Poi Eruera has spent over a decade at the helm of two of Tāmaki Makaurau's best-loved eateries, a career built on hospitality and an instinct for making people feel welcome.
As operations manager at Odettes Eatery and Hugo's Bistro, she wears many hats: organising events, managing HR, forecasting rosters and stepping onto the floor whenever she's needed.
In a public-facing role where first impressions count, she sees looking polished – while staying true to herself and her style (red lipstick being her trademark) – as part of setting the tone for every service.
We caught up with Poi to talk about her career, and her long-running love affair with Juliette Hogan – a wardrobe she's built up over the years with favourite shapes and reliable repeats.
"I've learnt to try on the whole shop and give every new shape a go," she says of her well-honed approach to shopping. "I've had some great surprises this way. Highly recommend this approach."
Kia ora! I work at Odettes Eatery and Hugo’s Bistro. Technically I’m the ops manager. Really it’s a jack of all trades, problem solving/troubleshooting role I guess. I organise events, do the HR and the paperwork back of house things, and try to have the answer for everything.
I work closely with our two talented head chefs, Jonah Huang at Odettes and Alex Llewelyn at Hugo’s and get to taste a lot of yum food. When we are in between staff for senior roles, I tend to jump in and cover that role. I try and maintain the standard and direction of both restaurants, in food, service, beverage and experience.
I love that this means my days can be varied! I was in the office for most of the day today, writing EDM briefs for our copywriter, working through event enquiries, forecasting rosters and hiring – tomorrow I’m on the tools at Hugo’s for breakfast and lunch service.
The flexibility does mean I can have some breakfasts with my daughter and partner at home, or nip out to do pickup. Sometimes I’ll leave early and then catch up on paperwork after bedtime.
When I was 16, I went to Italy for a year on a student exchange. I lived with a family who owned and ran a restaurant – a true family affair that was originally owned by the grandparents (who still lived upstairs). All the adult children, including my host mother, worked in the restaurant in some way. All the school age kids did too, and so I jumped in. And then I just never stopped!
In Italy, hospitality is a career. Waiters might be 60-years-old, with a twinkle in their eye and a love of service. I try to embody Nino, who was in his 60s and was the spriteliest and most charismatic person working the floor at my host family’s restaurant. Why do something if you aren’t going to do it well, right?
Oooh good question. I really enjoy my job. I love that it gives me flexibility, but also unexpectedness, all the time. I enjoy the problem solving aspects. I enjoy working with so many people from everywhere and of all ages, and trying to work out how they work best, what their strengths are.
My work provides me with stability, which I in turn try to pass on to staff and customers.
When I was on maternity leave (in Juliette Hogan lounge and separates) I realised how much I enjoy seeing a LOT of people each day and how much all the conversations added to my day.
Covid and the years after. It was a real crash course in decision making, trying to plan long term, and also trying to visualise what post Covid would look like. We were so proud that we prioritised paying suppliers, kept and supported all our staff, and reopened with the same team.
We also resisted the urge to pivot like crazy, stayed true to our brand and left the full menu items alone, instead offering a weekend escape for our customers with budget friendly brunch sammies. These still get talked about today!
The other big lesson for me was learning to relax about things not in my control. During and post Covid, there were huge shipping delays, lots of things out of stock, and I realised it really isn’t the end of the world.
This relaxed mindset extends to staff and hiring, as hospitality can be transient. In the same way that people leave, that opens the door for new – and that can be fun and exciting. And there is no point stressing unnecessarily about things.
As I’ve gotten older, I have so many rewarding parts. One is seeing staff grow up and grow in skill. At Odettes especially, we hire while they’re at high school for one shift a week, with the intention of keeping them through uni. Often this means we will have someone for four or five years, and they only know the Odettes way.
Another is seeing staff achieve their dreams, and being able to support them in doing so. One of our ex-staff writes all our EDMs for both restaurants, he is amazing. Piper, former Odettes staff, now looks after me at Juliette Hogan Newmarket!
At Odettes we have a few especially busy weekends – All Black test games at Eden Park, or a big concert, or the Auckland marathon – and it is amazing to see what we are capable of during a crazy busy service. Same thing with a buzzy Friday night at Hugo’s for Steak Frites Friday, or a full Cellar Club.
