Our Team

Tony Heptinstall

Tony is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Manager of Cookery courses at Otago Polytechnic and is responsible for all Level 3 and Level 4 Cookery programmes and Food Safety, plus the Management of the Student Centre Café at the Forth Street campus.

Tony qualified with a National Diploma in Hospitality Management from the United Kingdom in 1984 and the Certificate in Adult Teaching from the Dunedin College of Education. He has been with Otago Polytechnic for 11 years and in the industry for 28 years. In New Zealand Tony worked at Thyme Out restaurant during the early 1990s and for four and a half years, up to September 2007, was director of the Lievito Bakery in Dunedin. In the United Kingdom Tony managed a conference centre in Central London.

Tony has been closely involved with the development of iPod and other multi- media material used in the hospitality courses. He has also been a consultant for The Seriously Good Chocolate Company in Invercargill.

Daniel Pfyl

Daniel is a Lecturer in Hospitality Management and principally teaches students enrolled in the National Diploma in Hospitality Management programme at the Otago Polytechnic. He is able to provide  consultancy advice in many areas including purchasing and stock control systems, kitchen and menu planning, recipe costs and menu pricing, menu engineering and performance measurement systems, cost volume and profit analysis.

Daniel has worked with the Otago Polytechnic for ten years and has many years of experience working overseas in the hospitality industry in several countries including Switzerland, India and in Brunei where he was Executive Chef to the Sultan.

Last year Daniel gave a presentation on food purchasing and controls at the Scenic Circle National Conference in Blenheim.

Daniel does a regular weekly column in the Otago Daily Times entitled "Trick of the Trade".