Tauranga team making wheels turn to cater for even grandest occasions

WHEN Dave Pearson takes a catering order for an out-of-the-way place, he immediately responds: "No problem." He and his team are geared up for any situation.
Last weekend, they packed the Mitsubishi Fuso truck with fine food and drinks, and headed for the far end of the Coromandel Peninsula to Port Jackson.
They served 125 guests at the wedding of world champion rower George Bridgewater, right on the scenic seafront which had hardly any services.
"We are self-sufficient, we can park up wherever we want and produce the goods," said Mr Pearson, 37, who started his mobile catering business, Global Cuisine, with  wife Helen two years ago.
No job is too big for them.
Last November, Global Cuisine looked after 530 guests at the Westpac Tauranga Business awards next to Baypark Stadium, and 450 people at the Whangamata Marina opened by Prime Minister John Key - both tasks required a cooking and waiting team of more than 40.
They even parked up in the street and easily managed a wedding reception at Highwic House in busy Newmarket, Auckland.
Global Cuisine is now booked for weddings every weekend in the Bay, Waikato and Coromandel through to the end of April. A wedding of 150-200 guests requires a catering team of 15-20, including four chefs.
"When the guests arrive (for the wedding reception), we offer canapés and champagne, and then sit them down for a buffet through to a three-or-four-course menu, depending on what the bridal party wants," Mr Pearson said.
"We go the extra mile and people are blown away by it. We have good staff who know what they are talking about when they put quality food in front of the customers."
His service has been defined by serving some of the wealthiest and most famous clients aboard the world's most luxurious superyachts.
Mr Pearson, a qualified chef, started Global Cuisine - one of two mobile caterers in the North Island using a truck - because he wanted to do something different.
"I didn't want to be fixed in a restaurant in town. I wanted to create new stuff for clients - whatever they want, we can produce. We'll even give them a tasting session, beforehand."
Just over two years ago, the Pearsons invested $400,000 in  a 12.5 metre  Fuso truck and re-designed the body to create a fully equipped commercial kitchen. They also added a fairing, or shell, over the cab to improve the appearance.
The mobile Global Cuisine truck handles 280 litres of gas, 800 litres of wastewater and a similar amount of fresh water; it has a walk-in chiller that can hold food and drinks for three days; and it's all run by a 18 KVA generator.
The kitchen itself has a six-gas burner, a holding and combi oven, a double frying basket, a chargrilled and salamander grill, and a dishwasher.
"It's as good, or if not better, than anything you'll find in a restaurant," said Mr Pearson. "Spending so much was a ballsy call but we will get the investment back by producing brilliant quality and service."
The truck also has a fold-out canopy, 9.5m long and 3m wide, to provide more space for service.
Christchurch-born Mr Pearson, educated at St Bede's College and Papanui High School, first worked as a kitchen porter and trainee chef at the Dux de Lux Restaurant. After six months, he went overseas and started as the  No7 chef at the Iguana Restaurant in Edinburgh, at the same time studying for his City and Guilds, and Scottish Qualification Authority (SVQ) certificates for food preparation and cooking at Telford College.
Two years later, he was  No1 chef at Iguana - and the world was his oyster. He completed a course at Frenchman Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons Restaurant in Oxford, and became relaxed about serving French, Italian and Asian dishes.
Mr Pearson then spent 10 years  as head chef for owners of superyachts which were often chartered around the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
He worked on Royal Tara owned by Irish millionaire  Clayton Love; Lady Christine, the pride of Scotland's second-richest businessman, Lord Laidlaw; Andromeda, the pleasure craft for New York Daily News and Washington  Redskins gridiron co-owner Fred Drasner; Felicita West, the biggest aluminium ketch in the world, owned by Yorkshireman Malcolm Healey; and Queen K, a 75-metre superyacht run by a Russian billionaire with a support boat and submarine.
While working for Mr Drasner off the the northern Queensland coast, Mr Pearson caught a 950-pound (430.9kg) marlin from his fishing boat. "It took half an hour to reel him in. It was pretty amazing because of the rush of it all, but we tagged and released him."
His fondest memories are the 10 months  spent working for the Getty family aboard their 1927 converted motor launch, MY Talitha G, one of the most successful charter yachts in the world.
Oil billionaire J Paul Getty - one of the wealthiest men in the world - had died but Mr Pearson served his widow, Victoria, and family including grandson Jean Paul Getty, who was kidnapped, had an ear lopped off, and was returned home for a ransom of US$2 million.
"They were a very colourful family. They always wanted to have a good time and they got the crew involved. We often had dress-up parties."
When Talitha G was chartered, Mr Pearson cooked for the likes of actor John Travolta, movie director and producer Stephen Spielberg - who loved a fridge-full of sorbet -  singer Beyonce, Irish rock group U2, and television host  Oprah Winfrey.
"We'd spend $40,000 a week on food, a tin of caviar was $5000-$7000," said Mr Pearson. "I'd check with the captain (of Talitha G) and he would okay the order. It cost $2000 an hour to run the yacht and the guests paid $700,000 a week - it took up to 12 of them with a crew of 21."
Mr Pearson and his wife,  who worked as a chief stewardess on some of the superyachts, operated between Tauranga and the Mediterranean and  Caribbean  from 2000 - until they decided to concentrate on Global Cuisine at the end of 2007.
They have a permanent team of four, including chef Johnny Robertson from the Kestrel at the Landing, Astrolabe and Bella Vista, and events co-ordinator Laura Dombroksi. But there's a full list of other helpers to call on for the big events.
Once the wedding season winds up, Mr Pearson said they  would aim to attract more corporate events and break into the burgeoning movie industry around the North Island.
Global Cuisine has already negotiated a deal to work alongside Hamilton-based Nationbar - the North Island's only other mobile caterer by truck - to service corporate events during the World Cup rugby in September next year. "I've done superyachts for 10 years and I'm trying to bring a similar level of service and food here."