REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Napier
Revive It & They’ll Come! Revamping an iconic, elegant Art Deco building in Napier – the town’s former fire station – into luxury apartments and a world-class Bistro that retains the Central Fire Station name, has the town buzzing. By Jes Magill
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hen local businessman Rod Earnshaw and his partner interior designer Margie Campbell bought Napier’s two-level, heritage-listed former Central Fire Station in 2014, their vision was to restore and revive the gracious Art Deco showpiece – one of the top three Art Deco buildings in the CBD – and create a thriving precinct comprising accommodation and a restaurant. This they’ve achieved magnificently but it did require patience. In a reasonably quick turnaround, the former upstairs offices were converted into four Art Deco inspired luxury apartments (two for long-lease and two on Airbnb) by Margie through Elemento Design, along with Rod and his devoted team of trades people. But finding the ideal tenants for the stunning ground floor atrium space beneath took longer. It was four and a half years in fact before the inspirational commercial space attracted the on-form Auckland hospo couple, chef Sam Clark (Cable Bay Vineyard Restaurant and Clooney), and Argentinian-born pastry chef Florencia Menehem, (Cable Bay).
In December 2018, through a family connection, Sam and Flor heard of Rod and Margie’s Art Deco project and headed south to investigate. “Rod has probably eaten at every restaurant I’ve worked at,” says Sam. “He’s up with the play when it comes to gastronomy and knows his stuff about restaurants. “Flor and I found the building impressive. We loved what Rod and Margie had achieved too with the apartments and admired their vision for wanting the entire building in use to safeguard its future.” Flor’s experience was pivotal to the success of the couple’s plans for the business. Trained in gastronomy in Buenos Aires for three years, she then travelled the world, further developing her cooking skills. By the time she arrived in New Zealand, and joined the kitchen at the Cable Bay Vineyard restaurant (where Sam was impressively head chef at 25 years old), her passion and talent for making exceptional pastry, desserts,
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celebration cakes and sweet treats was legendary. For the Bistro, Flor would make all the desserts and run an onsite boutique café where she’d make, showcase and sell her creations. “We checked that the numbers to open a venue stacked up, then managed to convince Rod and Margie their best option was the style of bistro that we had in mind,” says Sam. The couple, along with their young son Lachlan, shifted to Napier in April last year, where Sam immediately picked up the tools to help with the refurb. Following a massive effort, inspired planning and another sumptuous 1940’s fitout by Elemento Design, the Central Fire Station Bistro opened in mid-October to raptures and critical acclaim. The reception they’ve received ever since has astounded the couple. “From the start it has been fantastic,” Sam says. “We imagined initially we’d need to grow the business but people have returned again and again. We’re feeling a lot of gratitude too. Everyone has a
“Everyone has a story about the building and there's a real sense of connection.”