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Wednesday May 15, 2013
one on one with the Sun
Coffee time! Fran Roche is a well known owner of a coffee bar in Blenheim and has a long association with hospitality in the town. Sun reporter Chris Tobin had a chat with her. “I’ve been in Blenheim since I was 10 so I’m a local,” says Fran Roche, owner of The Fix coffee bar. The comment suggests you might have to live in Blenheim a long time for that qualification although she says it with a smile. Fran has been the owner of her business in Queen’s Market Mall for 10 years and judging by the number of people, old and young coming for their daily fix on Friday morning, it’s a popular place. When I was there two other staff were taking orders and running out with food and coffee while Fran was checking to make sure an elderly couple had their milk and that a woman who came in for a sandwich got the one she wanted. “It’s been like this all morning,” she says. Fran seems to thrive on the coming and going of customers and perhaps it reminds her of the days when she worked in a Wellington coffee shop – the famous Suzy’s Coffee Lounge in Willis Street. “Working there gave me a taste for it,” she says. “I was there for a year and man did we work. Everyone used to go there, they used to be lined out the door.” Suzy the owner, was Suzy van der Kwast and the clientele was a real who’s who of Wellington – politicians, business people and all the potpourri of characters and people to be found in the Capital. “She was a tough cookie,” Fran says of the famous Suzie. Fran must be pretty tough herself but more likely it’s a case of her being hard on herself and not others. There’s plenty of smiles and happy
banter at The Fix when Fran’s around. Fran and husband Tony raised three sons in Blenheim and pre-The Fix she worked in hotels and restaurants in Blenheim - hotels such as Barry’s which is remembered with some pleasure by older Blenheim residents. “Barry’s was an icon of Marlborough then; I was a waitress and a bit of a cook,” she recalls. The hotel was a favourite wateringhole for rugby people and the Canterbury team stayed there whenever they came for matches against Marlborough. “I remember Robbie Deans, Victor Simpson and Murray Taylor when they were only young guys. The New Zealand Maoris stayed there and I remember them practising the haka out in the back carpark. “It used to be fun in those days; we had a lot of family nights with Irish music.” Hotels closed at 1am in this period and people didn’t drink before they went out as happens these days. Fran worked at Barry’s for over 10 years and also at Blencraft, a clothing manufacturer in Blenheim where among other things they made uniforms for the New Zealand cricket team. The hospitality industry has always appealed to her and she has worked also at the Redwood Tavern and Raffles Hotel. To get away from evening working hours was one reason she wanted to look for something else and this path led to The Fix. “It was time for me to do it for myself. I’ve never looked back,” she says of buying the business. “I love it; I love the people and I love my customers.”
The exciting new Mondrians Restaurant & Bar is now open BREAKFAST - LUNCH - DINNER OPEN 7 DAYS For bookings and enquiries phone 03 520 6187 Cnr Alfred and Henry Streets, Blenheim
The Sun