A Bay of Plenty chef with about 40 years of hospitality experience has closed his Mount Maunganui restaurant after spending a couple of months unsuccessfully searching for a maitre d' and sous chef.
Former Mount Bistro owner Stephen Barry closed the doors to the restaurant he's owned for 14 yearsin a prime spot opposite the Mount Hot Pools on March 20.
"The only way I kept operating as long as I did was because I could call on some of my old staff to come and help me out when I was really stuck."
The news comes as the hospitality industry grapples with a staffing crisis at "levels never seen before".
Some businesses are reducing operating hours due to lack of staff and some have even had to close temporarily or for good.
Barry said some days the business would be busy and others would be quiet, which made it tricky to know how many staff would be needed for each shift.
Stephen Barry. Photo / George Novak
"You could be busy one day and have to turn people away because you didn't have enough staff and too many if you were quiet. It's an uphill battle."
Luckily, Barry said he had become his own landlord about seven years ago so he had options.
"It's a better investment for me to close the restaurant down and work for somebody else."
He planned to convert the restaurant into apartments.
"It's a little bit sad to see it close down but I am looking forward to the future."
Barry said he fell into the industry at age 13 when his parents bought a restaurant in Rotorua. During his career, Barry has worked at many popular Bay restaurants including head chef at Tauranga's waterfront dining scene Harbourside.
What kept him in the industry was the people, he said.
"I just love looking after people and making them happy, giving them great food.
"I enjoy when people come up to you at the end of a busy night and thank you for the good food. It gives you a real buzz."
Barry said the Bay's hospitality scene was often underestimated.
"The whole restaurant scene is showing some really good signs and there are some great chefs doing some great things, which is cool to see."
Moving forward, Barry hoped more people would start to see hospitality as a career "rather than something you do to fill in the hours" while working towards something else.
"It's more than just putting food on the table."
He said he had built life-long friendships working in the industry.
"We had a dear old lady who used to dine with us regularly and she put it in her will that her family came to celebrate her life at our restaurant."
