Save your favourite eatery from extinction, restaurateur pleads

Saturday, 29 June 2024

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Remember that magic night at your favourite restaurant, the one where it feels as if you can still taste the food, taste the wine, hear the laughter rolling around the table in waves?

Well, best book another meal in case your favourite closes, says Wellington restaurateur and hospitality stalwart Shepherd Elliott. It’s bleak in hospo land.

“If people have a favourite spot that they want to see, continue to be around, they need to get out and support those places,” Elliott tells The Post.

“There's a lot of people on the border of not getting through so, it's really, really important that they would choose the places that they really like, and support them.”

It’s war out there, one fought with forks and knives rather than missiles, a battle in which every dollar counts. Every week, The Post is asking well-known Wellingtonians to share their favourite places to eat out in a series called ‘Dine with me’.

Also on the plus side, public service union the PSA believes the worst of the Government restructuring is over, so there could now be more certainty among those who survived the cull which has hurt the hospitality industry.

Other problems remain: tourism has fallen off since Covid, young people who worked and spent in restaurants, cafes and bars have gone overseas in big numbers, and for those who remain the cost of living is cutting deep.

“Just in general, people aren't going out to eat as much as they used to,” Elliott says.

“There are tiers of eating people are still doing, but if you look at that high end, slightly more expensive area, people aren't going there.

“They’re more likely to go and have a beer or a glass of wine and then go home and eat, or go and have a coffee.”

Hospitality is trying hard to woo them back - opening hours, menus, and prices are being fiddled, deals are being laid on tables.

At Brewtown in Upper Hutt, all six restaurants have a narrow-margin $49 dinner for two offering, in a bid to woo back customers, says general manager Phil Gorman.

“If someone had said to me even 12 months ago that we were going to be in the position that we're in now, I wouldn't have believed them. I've never seen it as difficult as it is,” he says.

“[The deal has] worked really, really well. It's brought people out that may not necessarily otherwise come out, because they've been able to get a meal for 25 bucks each.”

Brewtown plans to extend the $49 deal for two weeks.

“Craft beer is a little bit different. It's a premium experience. You're not getting the guys that want to come in and knock back 12 Tuis, but overall, there's definitely been a decline right across the board, whatever demographic people are working.

“People are just making some other choices about where to spend their money. With our $49 deal we appealed to people that probably wouldn't otherwise have made that decision, we made it affordable.”

Traditionally mid-winter is a tough time for hospitality, which is why Wellington On a Plate is held then. But summer wasn’t so great Elliott says, and the coming months won’t be either, he fears.

“It’s worse than the winter blahs, I'm seeing mixed messages. There are some people who are saying that at the end of the year, there will be some positive things coming up, and there will be people going out

“So the positive side of me sees that potentially by November there might be some positive sort of influx, but then it is the other side of negative things, you might not see anything till the following year, even the end of the following year.”

Visa Wellington On a Plate was created in 2009 during the Global Financial Crisis to support Wellington’s hospitality community through the winter low season. August is now one of the busiest months for restaurants, second only to December.

In its first year, 35 restaurants participated. This year, 238 restaurants will take part. Numbers are relatively similar to the past two years, with participation reaching a peak in 2019, pre-Covid, with 290 restaurants.

‘Truly great hospitality’

Wellington On a Plate manager Beth Brash says the “original kaupapa” of helping support Wellington’s hospitality through tough times still drove the festival.

“Globally, the hospitality industry has had a few tough years and Wellington’s culinary community has definitely had its fair share of struggles,” she says.

“Sadly, we’ve seen some wonderful Wellington restaurants close in the past year – but there is also some really good stuff happening in hospitality, with several exciting new restaurants open.

“If you can, I’d really encourage Wellingtonians to get out and support your local restaurants and cafes.

“They offer more than just great food, they offer truly great hospitality, a third place, and are an important part of what makes Wellington such a great place to live”

At Thunderbirds Tex-Mex style cafe on Featherston St, barista Jack Steel confirms Elliott’s view: his coffee sales have held up, and food sales are solid, though all food is now made on site, to cut costs.

Business has come back to what it was prior to Covid, Steel says, after tough times. Cruise ships and office workers have returned. Still, he’d like more foot traffic and a more positive attitude towards the Golden Mile revitalisation.

“It seems pretty good at the moment. It's actually boosting back a little bit. Last year it was still a little quiet from [the] Covid era, that definitely put a dent in hospitality in Wellington, there was a lot more working from home.”

Sarah Meikle, who ran Wellington on a Plate for 16 years, told The Post it was important to remember the human side of hospitality, people working hard to provide a service to Wellington and Wellingtonians.

At times the human element got lost, she felt.

“It is really important to humanise, to remember these great people who sit behind Wellington hospitality, who remember your name and make your coffee for you,” she says.

“We create these amazing events for people. The effort that goes into pulling the [Wellington on a Plate] programme together doesn't take a week, it takes over a year to make these places great.

“And you know what? The weather's a bit shit, you might be feeling glum, and it is going make you feel a hell of a lot better if you go out and have a great night.

“Wellingtonians need to get out there and be the supporters … everyone's on a tight budget, but people are still going out, so just think about where they going, and supporting their favourites, so they are still around.”

Back at Brewtown, Gorman predicts a shorter pain line than Elliott.

“I don't think we're going to be like this forever, you know. We've probably got another six or eight months or a bit of pain, and it will start coming right,” he says.

“Tough times don't last, but tough people do. We'll get through it, there's absolutely no question. In the meantime, we've just got to be creative … to do special things that makes it easier for people to come out.”

Additional reporting by Julie Jacobson