AFTER almost 12 years of plating up quality meals for customers, Kings Hotel head chefs Stuart and Kirstyn Peel are hanging up their aprons and moving on.
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They have been in the hospitality industry since they left school and have now made the decision to put family life first and focus on their two young children.
"It's all about family time," Mr Peel said. "[We've] missed out on a lot of our kids growing up so far; that's our main focus now."
One of Mr Peel's fondest memories is securing the Australian Hotels Association award for best casual dining in country NSW in 2013.
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The pair say they will also cherish the friendships and life they have made for themselves while working at the hotel.
"The relationships you take out of it and what we've got out of it personally with having two kids and buying a house and a wedding," Mrs Peel said.
Former apprentice turned supervisor James Smith and partner Katreena Shelley will be stepping up at the end of the month and taking over from Mr and Mrs Peel.
"[We] really thank everyone, all our staff over the years and loyal customers, and just wish James and his partner Katreena good luck in the future with it and hope it treats them as well as it's treated us," Mr Peel said.
To celebrate their last month in the kitchen, the couple are bringing back some of their most popular specials, with the Kings announcing a different special each week on its Facebook page.
"Over 11 years we've tweaked the menu a little bit, but there's a lot of the favourites still on there. We haven't taken a whole lot off," Mrs Peel said.
"We had a few staff that kept talking about the chicken stir fry that's on at the moment, so I thought the last four weeks I'll chuck a few things up we haven't done for a while."
Kings Hotel took to Facebook recently to say the hotel was sad to see the head chefs leaving, but wishing them the best of luck in the future.