Sophie Gilmour turns her hospitality roots into a mission to help families in need

Sophie Gilmour grew up surrounded by restaurants, but the family business did not make her career choice an obvious one. The eldest daughter of pioneering restaurateur Emerald Gilmour first trained as a lawyer, spending four years in the profession before deciding hospitality was where she belonged. She swapped legal work for an apron, despite her mother initially being less than enthusiastic about the change. Today, Gilmour’s roles stretch across the sector. She co-owns The Village and Fatima’s, works as a hospitality consultant through Delicious Business and serves on the boards of Everybody Eats and Dine Aid. She is also a wife and mother of two. As she told Viva, her childhood with sister Mimi involved learning how to cook, host, serve and talk to people—skills that became useful well beyond the family home. For Gilmour, restaurants are about much more than the meal. She describes them as places of connection and happiness, and recalls spending the afternoon of her 40th birthday at a restaurant with her family. At the same time, she recognises that rising living costs have made dining out a significant expense for many people. She says sharing time around a table need not mean spending hundreds of dollars. That belief informs her work with Dine Aid, which she joined as a trustee in 2018. The organisation runs an annual fundraising campaign in November and December, inviting diners at participating restaurants to add $3 to their bill. The money goes to City Missions in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Dine Aid began in 2012 with coin boxes and has since grown into a wider campaign. Gilmour says the cause feels personal because food is central to how her family shows care. She told Viva that they cook for one another, relatives and friends, and that the idea of people in hospitality raising money to support others strongly resonates with her. The article reports that Dine Aid’s figures put 26 per cent of New Zealanders at risk of moderate to severe food insecurity in 2026.