olivia carter

100% pure SOUL

the woman who makes it all work, who brings it all together, who inspires the SOUL team, and who is a kick-ass boss bitch – the truly amazing olivia carter is SOUL’s general manager. this glamorous powerhouse moved to auckland from melbourne 15 years ago, started at SOUL not long after, and has truly carved her name in the annals of SOUL’s greats. she’s the creative behind all the fun that is SOUL’s signature, whether it be the most amazing fashion show, a melbourne cup for the decades, a truly fabulous sunday punch, or a guest chef whose cuisine blows your mind.

liv loves SOUL for its vibrancy, food, drinks, events, but most of all for its people, people, people, who she says are truly the most amazing team she has ever known. she was instrumental in making sure the entire SOUL team survived the lockdowns, even initiating SOUL care packages of fresh and canned food, supermarket vouchers, and even some bubbles to cheer us all up! this woman really cares. she is charismatic and inspirational – she is the rsrv champagne new zealand ambassador, recently won denizen’s hospo heroes best front of house personality award, and was named a finalist in cuisine’s front of house personality awards.

fun fact: olivia represented australia in springboard diving – just another example of her focus and determination, traits she brings to running SOUL and ensuring its ongoing success. olivia says that life is the busiest it has ever been, but she loves it and wouldn’t change a thing. and guess what australia – we’re not giving her back!

gavin doyle

SOUL’s menu master

group executive chef, gavin doyle has been cooking professionally for 19 years. he started his culinary career in his hometown of dublin, ireland and made his way through many kitchens around the world before settling with his family in aotearoa. he has worked in many michelin starred and hatted restaurants such as mint – dublin, mustard seed – limerick, tetsuya – sydney, flour & water – san francisco, clooney and ortolana here in auckland. gav has been with the SOUL team for the past 6 years and achieved a well-deserved hat for SOUL in 2022.

from japanese to modern classic, to italian, irish, farm to table, and pasta, he has taken elements from all to create his own neo-bistro style. he ensures SOUL is always on trend, creating dishes that are innovative and exciting, always using the best ingredients. gav’s thought process for great dishes encompasses his skillset and his love of food. his passion to travel further afield to destinations such as la, san francisco, new orleans, sydney, melbourne, spain, copenhagen, and london for research has continued to keep SOUL the food destination restaurant it is today.

when he’s not at SOUL, gav is a fun dad to two young boys and husband to the delightful aisling. he’s a lover of guinness, travel, culture, and fitness. and you guessed it, as he’s our irish kiwi, he loves a good bit of craic too! fun fact: we’re lucky to have him because he was initially more of a computer geek but realised that
bites are more fun than bytes. lucky for us!

geeling ching

hospo stalwart & tough job doer

actor, model, writer, marathoner, muse, and recovering workaholic. hold on tight for gee’s story. leaving school at 16 for a life of sex, drugs & rock ‘n roll, we present a gregarious and gifted SOUL of SOUL. hitting sydney at 20 she modelled and fell into hospitality at a late-night kings cross café. “i’m a mess without my little china girl…” notoriety would soon follow when she was cast in David bowie’s music video. returning to nz as jasmine sage in tv series gloss, gee was all shoulder pads and yuppie for the late 80s, with a switchback to hospo in 1990 at cin cin on quay. she then went on to manage ramses in the 90s for SOUL founder, judith tabron.

a pause from hospitality saw gee become studio manager for south pacific pictures, until a boozy birthday lunch lured her back to judith. after 12 SOULful years she left to open exciting things like the asb waterfront theatre. but that ‘boozy birthday lunch’ theme would prove fateful and olivia enticed her back to soul in 2021. job title? “all the stuff no-one else wants to do”. fortune favours the bold, and this SOUL loving queen believes staying curious has given her a book-worthy life of luck and adventure. an addict of fashion, food, wine, music, dancing and movies, gives her an irresistible energy and wit in the workplace.

voluntarily childfree allows gee to embrace thousands of “children” and delight in their successes. and that’s what it comes down to really… SOUL is about people and so is she… watching green young humans become confident, skilled and treasured members of the team. finally, death-row dinner? “bluff oysters au naturel with a vodkatini: dry-like-the-sahara, stirred not shaken, lemon twist.”

bailey mullin

let me entertain you!

the lady in blue, bailey mullin has worked at SOUL for more than 11 years, moving up the ranks from waitress to pass manager to restaurant manager. bailey is 100% energiser bunny – she doesn’t walk so much as bounce, and she bounces highest when she has a room full of guests having the best time of their lives. that’s her jam. born in vancouver, raised in aotearoa, bailey has been in hospitality since she was 6 years old, helping her parents run their b&b in glamourous helensville.

she’s passionate about wine and is SOUL’s wine liaison, personally selecting delicious drops for your enjoyment. not shy of a bit of nepotism she has managed to recruit her two younger siblings into the ranks of the front of house team and honestly, when you stand them together they are unmistakably ‘la famille mullin’. she loves her team, she loves her job, and most of all she loves any shade of blue! you can find bailey any day or night, gracing the top of the stairs and greeting you with an arms-open smile – the most SOULful welcome you’ll ever experience!

katie cramphorn

rye manhattan with a lemon twist

what can you say about the enigma that is katie cramphorn? at first glance – quiet, reserved, dedicated, serious. then she has a couple of drinks, and you discover fun, mischievous, generous, and entertaining. could the real katie cramphorn please stand up? born in caerphilly, south wales, a town whose claim to fame is a crumbly cheese and a concentric castle, katie started traveling to get as far away from home as she could. she found herself in melbourne, where she tasted averna (an italian amaro) for the first time, and the rest, as they say, is history.

describing herself as “workaholic, funny, great to get drunk with, would do anything for people i love”, she says that moving to SOUL was the best decision she ever made. although tennis is her most favourite thing to do in the world, a largely mis-spent youth saw her claim the title of world champion ladies doubles pool player in 2017. there are lots of other layers to our mysterious bar manager, but the most important thing you need to know about katie cramphorn is that she creates cool, captivating, classy cocktails.

not bad for an arsenal fan.

justine jorgensen

the queen of sinfully SOULful sweets

you just can’t resist, even though you’re full to the brim/about to explode/on a diet/couldn’t manage another mouthful. justine studied under renowned south african chef david higgs, before honing her skills in singita, a luxury african safari lodge, and beluga, one of capetown’s finest dining establishments. she left south africa and spent a year in the usa before coming to new zealand in 2014, starting at SOUL in 2016. she considers SOUL her family and loves to work with like-minded people to achieve the best.

she has recently taken on the role of mentor and co-ordinator for SOUL’s chef apprentices, acting as mother hen, guiding, encouraging, and helping them achieve their goals. her deceptively simple desserts have graced the pages of denizen magazine several times and have guests coming back time and again to be tempted by their luscious layers of flavour.

justine’s role allows her to flex both her creative and scientific muscles – her witty concoctions carry you along as a willing passenger on a sensory journey and of course they ensure you really do have a “happy ending”.