Contact Page

I welcome you inquires and I'm happy to discuss either by phone or personally you needs. We can arrange for you to visit and inspect the Chalet so you can envisage your function in our venue.

I Trained at UCOL Palmerston North in 2003, and while there had the chance to  compete in the Wellington Wine & Food Show. This led to an offer of traveling with the New Zealand Culinary Team to Perth to compete in the West Australia Oceania Fest in 2004, and again to Singapore in 2006 for the FHA Culinary Challenge .

After UCOL I worked in a brand new establishment, specializing in cocktails and serving tapas style food and small plates.

This was followed by a couple of years at Dejeuner Restaurant, mid 2004 to mid 2006 under a great Chef, Andrew Hanson.

I spent a summer in the kitchen of a top Brisbane restaurant, and spent a few months waitressing for cafes and a large catering establishment but enjoyed the slower lifestyle of Palmerston North, so when I heard that the lease was available on the Chalet, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to try running my own business, and doing what I enjoyed doing most  (the odd catering job for friends and family) on a larger scale.

I enjoy creating the menus we have and meeting with each client to personalize their event and make it successful! No two functions we have are ever the same!

Lisa Fletcher
The Chalet
Centennial Drive
Hokowhitu
P.O.Box 429
Palmerston North

Phone: 06 - 3576008
Mobile: 027 - 2026713

E-mail: Lisa@boatshedcatering.co.nz

 

 

A review about Lisa in the Guardian

Lisa Fletcher, Born to Cook.
As Lisa sits back on a sunday afternoon, she tells us a little bit about the road that took her to take over the Chaletʼs lease in 2007.

Born and bred in Palmerston North, Lisa has always enjoyed all aspects of food, the presentation, design and mostly the flavours. Awatapu College was the high school of choice due to its reputable arts program, combining art and cooking was the natural next step. Lisa proposes Michael Smith as her top inspiration in her early cooking days, a Canadian born Chef, who reminds all of us who dabble in the kitchen that, “itʼs all about the flavour”. After finishing high school, Lisa moved onto the UCOL Culinary Arts course, completing Level 3 and 4 over one year. This enabled her to work as a junior chef and she was theninvited to join the New Zealand Culinary Team, with mentor Chef Richard Bruce, taking part in competitions in Perth and Singapore.

Over the last 8 years Lisa has worked for a number of top restaurants in Palmerston North and Queensland, Australia, volunteered for two Camp America trips, and has immensely enjoyed each different opportunity to learn and extend her skills. With the wealth of character and knowledge shared from people involved, this along with much teaching and mentoring, are to be credited for helping her to get to where she is now. When asked how she managed to have her own successful business at 24 years of age, she will simply state that she was provided the right opportunities at the right time. The Chalet on the Lagoon hadnʼt had a permanent caterer for a number of years and Lisa was able to negotiate a deal with the owners.

For the last three years, Lisa has been the sole caterer and manager of the Chalet. Lisa started with a focus and passion for good food - presented well, and over the years has developed the managerial skills required for a successful small business. The main learning opportunities over this time, states Lisa, have been about perfecting the individual catering events for individual clients and learning what clients look for in a venue, managing the finances “keeping the cash flow going” and very importantly finding and retaining excellent staff.

Lisa is quick to credit those who have supported her, naming her parents, Michael and Sue as unwavering supports. Also loyal and reliable staff, having a few key staff members who are always prepared to go the extra mile for both Lisa and each and every client. Running a business, says Lisa, has been a learning process for her and all her staff, but the positive working environment noticeably overflows into successful events and happy clients “I suppose we must be doing something right with numerous bookings already into next year!