Hospitality, Community & Connection | About Kitchen Day

Founded by Dominique Fourie McMillan and Chris Thompson, Kitchen Day is a storytelling platform built for hospitality. Through monthly events and a dedicated podcast, we create space for the industry to share its stories — honest reflections on the highs, the lows, and everything in between.

Each month, a different chef takes the pass to tell their journey before we sit down together for a shared meal.

Beyond the kitchen, our podcast shines a light on front-of-house voices, ideas, and philosophies — capturing the creativity, resilience, and spirit of an industry that deserves to be seen and celebrated.

The Podcast

Celebrating the people who bring hospitality to life on the floor — waiters, bartenders, sommeliers, baristas, and venue owners. Real conversations, open and honest, far less polished soundbite, far more real talk. Season 2 is live now.

The Events

Each month, a different chef takes the pass to share their journey — before we all sit down together for a shared meal. Free for hospitality industry folk. Come as you are. Leave with a genuine connection.

The Community

Kitchen Day is a storytelling platform built for hospitality — and a growing network of Wellington professionals who show up for each other, in work and in life. Everyone's welcome at the table.

Dominique Fourie McMillan — Co-founder & Host

Dom has spent more than two decades immersed in restaurants across the US, Australia, and New Zealand — long enough to know that the industry will take everything you've got, and long enough to still love it anyway.

A seasoned restauranteur (but a waiter first and foremost), Dom opened her own venue in Melbourne before returning to Wellington, where she now co-owns the iconic Floriditas and Loretta, both on Cuba Street.

Kitchen Day is Dom's love letter to the industry — a way of shining a light on the talent, graft, and generosity that all too often goes unseen.

Say hi: dominique@kitchenday.co.nz · LinkedIn

Chris Thompson — Co-founder & Host

A lifelong devotee to hospitality, Chris has spent the better part of three decades owning, running, and quietly propping up venues across Wellington. He's the connector, the fixer, the "I know a guy" guy.

Now the National Wholesale Manager for the Lower North Island at Coffee Supreme, Chris has turned that instinct for helping into a full-time gig. He fuels businesses (literally), and still somehow finds time to champion the people behind them.

Say hi: chris@kitchenday.co.nz