Asian-European fusion isn’t about throwing techniques into a blender. It’s about understanding the soul of each cuisine — knowing when a French butter sauce elevates Cantonese roast, and when it just gets in the way.
At Haogood, our chefs spend years learning both. Marcus trained in Paris before Singapore. David grew up between Auckland and Shanghai. Their menus aren’t shortcuts — they’re carefully built bridges.
Marcus Lin spent six years cooking in three-star kitchens in London and Singapore before answering the call back home.
“Auckland has the produce. It has the diversity. What it needed was someone willing to be a little crazy,” he says. Jungle 8 — with its lush plant walls, ambient soundscape of tropical birds, and menu that changes with the seasons — is the result.
In 2024 we set a target: reduce food waste across all Haogood venues by 60% within 18 months. We hit it in 14.
The playbook: tighter inventory forecasting using POS data, staff-meal planning that uses ends and trims, composting partnerships with local urban farms, and a no-plate-waste culture in the kitchen. The savings funded a 5% pay rise for kitchen teams across the group.
Wellington has been asking for Lucky 8 for two years. This March, we delivered.
The Courtenay Place space — formerly a 1920s theatre lobby — was the right canvas. High ceilings, gold leaf restoration, red lacquer banquettes. Same menu DNA as Auckland but tuned for the Wellington palate (more seafood, lighter sauces, a serious wine list).