Bottom line: Sustainably managed growth

Leaving a halo over the town – Bruce and Claire Gourlay

by Sue Fea Retiring from Queenstown hospitality after 25 years in the business, Halo Forbidden Bite Café owners Bruce and Claire Gourlay have something to say to anyone who disses backpackers. “Apparently backpackers aren’t New Zealand’s main tourism push anymore, but so many of us came here as backpackers and now own successful businesses,” says Claire. It all started when Bruce, a Scottish chef from Crieff, and Claire, a London marketing executive from Cambridge, England, both on their OE, met working in hospitality at a Sydney surf club in 1990. A trip to Queenstown in 1991 had them hooked and after a nine-month stint working here, some more travel, and time back home where they owned a Scottish café, they returned in the late 1990s. Bruce fi rst worked for Barry Ellis at the Pig & Whistle, then for the Imlach family at Queenstown Wholesale Market (now Raeward Fresh). He and Claire bought Café Mondo in 2001 with three kids, including a three-month-old baby, in tow. Within fi ve years they’d also opened Snatch in Arrowtown. For four years from 2007 they ran two cafes – Snatch and Halo Forbidden Bite in Camp Street, which they launched in a new building in 2007. To add to the pressures Bruce got a call six weeks after they’d opened from Coca Cola’s coffee brand, Halo, telling them they had to change the name. “I told them to stick it as we were ‘Halo Forbidden Bite’ and I never heard from them again,” he says. They are no strangers to hard work, something that’s held them in good stead through serious staff shortages this year. Claire even worked in the Scottish café the day she gave birth to eldest son Mati. However, that was all peanuts compared with the pressures they’ve been under in business during the past three or four months. They refused to shut with, at times, only half the staff they needed, both working extremely long hours. “I remember one day in July we were getting frazzled. Both mountains and the airport were closed, the dishes were piled high at 3pm and we just went and got pizza and sat down with the staff for a break,” says Bruce. “It’s been against our moral fi bre to close. People expect an experience when they come here.” “We couldn’t have done it without our amazing team,” says Claire, who, like Bruce, is very excited to have a permanent break with holidays, family time and travel all planned on the horizon. “We’re shaking off the chains. It’s the right time for us, but we wish the new owners (Future Hospitality Group) the best. We know they will do it well.” Bruce had wanted to sell Halo three years ago, and while Claire says it may have been a good plan, their youngest daughter is about to graduate from uni so they’re pleased they waited. “We knuckled down and did the hard grind and now we’ve sold on the up,” says Claire. It may have been immensely challenging during these past few years, especially the past three months, but as she says it’s been a good problem to have. “The staff shortages were inevitable,” says Bruce. “They opened the borders to tourists before the workers.” And lockdown wasn’t all bad. Bruce was concerned about security, leaving the business unmanned for so long so took the entire stock of alcohol home. “It lasted us a full six weeks,” grins Claire. “The fi nal nail in the coffi n for us was the mandates though. That was the hardest time. We didn’t like the discrimination.” However, there have been many happy years turning out Halo’s renowned bacon and eggs, and chorizo or vegan burritos, to start the day, also the long-held favourite – chicken cashew salad, on the menu from day one. Among Queenstown’s fi rst to introduce vegan food, Halo’s Tuesday night vegan menu was hugely popular, long before it became fashionable. “It hasn’t been all work, work. We’ve worked hard but played hard, enjoying many wonderful months of overseas travel with the kids,” says Bruce. They’ve had the best landlord all these years too. “Our landlord was God,” smiles Claire, “the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin, and they’ve been absolutely amazing, looking after us through Covid times. We’ve had a great working relationship.” For the Gourlays the most rewarding aspect of running Halo has been their regulars, and the people they’ve met and pondered menus and drink selections with. Bruce has even had to help well-known American actors decide whether to mix their drinks or not. “It’s the people we’ll miss the most,” he says. However, with son Mati and daughter Leah owning their own café, Hustl, at Five Mile the Gourlay hospitality legacy will live on. “We’re heading to Australia for a month’s holiday then maybe some Asian travel early next year before heading to Mexico and South America, but we’ll be back,” says Bruce.

Halo owners Bruce and Claire Gourlay, are saying goodbye to hospitality after 25 years.