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At Degree we know that anything that can go wrong will go wrong! This arms us to be prepared for every possible situation. So when the kitchen door suddenly falls off its hinges without warning or reason, we carry on regardless. When the Eftpos machines go down during a busy lunch time, we muddle through. When the water pipes burst at 1.30 in the morning when we have a full nightclub, we clean it up like water sliding very elegantly off a duck’s back!

I would even go as far as to say we laugh in the face of irony! We have the moment of “ten thousand spoons when all you need is a steak knife for the very impatient man sitting on table 24” at least three times a day.

This Friday the 13th however really pushed us to our limits. It started off with normal hiccups i.e. the member of staff who will not be named calling in with another outlandish excuse for being late. This can range from “my alarm clock turned itself off” to “my dog ate my bus pass” but as I said, we carry on regardless!  Due to the stream of ghosts who reside in our electrics the tills suddenly turn off and the lights or music will not turn on and then unexplainably fix itself half an hour later with no reason. At this stage our doors opened and we cross our fingers that that will be it for the day. This particular ‘unlucky Friday’ continued with a long series of ironic, unlucky, unheard of situations that could only be described as acts of god.

It dawned on me that we had some Christmas fairy lights up that we decided keep because they look pretty and a broken mirror back of house from a catastrophe on Thursday night. Were we challenging every bad omen that we possibly could? Were we being tested by the gods of Bad luck because we pay no attention of respect to them?

27 minutes later, all fairy lights were down, all broken mirrors were out in the bin room. We were attempting to change a light bulb but due to unavoidably having to walk under the ladder the light bulb still remains unchanged! Any salt that got spilled (which as you can imagine happens quite a lot in a restaurant) was then thrown over the left shoulder and if any black cat were to come anywhere near the building on Friday I just don’t know what would have happened!

Now hopefully if you were with us at any point of the day on Friday the 13^th of January you remained oblivious to what was going on and if you were that man on table 24 I’m sorry we kept you waiting for your knife!

I suppose the analogy is as long as we can still serve beer and burgers (or in this case a dozen buffalo wings and Friday flight cocktails) quickly with a smile on our faces when the beer batter hit’s the fan back of house then no one really cares!

Dear Degree,

My Husband and I were fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy much of the Rugby World Cup and as such spent some or the whole of the 7 weekends during during the 2011 RWC Campaign in Auckland. We decided to make Degree our second home and felt it appropriate to write and let you know of our experiences.

The opening day (Friday 8^th Sept) was amazing. I don’t think anyone could have anticipated just how many people would turn up at the waterfront and we all blown away the volume of people and we had a fantastic advantage point while sitting at our table at Degree. How absolutely incredible were your staff that day. We were able to witness bedlam that the sheer number of patrons brought and how amazingly calm and friendly your staff remained in the face of some pretty brutal and at times ridiculously rude and impatient patrons. Both the floor staff and those behind the bar were brilliant, your security personnel were professional and friendly – It made us feel extremely proud of being the host nation and the friendliness and professionalism and courtesy extended by your staff to locals and visitors alike.

Over the next 6 weeks, we really enjoyed the considerable time we spent at Degree, ate many of the reasonably priced (thanks for that) and substantial breakfasts and we also had several really nice meals. The floor and bar staff got to know us and we were just so welcoming and hospitable every time we arrived that we truly felt special. There were a number of times the bar was just heaving with people and I never once witnessed any if the staff get flustered or rattled.

On the night if the final, again the bar was choc full and your staff were just as polite, professional and friendly as they were on the first day and the reality is that they must have been ‘over it’ and I would guess pretty exhausted after what was along 7 weeks for them.

Thanks to all the team at Degree for enhancing our RWC experience.

Yours faithfully

Bridgette & Charlie Silcock.

We all totally enjoyed the evening. I think I left (staggered) home at 2am.

I trust we all behaved well.....  I'd like to thank the staff that were assigned to us on the night, Degree always ensures we have a great evening and we will be back in the new year. 

Thanks again Degree, we had a wonderful time.

Regards

Hazel and All at Essilor

Oh my goodness! We had such a wonderful evening on Saturday night for our son Mark’s 21^st!!!

Our compliments to the chef for the beautiful meals/ desserts & platters, all of which were of a very high standard.

Everything that we had organised with you was carried out to perfection.

The room & table looked beautiful when we arrived & we loved the windows at the far end of the room pushed open letting the natural light flow in. Sarah (our waitress) was like my right arm & was one step ahead of me the entire night : ). Many thanks to the two girls (Sarah & Claire) not only for all the hard  work that they did right up to the last minute that we occupied the mezzanine floor, but also for the attentiveness & welcoming that we were all made to feel.

To top it all off our son said it was the happiest night of his life! What more could a parent ask for.. : )

We can’t thank you & all your wonderful staff on Saturday night enough... not only for making us feel welcome from the minute that we walked through the door (including Danny for his time on Wednesday going over things with us that made the world of difference on the night), but also for their professionalism. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Degree to anyone.

Until next time : )

Kind regards

Denise Howarth

Dj's in New Zealand are actually really poor.

I havent had a pay increase since 1991!

I just can’t afford an Agent, which I need to get better gigs.

So I took the next best thing......

I’ve got a Secret Agent, which kinda sucks, because no one really knows who it is?