Relish retreats as recession ends cocktail party

Photo: John Selkirk

Relish Hospitality's David Williams plans to open retail stores and restaurants in Asia after finding backing from investors in India and Singapore.

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Faded pink paper lanterns sway on the balcony as rain stirs up a cool breeze from Aotea Square. The roar and clank of construction on the new car park roof outside drifts in to the dark, empty restaurant.

Its proprietor David Williams stands at the window and looks out.

"We had Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' party here last week, and went into liquidation on Friday," he says.

"I'm trying to keep the place positive, despite the ..." he gestures at the mess down in the square.

Williams, whose Relish Group was in the vanguard of Auckland's upmarket party scene, knows better than most that times are a-changing.

"It is, at this level, quite a small world and we are all suffering similarly at the moment," he says.

Change is a constant in the hospitality industry, "but change with the recession and financial crisis has basically removed the tablecloth and the silver".

Along with the liquidation of his Aotea Square restaurant Opium is that of its sister venue Pinot, overlooking Orakei Basin.

A liquidator's report last month estimated unsecured creditors were owed $230,000, noting unsentimentally that "the general downturn in the economy had led to a reduction in demand".

Williams, who began with a delicatessen in Ponsonby and founded the Queenstown institution that is The Cow Restaurant, has been around long enough to know how to roll with the punches.

"I'm not embittered about it. It's necessary steps to restructure, sanitise and move forward."

Loyal suppliers would be looked after, says Williams. "We want to clean-book it."

The former Relish operation has been stripped back to its remaining two venues – Pontoon on the waterfront and The Pavilion in the Domain – but Williams has new plans to adapt to the post-crisis world.

"We virtually introduced the cocktail party to the Auckland scene," he says. But after the peaks of the millennium when Relish worked on Apec and the America's Cup, "I was seeing signs about three years ago, prior to the collapse, that I felt those people who could afford to be entertained had seen it all and were looking for more comfort, more genuine ..." He pauses to think of the right expression. "Moving from food art back to nourishment."

Working on what he calls his "go-forward strategy", Williams has embarked on a scheme with two overseas private investors to open restaurants and retail outlets here and in Asia.

Perhaps restaurant is the wrong word.

The idea, says Williams, "is to create a place for people to talk, eat, drink informally so that the evening is a journey of experiences. But it will be very self-service, very cook-your-own-steak, very much in the flavour of participation, well away from white tablecloths – a complete change."

This concept will operate under the Red Goose brand, while the retail brand has yet to be named. New Zealand will act as the template for outlets initially in Singapore, where a location has already been selected, and then elsewhere in Asia.

Getting investors to back such a venture is no easy task.

"Banks are unwilling to commit to the hospitality industry without significant security," says Williams, "and investors need to have a full understanding of the consumer market, following the trends internationally and observing the demographics. An investor needs to know there is sufficient volume there – and it is about volume, but it is still relying on people with disposable income."

In the opulent surroundings of Opium, where golden statues of Buddha stare out at vacant tables, it's clear there's less disposable income around than there used to be. Williams doesn't show his disappointment.

"Yes, our industry may be rationalising and maybe needs to rationalise, but it's important for people in the industry not to be disillusioned by it."