As equal partners in, as they call it ‘MYT Management’, they took over the Left Hand Break, a kitchen in the Raglan Club in the middle of the little beach community, and they are doing well. MYT is an acronym for the first letter of each of the trio’s name.

Let’s go in order and start with the “M”: Mauro Palazzani.

Mauro was born in the north of Italy as an only child. His mother ran a restaurant when he was little. At the age of seven, the 2nd grade of his primary school went on a school trip to visit a famous cooking school.

Mauro taking a break in the backyard of his restaurant. Photo Sarah S.

Qualifying as a chef became his goal, and his mum helped him to achieve that by moving closer to the cooking school.

At the age of 19 Mauro started his travels by booking a one-way ticket to a little African Island called Cap Verde with nothing more than a surfboard, a tent, and $500 in his pocket. He knew a guy there who had just opened up a bar, so he started to work for him. Surfing quickly became his second passion after food.

After four months he went back to Italy but then moved again, this time to Ireland. He hitchhiked with a friend and ended up in an Irish town called Dingle. There he found work as a chef in an Italian restaurant, but his next goal was Canada, then Australian, then New Zealand…

Catching waves had changed his plans, the surf came first now. That’s why he came to Raglan eight years ago. He compares life in this little town with Europe back in the 70s and 80s.

After five years working for Raglan Roast, the award-winning chef decided it was time for a change. At that time, he was doing a lot more management than cooking, but cooking was what made him happy.

“Mauro is a wizard with the food” -Tom

He loves to see people enjoying his food, so when the opportunity came up to take over the kitchen in the Raglan Club, the timing was just right.

“Y”: Yosef Saranga or Yosi for short. Yosi is from Holon, a town in Israel, close to Tel Aviv. He is the youngest of three. His father is a mechanical engineer, and his mother a creative.

Yosi worked together with his brother back home on TV productions and commercials (Alon Saranga Productions). He also has a YouTube Channel called Isra News, where he made funny videos interviewing people while dressed in a suit and introducing himself as a journalist.

His ambitions were to show good news and creating “fun times for everybody”.

Yosi at work. Always with a smile on his face. Photo: Sarah S.

Yosi loves music, people, and life. He plays ukulele, guitar, drums, didgeridoo, harmonica, and wants to learn how to play the piano.

Yosi says that he got bored a bit back home, so he decided to travel for a while.

He spend three month in Australia, two months in Thailand and then it was New Zealand’s turn. Yosi booked a tour with the Stray Bus company to travel around New Zealand. That is,  until he came to Raglan and decided to stay longer than  the planned one night.

Next he met a girl at the local library and fell in love, so  extended his stay again. He went back to Israel for about four months to save some money and then came back to Raglan.

Music is his biggest passion, so Yosi and two friends created the band  “Mexican Cookies“.

They have their own radio show every Tuesday on the Raglan Community Radio (98.1fm). They also play at private events and even play gigs at the YOT Club in Raglan.

Tom and Yosi were already close friends before Tom told him about the opportunity coming up to take over a restaurant. They met to see the restaurant, and three months later they called it their own.

Yosi and Maureen before the service starts

Yosi’s personal reason to become part of the LHB team was to create stability for himself,  and just take the chance to create something new.

Last but definitely not least is the “T” in ‘MYT’.

Tom McCormick was born in 1964 in Northern Ireland. He left his home country at the age of 20 and started to travel “all over the place”.

He worked as a psychiatric nurse back in Ireland and then in Hamilton for about the last nine years.

“I came to Raglan because of the surf. That’s now 10 years ago.”

Next to the surf his other passion is music, and he loves his Fender Stratocaster (guitar).

That’s why Tom has done a lot of jobs promoting music, sound engineering, hiring PA equipment, and renting out lights for the last 10 years. He even did a few recordings in Raglan and promoted gigs at the Raglan Club.

   Tom and Yosi enjoying an after service jam

That meant he was well placed when the Raglan Club kitchen contract came up.

He contacted Mauro and Yosi. He knew both of the guys already and that there “could be something there”.

Tom knew the timing was right because Mauro had just left the Raglan Roast. Tom initiated the “A-team”, which they now call “MYT’.

When you ask him why he is doing all that, he says that he’s enjoying it. He likes to constantly be learning something new.

Tom’s nightmare. Preparing food for service as a vegetarian. Photo: Connor M.

He plans is to go back to Ireland “someday”, invest some money in a business, “flip it” and create something that he can enjoy back home, just like the Left Hand Break.

It was just a random post on Facebook, saying that the Raglan Club was searching for new staff to keep the kitchen running.

Cheap rent for a kitchen in the heart of Raglan?

In the last five years Tom had promoted music gigs at the Raglan Club so he knew the manager, and he knew the venue.

The restaurant was struggling, the club was losing money but they needed the kitchen running to keep the liquor license.

They tried hiring various chefs to take over, but none of them worked out.

When Tom saw the chance to run the  kitchen, he contacted  Mauro and Yosi, who he knew had the skills to bring the kitchen back to life.

Mauro wrote a new menu, and supervised Tom and Yosi. The basic kitchen was already there, but the trio gave it the necessary upgrades.

With an extremely low budget for the restaurant, they threw out the old carpet and put in a new interior with help from friends.

Almost everything they used for decorating was already hidden somewhere in the back of the club or they got it from the local recycling center ‘Xtreme Zero Waste“.

They swapped timber for food to use as decor, as well as old surfboards that they hung over the entrance of the Left Hand Break.

DIY

A year has gone by and the Left Hand Break is doing well. The team know what they are doing in the kitchen, and are getting a lot of compliments on their food.

The crew are still investing time and money in their restaurant, and they keep “pumping out the food”, creating new dishes, and coming up with new ideas to continue growing the restaurant.

The LHB has become a  popular restaurant in the small seaside town.

The customers love the look of the Left Hand Break, and say it gives the club “character”.

Tom, Yosi, and Mauro have turned the place into a great family restaurant that has really good food.

Tom says that the kitchen has brought the customers and members back to the Raglan club

Karla and Andy have both been in Raglan since a long time, and have become members in the Raglan club. They used to eat at the club before the trio took over, and say the atmosphere “wasn’t nice at all”.

The couple now eat at, or order form the Left Hand Break every week and their favourite meals are the Antipasto platter and Calabrese salad. They claim they’re getting “an addiction”.

Back before Tom, Yosi, and Mauro took over, there was a loudspeaker system that would let customers know when their order was ready. Now there is a table buzzer that is much less annoying when a customer is trying to enjoy a meal.

Mischa, 13, dines at LHB twice a week, and says his favourite meal is the cheese burger, and he says he “always orders the same”.

Para is a club member at the Raglan Club and loves what the trio have done with the place. She eats there as much as she can and say that the Roast lamb is the best meal.

Renee is also a club member who has started ordering from the LHB delivery service. Renee says that one day she ordered the truffle burger, and has ordered it ever since.

Left Hand Break is right in the heart of the small beach community.