Interview and photograph by Florence Noble.
As Group Events Manager at Seafarers, Imogen McCall knows all the essentials of a great party, and can help you pull them together.
Are you from Auckland?
Yes.
How do you get to Britomart?
I drive. I know, it’s naughty. I bus when I can, but I work crazy hours and the bus doesn’t go the whole way back to my place in Stanmore Bay.
What do you do here?
People come to me if they have a wedding or a corporate dinner or an event series and I build it with them. I love it.
How did you get into it?
I worked in hospitality for seven years before I moved into a full time events role, but I’d always been the events co-ordinator for each venue that I worked in and then realised it was something I wanted to do full-time.
What was your first job in hospitality?
I was a waitress at the Northern Steamship 10 years ago. And then I went to The Crown, and then back to Britomart again.
What’s your idea of fun?
I’m all about my family history research. That’s been interesting because we knew nothing on my Dad’s side. And I found indictments for people who were supposed to go to the gallows and instead got transported to Australia. Yeah, that’s kind of my thing at the moment. It’s a winter hobby.
If you could do any job in the world, what would it be?
I would love to be a midwife. Maybe one day. Or a historian. I’m just not very good with study.
What’s your favourite thing to spend money on?
My house. It’s the only thing I spend money on. We’re renovating it from top to toe. Even though when we bought it we had no intention of touching a thing. My husband was at work one day and my dad came over to talk renovations, and we ended up knocking out two internal walls. It’s meant we’ve had to redo the whole front of the house. It’s good fun though.
So you’re a good handyman?
Fairly good. My dad’s super-practical.
What’s the style of it?
We don’t really know. We’re not modern. We like texture. It’s an old bach, and we’ve got my great-grandfather’s old carriage clock and my old Singer sewing machine and an old 1880s piano, so it’s eclectic. I love it. We like antiquing. Antique Alley is good.
Where’s your favourite place to eat around here?
Ebisu. But if I’m going to do breakfast, pastries from Le Petite Forchette. I’ve been going there since they opened. Eight years or something.
What’s unmissable on the menu at Ebisu?
Ebisu does a specialty dessert called an Ebisu egg, which is amazing. It’s a chocolate dessert and you pour hot chocolate over it, and there’s dessert built inside the chocolate dome. It’s a special though. I don’t know if they have it now.
Where’s the best place for a beverage?
Fukuko. Always. My husband used to run Fukuko.
What’s something not many people know about you?
I speak moderate Swedish, or at least I try to. I did an exchange after high school to Sweden. I’d live there if I could. I love the culture, the food, the people, I don’t mind the weather. I like that you can bike everywhere. Everything about it.
What’s the best thing about working around here?
The variety of food. And I like that everything’s got a real sustainable push on it now. I like that Britomart’s really pushing for that.