Looking around a busy restaurant when it’s noisy, everyone is eating delicious food and having a great time with their friends and family, there’s no better feeling and I will always love to see it!
It feels like a classic working mum problem, but the work-life balance is always a challenge, no matter how flexible the job.
The hours can be early or late, especially in December. In the times when I have worked a lot of nights, my partner and daughter would come into the restaurant for an early dinner. Otherwise we might not see each other all day.
As she became even better with words, it sometimes feels even harder! Recently, as she was drifting off to sleep, she asked if I was working early in the morning – I said yes, to which she said, ‘kei te pōuri taku ngākau’ (my heart is sad). She is a great communicator, in three languages. Luckily she adores her kōhanga and kindy.
This year I am also studying te reo Māori at two night classes a week. It’s challenging for the brain but so rewarding, and I have to keep up with my child!
My approach to getting dressed for work is… I rely on dresses because then I never have to think too much about creating an entire outfit. A beautiful dress does most of the work for me! I love that I can throw on a dress and some earrings and be done.
I think as the host it’s important to set the tone, and look smart. I always wear sneakers because I stand and walk for most of the day. I have some customers who are always in heels; gotta say, I’m in awe of them.
When I look back to some of my first photos at Odettes 11 years ago, I wore lots of floor-length navy pleated Juliette Hogan dresses and skirts, and I had soooo many Kennedy Dresses – in houndstooth, ghost flower silk, a black silk with white flower outlines, a white and peach silk bloom print, a sheer one with velvet-pattern overlay. And maybe one more!
If I love a shape, I will get it over and over. The Kennedy then became the Freya – another peach and white pink bloom number, a black lace, the dark version of the blue print, and more. I love how quality lasts, and I am the queen of cost per wear calculations.
My daily work uniform looks like… Right now on super high rotation I have two Fran Dresses (one in moonflower twill print, one black) from the summer collection, a black silk Isle Shirtdress, the Lenora Dress in black cotton and the Paris Pleat Dress, also in matte black.
I never wear a warm jumper inside the restaurants, so I can gauge if the room is the right temperature for our customers.
The piece I rely on most during busy weeks is… The machine washable pieces these days! Em Skirts, Fran Dresses, all the poly pleats. In winter my motivation to hand wash decreases significantly, my will must be connected to the daylight hours.
Oh and my collection of woollen coats to get between the car and work. I just had a 10-year-old black JH woollen coat dry cleaned and they sent a text asking if I wanted it de-pilled. I did, and I swear it looks brand new.
My go-to look or outfit for an important meeting is… I try to dress so that I’m ready for almost anything (or be slightly overdressed at all times is probably most accurate). For award ceremonies I grab a few options and then let my 4.5-year-old daughter be involved in the final outfit choosing.
I’m trying to model that clothes are fun and that we find something that feels good on a given day, not changing our body to fit something – this is something I also try to embody in changing rooms when she is my audience.
I’ve got a good host of JH jackets and coats that we will then work through to pick an outfit. This season I bought the Rafaella Jacket which has been a fave, and rediscovered an Emi Jacket from about eight years ago.
My daughter jokes that my Emi Jacket is like a fancy baby dressing gown. I also have two of the velvet smoking jackets in black and olive that are well loved.
I feel most confident at work when I’m wearing… A dress that fits me well, feels good on my body, that I can move in and reach across tables in. A cut that I know suits my body and will get a few compliments!
I find it to be true that if I ever wake up not feeling 100% or a bit grumpy, I wear something a bit more dressy, and pop on some lippy and that is enough to perk me up.
What I love most about wearing print and colour, at work and outside of it... In high summer everything gets a bit shorter and brighter for me. I have three Rue short shirt dresses in three different prints that are my favourite off duty/holiday wear. I love a bright print and red. Colours and prints give me a holiday feeling!
I really like rediscovering older prints in my wardrobe and mixing them with the new colours and prints of the season. It almost feels like op shopping (which I am terrible at) in my own wardrobe.
I save white for holidays, beaches and days off – I grabbed a white broderie Isle Shirtdress last summer, nothing says summer like a white dress. Wearing white in a restaurant is too risky for me.
I tend to do skirts (I love an Em or Arcade, or a classic pleat skirt) and the Boyfriend Ts as my day off or more casual wear in winter. Almost feels more incognito.