The quiet art of feeding schools well
From the great Kiwi breakfast to Sunday roasts, Ovation delivers warm, reliable hospitality to New Zealand’s independent schools.
Ovation’s new initiative aims to bring the taste, memory and mana of Māori and Pasifika dishes to hospital kitchens across New Zealand.
If hospital food has a reputation – one it doesn’t always deserve – it’s for earnest blandness: the kind of cooking that inspires few but offends no one. Ovation Hospitality is on a mission to gently upend that cliché, starting by introducing the rich flavours of Māori and Pasifika cooking into the wards.
Think Māori boil-up, simmering gently until the pork and root veg surrender their flavours to a hearty broth flecked with watercress or puha. Or Kapisi Pulu, that Tongan marvel of corned beef and cabbage slow-baked in coconut cream. Or Fish Suruwa, a gently spiced Fijian curry, aromatic, creamy, and redolent of a Pacific kitchen rather than a hospital cafeteria.
“We’ve started with three dishes, each meaningful to one of the main Pasifika communities in Aotearoa,” says Komeshen Pillay, Ovation’s General Manager of Health Partnerships. “They’re not replacing anything – just widening the offering. Food should reflect the people we’re serving.”
For Pillay – who oversees meals across public hospitals from Northland to Wellington, as well as private institutions like MercyAscot and Southern Cross – it’s about comfort, familiarity, and respect.
“These dishes aren’t just ‘different’ – they’re recognisable. They carry memory. And if you’re unwell or just far from home, that can make a big difference.”
Pillay knows well the complexities of delivering good food in a healthcare setting. With 15 years in hospital hospitality – first in South Africa, now in Aotearoa – Pillay understands the intricacies of dietary restrictions, production kitchens, and ever-shifting logistics.
“It’s not easy – and it’s not meant to be flashy,” he says. “But good food, made with care, can make people feel seen. That matters.”
The response has already been warm – from patients, whānau, and the teams preparing the meals.
“Our chefs come from a wide range of backgrounds, and there’s real pride in these dishes,” Pillay says. “When they’re cooking something they grew up with – or something a colleague introduces them to – there’s connection.”
He pauses. “This isn’t hotel dining. It’s more demanding – but also more rewarding. You’re feeding people at their most vulnerable – and every small gesture counts.”
From the great Kiwi breakfast to Sunday roasts, Ovation delivers warm, reliable hospitality to New Zealand’s independent schools.
No launch party. No song and dance. Just 1,250 staff and a clear idea of what good hospitality looks like.
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