While he does not have a teaching qualification, he does hold a limited authority to teach and will begin teacher training next year.
Mr Griggs does, however, have experience training staff.
"I’ve been teaching apprentices and the younger managers. I’ve been teaching them all my life, so I just tried to adapt those skills to here," he said.
After he sold The Last Post earlier this year, Mr Griggs decided he needed a change.
"I’d been in hospitality for pretty much 40 years of my life. I think, now, it’s time for me to give back, so I can take my experience, not only work, but also life, and share it with the kids."
He was routinely working 70-90 hour weeks while at The Last Post.
"I think in my mind I thought teaching was going to be a whole lot easier. How wrong was I?
"It’s just different stress levels in different ways. But, teaching the kids, I’m enjoying it more than I thought."
Mr Griggs got his start as a kitchen hand at a retirement home in Christchurch in the early 1980s.
His career then took him across the globe, having worked in Australia, China and the United Kingdom.
"I wanted to travel. That was my key thing in life, I wanted to get around the world and I thought hospitality would take me there."
Mr Griggs said the students often asked him if his years as a chef were comparable to celebrity chefs on TV.
"They ask me if I’m like Gordon Ramsay.
"I’ve just got to explain to the kids it’s a bit inflated, what he does."
Mr Griggs has a few students who would like to become a chef as a career and he hoped his story could inspire them to reach their dreams.
"If you want to get somewhere, you will get there. For some people it may take this long, for some people it may take that long. But, you’re always going to get there if you really want to.
"It’s not only about teaching, it’s about giving them some of your life experience as well."
