No end in sight for high-end dining

Saturday, 12 August 2023

Luxury restaurant owners are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, but they say they’re positive about the future.

Yu Group general manager James Pask recently closed Atlas, an award-winning restaurant on Wellington’s waterfront to make way for a “more mid-range price point” wine bar set to open next month.

“The market isn’t as buoyant as it was,” he said. “People aren’t spending as much as they used to.”

Fine dining was “definitely quite tough”, especially hiring staff with the necessary skill level, and regular customers were dining out less frequently.

But it wasn’t dead yet, just more challenging, Pask said.

Hippopotamus Restaurant and Cocktail Bar’s executive chef Sylvester Nair said such challenges created opportunities to redefine the fine dining experience.

“I think 2023 is the beginning of a crazy future for fine dining. It’s definitely going to be redefined.”

While fine dining could be “many different things”, for him it was about “novel cuisine”.

Dishes that people might enjoy in just a few mouthfuls could take months of preparation, he said. “All we looks for as chefs is the smile when one person eats it.”

Nair said new technology, skills and a better understanding of the capabilities of ingredients meant chefs could realise ideas never thought possible.

“We are definitely changing the image of fine dining.”

And to prove that fine dining is not dead at this year’s Cuisine Food Awards s Logan Brown gained a third hat.

But several long-time Wellington restaurants have closed in the last few years, some casualties of Covid-19, including Tulsi on Cuba St, Amok, Victoria St institution Red Mount, Milk Crate, Lido Cafe, Espressoholic, Roti Chennai, and The Bresolin.

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said hospitality had “deceptively low” profits of about 4% to 6% and, with the cost of wages and ingredients continuing to rise, it was a “tough trading environment”.

But she was confident there would “always be a place for fine dining”.

Bidois said hospitality sales continued to grow 24% year on year, according to Stats NZ, “which tells you people are still eating out”.

The definition of fine dining had evolved over the years, she said, and encompassed luxury, upmarket and high end.

“They are all [terms] used to describe a style of dining using high-end ingredients that are artfully created and beautifully presented, usually in elegant surroundings with high service levels.

“Like any industry, the restaurant industry has evolved and there is now a wide range of restaurants offering different styles of fine dining, but ensuring a memorable and luxury dining experience is always at the heart.”

Christchurch’s hospitality scene has also seen changes. Hali Bar and Bistro in the city centre closed suddenly last month, leaving owners Simon and Lisa Levy “devastated” but unable to comment further for legal reasons.

Business is “tough” for all restaurants, they said. “With the rising cost of produce and products, freight costs etc together with wages it makes the margins smaller.”

And paying for a sit-down meal isn’t a priority during the cost of living crisis, they said.

“Where cuts are generally made are on what are seen as luxury items, and dining out is one of these.”

The key to surviving now was creating a meal that can’t be cooked at home, Simon Levy said.

“New Zealanders are proud home cooks, so you need to be able to give them more than what they can do at home.”

Twenty Seven Steps owner Emma Mettrick was “vaguely optimistic” for the future, but said cost of living, immigration changes and Covid had created “a perfect storm”.

“It’s really hard, but it’s hard for everybody right now.”

Mettrick did not consider her New Regent St eatery high-end or fine dining, and did not believe there were any fine dining restaurants left in Christchurch since Pescatore closed, a two-hatted, award-winning restaurant at The George Hotel.

“True fine dining has faded,” she said.