Chef Uniforms for Auckland Kitchens, Cafes and Bars

No — we are a decorator rather than a chefwear shop. We will source garments as part of a decorated order and quote them as one price, but we do not sell plain stock, and we do not carry the footwear, knives and kitchen kit a hospitality supplier does. If you want an unbranded jacket for yourself, a chef uniform supplier or one of the hospitality clothing suppliers is who you want. Come to us when you want your venue’s name on it.

Yes, and small is the normal size here rather than the exception. A first order from a cafe is usually a handful of aprons and a few tees, and we quote that the same way we quote a fifty-garment restaurant fit-out. There is no minimum order. A very small order does carry a handling charge, shown on the quote, because the setup work on the machine is the same for four garments as for forty — the charge is on the quote rather than a surprise at the end. Cafe uniforms and fine-dining whites are the same job to us: a logo, a garment and a wash cycle.

Embroidered on anything that goes through a hot commercial wash several times a week, which in this sector is most of it — aprons, polos, jackets and bags. Stitching sits flat and does not lift at the edges the way a surface finish eventually can. Pressed is the right answer where the artwork has more colours or finer detail than thread can resolve, or on very lightweight fabric where stitching would pull. When we press, we press in-house on our own heat press and the transfer itself is printed by a trusted partner — two steps, and we do not run the first one. Tell us the garment and the artwork and we will say which way we would go, and why.

It depends entirely on the hat. A traditional paper toque is disposable and there is nothing to decorate — nobody embroiders those, us included. A fabric chef hat, a skull cap, a cap or a beanie we can embroider, and for cafes that is usually what a chef hat order turns out to mean. Headwear is embroidery only: pressing a transfer onto a curved, seamed crown needs a cap press and we do not have one yet. Headwear also needs its own stitch file, because a flat file puckers on a curve. Send us the hat or the product code and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth doing.

Roughly 5 to 21 working days from the time you approve the artwork, rather than from when you first get in touch. A straight reorder of gear we have done before, with stock on hand, is at the quick end. A first order needing artwork digitised into a new stitch file, with garments to bring in, is at the slow end. If you have an opening date or a function to hit, say so when you send the logo — we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable rather than finding out at the end.

Both, and they are slightly different jobs. If you want your existing garments decorated, send them to us and we will — chefs in particular tend to own their own jackets. If you want more of something you already have, post us one and we will match the blank, the colour and the logo size and position so the new batch sits alongside the old rather than replacing it; where the original has been discontinued we will say so and show you the nearest current equivalent rather than quietly substituting it. Either way, check the fabric with us before you post anything, because some coated, waterproof and very lightweight performance fabrics do not take stitching or a press well. And we cannot replace a garment we did not supply if it is damaged in decorating, so we will tell you if we think something is risky rather than quietly having a go at it.

No — there is no shop to visit and no walk-ins. We are a workshop rather than a retail space, with no counter and no public address, so everything comes and goes by courier. We courier hospitality uniforms New Zealand wide, so a cafe in Napier is the same job as one down the road, and an Auckland venue is usually overnight. We send tracking when the order ships.