Meet Hercules Noble

Meet Hercules Noble, the young Kiwi making his mark as a private chef.

With a contagious passion for all things food, it’s no surprise Hercules Noble is making a name for himself in the kitchen – both in New Zealand and abroad. 

His foray into the industry wasn’t a planned one, though. “In my final year at college, I went back to being a day boy and I started watching a lot of Jamie Oliver when I got home in the afternoons. I started cooking his meals, and I was enjoying it – but I never really saw it as a career,” shares Hercules. 

But then teenage Hercules started a part-time job at Little & Friday while studying for the first semester of a design degree – and knew he had found what he wanted to do. 

“I was learning so much more at Little & Friday and getting so much more fulfilment out of it than I was from doing my design degree at university. I went from doing 20-hour weeks at university to working at least 12-hour days starting from 5am.” 

Soon enough, despite his limited culinary experience, Hercules became known as the “sausage roll master” and took on a full-time role as production chef. 

A New Opportunity 
From Ponsonby to the South of France, Hercules then fell into the niche of private cooking. 

“I’d saved up enough money for an overseas experience, and my dad and I was enjoying it – but I never really mentioned that about 30 years ago – 35 years ago, now – he used to work on a vineyard in the south of France between Marseille and Toulon in a region called Bandol, which is very famous for its rosé. They also make very good red wine,” he says. 

A few emails later, Hercules was on his way to Château de Pibarnon. “I worked there for about three and a half months and originally, I was just helping in the cellar for a few hours in the morning and afternoon. But what I did start doing very quickly was cooking for the 15 or so people that worked in the cellar. “I think this is where I really learned a lot; I was given the freedom – the creativity – to cook whatever I wanted.” 

Being at the gateway to the Mediterranean, the fresh produce – sourced from local markets, visited by Hercules on his moped – provided plenty of inspiration: “The access to the incredible fruit and vegetables was just so awesome and so awesome to cook with.” 

At a stage of always saying “yes” to the next opportunity that came along, the young chef then started dishing up meals for vineyard guests and clients – a role he proudly returned to Europe for three summers to fulfil. 

“Forming that relationship with the people there and that part of the world was hugely valuable for me. To be able to do that in your early 20s is something I’m very grateful for.” 

Another highlight of Hercules’ career has been joining a Kiwi family in Manhattan’s Upper East, exploring yet another environment and learning how it could further his cooking knowledge. “A Kiwi family I know asked me to come and live with them and cook for them. That was an incredible experience. I was staying in a beautiful apartment with them – an absolutely lovely family. Experiences like that where I’m put in different and new environments and given the freedom to cook almost anything I like, those are the highlights for me.” 

Cooking up the Content 
While his passport has been packed away for the past 12 months, Hercules has been kept busy with various cooking gigs, sharing his work on Instagram, and fitting out a container home at his family’s piece of land at Brodies Creek on the Karikari Peninsula. 

With a goal this year to say “yes” to almost everything, a typical week sees Hercules spending a few days ‘switched off’ at the bach, visiting Auckland for work a couple of days during the week, as well as a day dedicated to social media content creating. Although still a busy schedule, it’s something Hercules has never tired of. 

“What’s really nice about what I’m doing right now is that I am my own boss; I’m always cooking in different locations and I’m not just rinsing and repeating the same sort of thing mindlessly – I’m constantly getting to do different food.”

This creativity is something clearly expressed by Hercules on his social media. Similar to being self-taught in the kitchen, social media is something that the chef has experimented with – and he seems to have found the perfect recipe to make it work for him and his career. It seems, too, that the love Hercules and his work receives online helps build his confidence to continue producing quality food and content. 

“You go through stages of wondering if people like what you’re doing. After I cook someone something I need them to say ‘Herc, that was lovely’. And often they do and they’re very grateful. But that’s because I have a huge ego; that’s because I put a hell of a lot of work and effort into what I do and people don’t generally see that – they only see the highlights. Like anything you always want to be appreciated for the hard work that you do. To see the smiles on the faces of the people I cook and create for, that’s what it’s all about. It’s one of the main reasons I do what I do.”

Of course, he has a bit of fun on his Instagram page too... from sharing videos of his workouts and strutting his stuff in the latest fashion finds, to behind-the-scenes snippets of his cooking and renovating the shipping container at the family property– all with a side of Hercules’ flair. 

What’s Next?
So what’s next for the chef? At the bach, it’s pumpkins on the menu this season at the al fresco kitchen. “We’ve got lots of pumpkin vines growing around the place and they’re exciting with all the different functions they have – keep them whole or split them halfway. I love all the fun colours on the skin, too,” says Hercules. 

The plan is for the outdoor kitchen at Brodies to also be the backdrop for Hercules’ next project: a cooking show. Taking inspiration from his original culinary inspiration, Jamie Oliver, Hercules hopes to expand from short-form video content, to long-form. 

“I always struggle when I’m making videos that are 90 seconds long for Instagram reels; ideally I’d like to be making at least five-minute-long videos. What I have in mind is to set up this beautiful outdoor kitchen at Brodies, line it with macrocarpa and start doing a cooking show that I’ll upload to Youtube Pay.” 

Hercules explains that it will be another way for him to continue building his brand and presence online, while still being able to venture up to the bach. 

“I’d love to show more of my personality, as well,” he says. “Instead of just doing voiceovers, I’ll be talking to a camera – which I’ve had a bit of experience with and I’ve really enjoyed it.” For now, you can keep up-to-date with everything Hercules is up to on his Instagram.