Edd's sad to say goodbye

On his last day at The Bridge Bistro and Bar, Edd Groves will sit at an outside table, look across the marina, and he reckons he will have tears in his eyes.
"I love this restaurant. It's the location," he said. "You've got the yachts, water, the activity of the airport, Mauao, and it's perfectly positioned for the sunsets. There's no location like this in Tauranga and only a few in New Zealand."
Mr Groves is retiring from the hospitality trade after operating eight different restaurants in six years in Christchurch and Tauranga since emigrating from the United States.
His last two restaurants, The Flying Burrito Brothers in Grey St, downtown Tauranga, and The Bridge Bistro, off the causeway to Mount Maunganui and overlooking the Bridge Marina, are on the market, and he's got buying interest on both of them.
Mr Groves, a former US Army captain, is two months away from turning 67, and he hasn't yet figured out what he will do in retirement.
"Unfortunately, it's time to retire. My wife (Donna) thinks so, and it's going to be a very sad day when I sell the restaurants," he said.
"I've enjoyed it; most of the work is fun. I've met a lot of nice people and friends in the restaurants, and I will miss the interaction with customers."
Mr Groves, who has a staff of 30 including eight chefs, brought something different to the restaurant scene.
The Flying Burrito Brothers is a fun, happy place to dine on Mexican food and The Bridge Bistro is fine dining near the water with seafood and quality meats.
"The Flying Burrito restaurant is very decorative and the waiting staff are all from South America. They are friendly and wonderful with my customers; most of the staff there have been with me from day one," he said.
Mr Groves brought The Flying Burrito Brothers franchise to Tauranga two and a half years ago. He had earlier operated Piccola Italia and The Palms on the same Grey St site. He took over the Spinnakers Restaurant at Bridge Marina five and a half years ago, changing its name to The Lobster Club and then The Bridge Bistro in October 2009.
His first restaurant was the upstairs Il Felice in Christchurch across the street from Ballantynes Department Store, and he later changed it to The Lobster Club. He owned the building, and also operated a Chinese restaurant called The Booth on the street level.
Christchurch City Council bought the building for a new bus station just over two years ago - the building is still standing following the earthquakes - and Mr Groves concentrated on the Tauranga businesses.
He said over the past year or so the restaurant trade has been slower - what restaurant hasn't been affected through the downturn in the economy.
"Sure, some people don't go out dining as frequently as they did, but what I've noticed is that in the restaurants people don't have that extra glass of wine, and they also order more by the glass than the bottle.
"We opened The Flying Burrito six months before the recession and it has done well. It would be one of the busiest restaurants in town," Mr Groves said.
His worst time came during construction of the new expressway outside his restaurant at the Bridge Marina. Customers struggled to get to The Lobster Club and patronage during the period of the re-construction from March 2008 to December 2009 fell by more than half.
Other people wondered if the restaurant was still open, and he relaunched it in late 2009 as The Bridge Bistro. "I preferred the name The Lobster Club, it had a nice ring to it, but I had to make the change. The interruption of the roadworks and the negative impact on the business went on for nearly two years," Mr Groves said.
He said the new traffic lights and plenty of parking made it a perfect location for The Bridge Bistro.
Mr Groves believes the hardest part now in running a restaurant is trying to control the food costs - everyone knows that prices have gone up when they go to the grocery store.
"We have tried to maintain our [meal] prices," he said, "but you can't cheat your customers by serving lower quality food or reducing the size of your portions.
"You might have to bump up your prices a little and you just hope everyone understands. But you have to shop around for the specials at the produce stores - some times it's a special on fresh fish or meat. You have to stay alert, but I wouldn't change the quality."
Mr Groves ran a group of finance and property companies in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years before leaving "the rat race" and heading for New Zealand.
He also spent six years in the US Army, becoming a captain, and flew helicopters during the Vietnam War.
He and Donna were thinking of returning to Christchurch, but the latest earthquake changed that and they will remain in Tauranga.
Mr Groves thinks their daughter Stacey, who used to work in his restaurants, will move from Christchurch to Tauranga with her husband Simon, the executive chef at the Holiday Inn which is closed because of the earthquake.
Stacey gave birth to Saxon a week ago and Mr Groves has his first grandson which will keep him busy during his retirement.