Wellington hospitality stalwart opens new cafe

Monday, 4 November 2024

People thought François Febvre was crazy when he opened a French cafe in Wellington’s industrial hinterland 18 years ago.

They thought he was crazy opening his second and then his third and a short-lived fourth. Today he’s opening his fifth, La Cloche on Aitken St.

It’s a homecoming of sorts; Febvre ran the eponymously named restaurant Francois in Murphy St just around the corner from the new venue for almost a decade before it became Le Canard and then a fish and chippery.

It would also seem to be a risky proposition in today’s economic climate and amid the many difficulties facing the hospitality sector which saw the recent closure of another of the capital’s long-term French bakeries, Bordeaux.

Febvre shakes his head. He’s been in the business for decades and in Wellington for almost three of those. The new venture isn’t about “trying something new”. It has been five years in the making.

“I like to see the face of people when I say we're actually going to open a new place,” he says. “The surprise, they say, ‘What, are you crazy’. We are not crazy. We know what we’re doing,” he says. “Of course we could have done without more stress, without more work, without more challenges. But this is not just a new opening for us, it’s a spreading.”

“We” is Febvre and business partner Hisham Baron, who has been along for the ride for almost as long as La Cloche has been part of the capital’s food scene.

Both are fervent Wellingtonians and note that while they could have opened elsewhere—perhaps Christchurch or Auckland or even Dubai, having being approached by a potential UAE patron—that was never going to happen.

“We are both Kiwi citizens and we are proud Wellingtonians as well, Febvre said. ”At a time when Wellington seems a bit dark and a bit negative, we are going the other way. We want to show that Wellington isn’t dying; there is a lot of opportunity.”

And despite many people believing the closure of Bordeaux after 30 years would be music to the Febvre ears, that wasn’t the case. “We are sad about them closing, sad for the staff. Competition is a good thing.”

The new café is situated bang in the middle of public servant land, in the building that houses the Ministry of Justice, across the road from the still being built Archives NZ and and a block away from Parliament.

It will use internal atrium space which was previously home to Mojo, as well as an area with street frontage, something that was hugely important. “We are not a lobby cafe, we are a cafe on the street for people on the street.”

A full kitchen will offer a more elaborate menu than the other outlets do‒“yes, there will be snails”‒and the catering side of the business will be expanded. They’ll continue using organic products when they can, along with their own blend of Flight coffee made from robusta beans from Ecuador’s Denise Bastamante.

An extra 10 staff will boost the La Cloche team‒“they are our everything”, says Baron‒to more than 50 full-timers, while the “industrial-minimalist” decor includes the iconc La Cloche bell and “station clock“ that also feature at the Kaiwharawhara, Featherston St and Terrace sites.

La Cloche Aitken opens today, with the tri-colour ribbon being cut by French Ambassador Laurence Beau at 10am.