"Come to lunch at the stadium and meet the chef,'' was the invitation, so photographer Jane Dawber and I jumped at the chance.
The huge building may appear empty during the day, but as there's a constant stream of events, meetings and conferences happening in the corporate areas, there's always something going on in the kitchen.
There's a core of about 10 catering staff but most of the 20 chefs, five kitchenhands and 200 wait staff work on a casual basis.
It's hard to offer full-time employment when the centre relies on events, says executive chef Greg Peckowski.
Since it opened at the beginning of August, the kitchen has been busy, not only with the RWC and the Elton John concert, but also with a steady stream of meetings, events, conferences, and Christmas functions. The catering team swelled to about 380 during the Rugby World Cup, he said.
Probably Dunedin's largest catering venue, the Forsyth Barr Stadium can serve 200 in its corporate suites. Food and drink outlets in the north and south stands each serve about 8500 people. For large events like RWC and the Elton John concert, temporary units were brought in to support the outlets, according to Jo Scully, marketing and communications manager.
Polish-born Peckowski was executive chef for three Sheraton hotels in Israel, then at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch for five years before coming to Dunedin.
He brought John Garton, his sous chef in Christchurch, because it's easier to build a team when your sous chef knows what you are expecting, he says.
He and his team aim to change people's perception about the food available in a stadium.
It's not just about chips, burgers and hot dogs, even in the concourse where you can also get things like mussel patties, healthy sandwiches, sushi and salads, he explains.
Nevertheless, hot chips are by far the most popular choice.
In the corporate suites the food reaches a higher level with platters, buffets and individual service if required.
Although sometimes constrained by cost, Peckowski aims to make most of the food in-house, where possible source produce locally, and use fresh rather than frozen meat.
That caused a bit of a problem when he ordered 150kg of fresh beef fillet to serve during the RWC, he says with a laugh.
Jane and I dined with some of the staff in one of the corporate boxes overlooking the field. It was the sort of meal you might expect in a fine-dining restaurant, a salmon terrine with poached fennel and dried cherry tomatoes to start, and finishing with tiramisu with caramelised rhubarb and riesling jelly.
The stadium's catering contract is held by the Compass Group, a multinational company.
It also caters at the Dunedin Centre and is now moving into other places in Dunedin, including some schools. Globally, it serves around 4 billion meals a year in schools, rest-homes, hospitals, industries and businesses, armed forces and remote industries such as mines, according to Jennifer Graham, Compass food and beverage manager.
