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27 August, 2020

Sizzling offer quickly chips away at surplus: Punters bag their share as lockdown bites

Flagstaff Team

Cheap as chips… Dave Aukuso (right) of Vauxhall was happy to pick up a free serving of hand-cut fries from Alastair Bryan at Fish Kitchen, which was offloading supplies due to lockdown.

What do you do with 80kg of surplus potatoes? Play chippie to the neighbourhood.

That was the approach taken by the crew from Fish Kitchen, on Devonport Wharf, disposing of sacks of spuds as lockdown loomed.

A queue of up to 50 people formed when word got out that bags of hand-cut hot chips were being dispensed.

“We weren’t expecting so many people to come out,” said Fish Kitchen manager Michelle Wu.

Locals were happy to wait in a spaced line inside the ferry building for their treats, served from 4pm, ahead of the prime minister’s announcement on Friday, 14 August that lockdown in Auckland was being extended.

Inside, staff prepared the chips and kept the vats sizzling to en- sure the potatoes weren’t wasted. “We don’t use frozen, so they had to be used,” said Wu.

One potato, two potato… Fish Kitchen’s (from left) Aaron Allen, Robbie Walmsley, Andre Burghaus, Olivia Douglas and co-owner Ian Shields keep the chips coming.
(Left) Got ’em… Peggy, younger sister Dulcie and their mother Madeleine Richard were among the happy customers who swooped on Fish Kitchen for some free fries
(Right) Double order… Takapuna Grammar student
Edward Ellis-Pegler (left) and Benjamin Fletcher, who goes to Westlake Boys High School, are Devonport friends who were quick to take up Fish Kitchen’s pre-lockdown offer

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