Birthday of brave, battered venture

Press, 15 September 1989, Page 25

Birthday of brave, battered venture

By

MAVIS AIREY

It was a brave and exciting venture, launched in a mood of high optimism: the Clarendon restaurant complex, an Americanstyle brasserie with a companion Mediter-ranean-style sidewalk cafe plus the sort of bar you could take your mother to — and drink the beers of the world — with a catering establishment upstairs.

A turbulent year . later, the sidewalk cafe is an empty shell, the catering establishment has been stripped bare, the original managers have left the country, and the company is in the hands of the receivers.

Under the circumstances, one can only admire the pluck of the small team which has managed to keep Maddi-

sons and Clarries Bar open to celebrate their first birthday on September 27.

“We’re still here!” says Jeff Austen, tired but proud. Formerly the executive chef with a staff of 50, he is now acting manager and one of only eight staff who are struggling to keep the customers coming and make what’s left of the establishment a success.

“We all pitch in now,” he says, "because we all believe in the concept. “There was no one particular thing that caused the downfall — it was just a combination of factors. When the stock market crash came, there was not that money to be spent.” Even his 26 years in the business had not prepared him for what happened. “I had no idea things were going so badly — I

knew there were hiccups, but that’s normal in a start-up. “All staff had fought very hard to keep the complex going in its entirety, but economically, we didn’t stand a chance,” he says. “The concept was brilliant but maybe Christchurch was not quite ready for it.”

He finds it ironic that the Friday night before the landlords put a restraining order on the place, closing it in March, Rossini’s cafe had done record trade.

“Everybody talked about Rossini’s — that’s the extraordinary thing about it — the crowds on Friday night when we had jazz, and the dancing would start ...

“Unfortunately, Fridaynight only happens on Friday night, but the rents carry on from Monday to

Thursday.” Even though the restraining order was lifted after a fortnight, it took a long time for the customers to come back, and the confidence of suppliers had been shaken.

“The public remembered something was not quite right — they thought we were still closed,” he said. The public got even more confused when the receivers were called in April and the decision was made to close Rossini’s and the catering establishment and concentate on trying to “trade out” from the first floor restaurant and bar. “When Rossini’s closed on July 22, people naturally thought the whole complex had closed,” he said. Mr Austen was fortunate in being able to

keep the services of the head chef, Geoff Loader, who had joined Maddisons from the Parkroyal in the new year.

The menu has changed little, with a variety of New Zealand and foreign dishes, and some nice touches, like home-made ice-cream, herbal teas and named wines by the glass. The restaurant, open until late (last orders 10.30 p.m. or even later), also offers a selection of light meals, such as filled croissants, pasta, and vegetarian crepes. Prices range from $6.50 for a croissant to $2O for marinated fillet of salmon. On the other side-of the stairwell, Clarries stil aims to be the sort of bar women feel happy in, and although the range of beers is limited by lack of storage space, there are

still Chinese, American, German, Danish, Australian, Mexican, British and New Zealand boutique brews to choose from. Members of the Clarendon Club get permanent happy-hour prices as a thank-you for being loyal. “Maddisons is a success,” Jeff Austen says. “Not a financial success now, because it’s dragged down by everything else, but it has got a chance. “The success though will depend on what confidence the public has in us, especially when our short, rocky history is considered.” Business is “steady without being overwhelmed,” he says. “That’s typical of all restaurants in the winter. Things will probably pick up in the spring — but can we hang on till then?”