She meticulously designed Zephyr\u2019s open-concept kitchen, collaborating with Moffat dealer Neil Thomson from BCE to select the ideal commercial equipment. The setup includes a Turbofan combi oven, Waldorf oven range, griddle, chargrill, fryers, and a Merrychef high-speed oven, allowing her team to deliver high-quality dishes efficiently and safely\u2014including options for coeliac guests.<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

Over the years, Sarah has navigated industry shifts, from gastronomic trends to pandemic challenges, always focusing on flavour, presentation, and the guest experience. Her advice to aspiring chefs is simple: be passionate, work hard, and be patient\u2014it takes time to master the craft.<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_image image=”5569″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/2″ el_position=”first”][\/spb_image] [spb_image image=”5568″ image_size=”full” frame=”noframe” caption_pos=”hover” remove_rounded=”yes” fullwidth=”no” overflow_mode=”none” link_target=”_self” lightbox=”no” intro_animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ width=”1\/2″ el_position=”last”][\/spb_image] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

Today, Sarah continues to combine her love of creative cooking with meticulous planning, ensuring every guest at Zephyr enjoys an exceptional, memorable caf\u00e9 experience in Wellington.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the equipment that brings Zephyr’s kitchen to life, get in touch with us<\/a> or our local Moffat dealer today!<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block] [\/spb_column]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[spb_column col_sm=”12″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ simplified_controls=”yes” custom_css_percentage=”no” padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ margin_vertical=”0″ custom_css=”margin-top: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;” border_size=”0″ border_styling_global=”default” width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] As a child Sarah Searancke stood beside her mother as she planned meals for the week or prepared hors d’oeuvres for guests at their home, and imagined a time when she would do the same. “That’s how my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,97,129],"tags":[431,194,432],"class_list":["post-5565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chef-profile","category-commercial-kitchens","category-news","tag-chef-profile","tag-commercial-kitchen","tag-commerical-cooking-equipment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5565"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5576,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5565\/revisions\/5576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}