Where did our name come from?
‘Dida’ is Croatian for grandfather, with the Dida’s stores a tribute to the vision and determination of our grandfather, Josef, who founded the original Glengarry back in the 1940s.
The Balkans region possesses a lengthy and battle-scarred history; after WWI, a young Josef Jakicevich decided to go in search of a new life, travelling by boat to New Zealand to work as a stonemason. When he stepped off the gangway in Auckland, his sole possession was the handful of change in his pocket, his English was merely rudimentary, and he had no more than a passing knowledge of the country that was to shape the rest of his life. He was 20.
By working with fierce determination, Josef managed to save enough money to buy 10 acres on West Auckland’s Glengarry Road in Oratia. He planted a vineyard, setting the foundation for the enduring family business that was to come. In 1945 Josef was granted one of the first two wine resellers’ licences issued in Auckland, which he applied to the greengrocer’s store he had previously opened at the corner of Jervois Road and Blake Street.
That address became the first Glengarry wine store, as well as the location of the Dida’s Wine Lounge. From the opening of the greengrocer’s doors to the establishment of Dida’s in June 2005 is a lengthy 60 years, much of it devoted to the development of the still family-owned and operated Glengarry business and involving four generations of the Jakicevich family. The changes in the way New Zealanders buy and consume wine has changed dramatically in that time, and we’ve adhered to principles and pioneering spirit expounded by Josef, anticipating and embracing change wherever we can to ensure we continue to bring the latest and the best directly to our ever-growing band of loyal wine enthusiasts.
The Dida’s concept has grown from that ethos. Witnessing the effects of more and more Kiwis expanding both their vinous and culinary horizons, we saw an opportunity to take the skills acquired in wine retail and combine them with the relationships we have established in the finest food and wine regions in the world, to deliver a memorable experience where high-quality wines meet their culinary match.
At Dida’s we utilise the fantastic ingredients we are able to source and, via our own kitchen, turn them into tempting dishes to complement our carefully constructed winelist. And it is in the Dida’s Wine Lounge that you’ll find the family photos, including those of a quiet, industrious trailblazer called Josef, known to us as Dida, without whom no stone would have been laid, or glass of wine raised.
DIDA’S WINE LOUNGE, 54 Jervois Road, T: 09 376 2813, www.didaswinelounge.co.nz
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