Rising costs set to close landmark cafe

MAARTEN HOLL/The Dominion Post

Scorching Bay's Chocolate Fish Cafe is to close because of rising costs.

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Wellington's landmark Chocolate Fish Cafe is to close at the end of the year, hit by rising rent and council compliance costs.

The mint-green Scorching Bay cafe, which was a favourite hangout of hobbit Elijah Wood and other Lord of the Rings cast members, has been open for 10 years.

But co-owner Mat Wright said the rental agreement would expire on December 31 and they could not afford to renew it in its current form.

In its decade of operation, the rent had gone up from "a couple of hundred dollars a week" to $2000 a week, for just 86 square metres.

On top of the rental, Mr Wright said the council planned to upgrade the beachside car parks and had told the cafe its share of the costs would be $40,000 to $60,000.

The cafe was also paying $18,000 a year to the council to lease the seaside cafe space and the area under the canopy – a charge introduced this year.

"No one can afford to pay (a total of) $180,000 for those costs.

"For every nice day, you have three or four bad days when you don't get the people coming," he said.

When Mr Wright and joint owners John and Penny Pennington opened the cafe, there was only a bus stop and car parks in the area.

Over the years the Chocolate Fish had grown from a 24-seater to a 100-seater.

"We've only closed four days in 10 years due to bad weather or a rainy Christmas day. We've had a great 10 years."

Positively Wellington Tourism's website recommends the cafe as "a unique cafe experience" and Mr Wright said there was a huge picture of the cafe in the London Underground as part of a Wellington promotion.

According to him, council inspectors turned up last October to quibble over the number of beachside seats and the size of the canopy.

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean vehemently denied imposing costs on the cafe that would force it to close.

Mr MacLean said the council did not ask for up to $70,000 to upgrade car parks; it asked for "about $30,000" toward expanding the cafe's outdoor dining area. "They wanted to make it bigger. We don't see why ratepayers should pay . . . so they can accommodate more diners."

He strongly disagreed that officers had been picky and bureaucratic about seating regulations and the size of the canopy.

"We would say we have bent over backwards to help the Chocolate Fish.

"We're as gutted as anyone to hear it's closing."

Mr Wright said most staff would be retained at their Chocolate Frog cafe in Miramar. He hoped to keep a presence on the beachfront, perhaps by running a coffee cart.