Enis Bacova Head Chef

Enis was born in Albania to two highly educated parents with careers respectively in medicine and engineering. Early on, he learned the value of hard work and acquiring new skills.

He trained as a violinist from an early age and continued to play professionally for more than a decade. You may have seen him serenading around the tables at Dante’s restaurants.

Albania and Italy are close neighbours, and Italian radio and television is heard and seen all day across the Adriatic. Italian recipes and food culture are part of everyday life. Growing up, Enis remembers listening to Italian artists on the radio and learning the language by watching Italian movies and listening to Italian songs.

He carried with him all those experiences to New Zealand, where he graduated in art and commerce. In late 2012 he received his MBA. At the same time, he was supporting himself as a chef in Auckland restaurants, before moving to the Gold Coast and opening his own establishment.

A motorcycle accident in 2010 led Enis to put his restaurant career on ice for two years while he recovered in Auckland and developed data analytics software for the hospitality sector. One of his first customers was Kevin Morris, who had just opened Dante’s in Ponsonby Central. As Enis worked with Dante’s to bed-in the software, he saw an opportunity. With his business background and chef skills, he became more involved in the business.

So when Dante’s was invited to explore a new development in Takapuna, Enis joined as a business partner, bringing with him Daniel, an earlier investor in Dante’s. Since then, Enis has helped drive Dante’s business development, opening new sites, reconstructing existing ones, developing new products, revising menus, developing strategies and, most importantly, leading by example.

Even today, you will find Enis behind the counter, prepping pizzas, talking to customers and manning our wood fired ovens. It’s a recipe for success.