From his Triumph Herald to his Audi, Simon Gault has owned and loved many vehicles over the years.
MasterChef New Zealand judge and entrepreneurial chef Simon Gault has had as many cars as he's created award-winning dishes.
There was his first - a "very old" Triumph Herald he still remembers the smell of and still covets.
Another memorable vehicle was a Fiat Bambina that the aviation fanatic not only fitted seven people into but also used to tow his glider - though not at the same time.
Gault had the Bambina for only six months before it went to the Fiat workshop in the sky.
"I was driving along and I saw flames out the back [where the engine was] and I realised it had caught on fire," he explains.
He also loved and lost a Porsche 911 - although for altruistic reasons.
While working as an apprentice chef in Auckland Gault was able to buy Brierley shares, and before he headed to the UK for work he cashed them in.
After experience with both Leiths Restaurant in London and at the prestigious Michelin Star Thornbury Castle, Gault returned to New Zealand two years later.
"I bought a 911 while I was over in the UK and brought it back to New Zealand with me," he says.
But he didn't have very long to parade the German sports car around the streets of Auckland.
Instead Gault sold the beloved car to make his first move into the restaurant business.
"I decided to buy a restaurant, Bell House in Howick village, and so I had to sell the Porsche to help finance the move," Gault says.
Instead of being left car-less, he bought his grandma's Mini, a classic model that Gault still has emotional ties to even more than two decades later.
"It had less than 3000 miles [4828km] on it, that push button start on the floor, and the plastic covers were still on the back seat," he reminisces.
"It was blue and had had one owner, my grandmother."
Gault pauses. "Now, I really wish I had kept it. It was classic."
Since then Gault has driven every luxury marque - Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche - and counts himself as a "real driver".
So when the owner of the award-winning Euro Restaurant, in Auckland's Viaduct Basin, needed a vehicle for his new television series, Chef on a Mission (TV One, next month), he approached Audi New Zealand.
Although the winner of MasterChef New Zealand took home a Skoda Octavia, chief judge Gault is instead driving a $150,000 black V8 Audi S5 coupe.
"It's a fun car to drive," says Gault. "On the winding roads it's great to drive. It's a real driver's car."
The best test of it has been on the route to Taupo via Matamata where the 4-litre engine can be tested.
Gault is also an Audi ambassador, joining award-winning architect Richard Naish, New Zealand's Next Top Model judge and model agent Sara Tetro and Huffer clothes designer Steve Dunstan.
Audi New Zealand general manager Dane Fisher says the company was looking for another personality to join the Ambassador portfolio.
Simon is a self-confessed perfectionist with a passion for being on the move and ahead of the curve. Simon's innovative approach to food and dining gives us an exciting opportunity to provide Audi customers with unique and memorable brand experiences," says Fisher.
Many luxury marques offer exclusive experiences for owners: the Lexus of Auckland City dealership took a group of customers to Waiheke Island during the summer for a guided tour of a sculpture exhibition with Lexus owner and actor/director Oliver Driver escorting the group.
Peugeot New Zealand is a sponsor of our national ballet company so customers are invited to pre-show functions hosted by dealerships.
In Gault's first role as an Audi ambassador, he's holding a cooking experience for Audi owners next Thursday at Continental Cars dealership in Newmarket.
"Simon will play an important role in curating money-can't-buy-moments for our customers, including leading interactive cooking classes in dealerships with high-value customers," says Fisher.
But at the moment there won't be an Audi dish on the menu at Gault's high-end Euro restaurant.
But there is a motoring dish available - of sorts.
"For years I've served Caesar salads in VW hubcaps," says Gault.
"Caesar salads have been misunderstood in the past as people use cheap anchovies, but this dish is so popular that I can't take it off the menu."
And how did Gault come by these hubcaps? Did the staff hit the streets of Auckland one night stealing them off VWs?
Gault laughs.
"No, when I bought them they were pretty cheap to buy new," he explains.
Okay, so if your Audi S5 was a dish on Euro's menu, what would it be?
Gault pauses.
"It would be the Liquid Intergalactic Rock made using liquid nitrogen with white chocolate and Cointreau."
A tasty morsel for a very tasty car.
Simon's Sunday Drive
Simon Gault has worked around the world in famous restaurants and for famous people.
In the 1990s he worked in Europe for Spice Girls creator Simon Fuller, spending a year catering to the needs of Fuller and his visiting entertainment celebrities.
He's also been personal chef to multi-billionaire Larry Ellison of the Oracle Corporation, working on Ellison's luxury yacht.
But over the past few years Gault has been executive chef to the Nourish Group that includes Euro, Jervois Steak House and Pasha restaurants in Auckland as well as Bisto Lago in Taupo and Shed 5 and Pravda restaurants in Wellington.
So when such an internationally acclaimed chef takes a day off, where
does he go in his Audi S5?
On a Sunday, Gault and wife Katrina Van Dam head south of Auckland to Clevedon's famous farmer's market.
"We get coffee and oysters," he says, "and Katrina and I have a competition to see how much we can buy for $25. Then we drive to Kaiaua for fish and chips and the drive back is fantastic."
