With the news that Sid and Chand Sahrawat are closing their restaurant Kol, some have unfairly labelled its address – 23 Ponsonby Rd – ‘cursed’, after a string of short-lived ventures in recent years. But it hasn’t always been that way. Johanna Thornton charts the many brilliant incarnations of Ponsonby’s
Kol closure: The history of the many Auckland restaurants of 23 Ponsonby Rd
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Kol restaurant on 23 Ponsonby Rd is closing. Photo / Babiche Martens
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2000 - Mange Tout
There for a good time not a long time, Mange Tout was owned by chef Trevor Griggs and his partner and maitre d’, Emma. Before opening the bar and restaurant on Ponsonby Rd, Griggs worked at Grosvenor House in Park Lane, London, and as executive chef at the Stamford Plaza downtown. Mange Tout was reviewed for Viva in 2000 by John Gardner, who noted the fine view, good food and service, and inventive menu.
“The decor is simple,” he wrote, “the table settings are almost severe, but sparkling, and in keeping with the room, and the house typography is distinctive ... There is a fine view of the passing Ponsonby traffic, consisting mostly, it seemed, of expensive convertibles...”
Mange Tout closed in 2001 and the Griggs went on to open Paramount in Lorne St with Adrien de Croy, serving modern NZ contemporary twists on classic dishes.
2001-2010 – Rocco
Spanish-influenced restaurant Rocco had the longest run at 23 Ponsonby Rd, opening in September 2001 and closing nearly a decade later. It was launched by friends Blair Russell (now the owner of Ponsonby Road Bistro) and Mark Wallbank (The Blue Breeze Inn and Chop Chop), introducing diners to Mediterranean-style plates and an excellent NZ and European wine list. The vibe early on was festive, with the restaurant praised for its great hosts, skilled staff and food that was “different to anything in town”.
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The Rocco era saw the heritage house painted bright white and a concrete terrace and front steps added. Eaves over the upstairs windows and downstairs French doors declared the restaurant’s name in red. The interior wasn’t too far removed from that of a Ponsonby villa, with rich brown ceilings, drapes and tables; a leather banquette along one wall and glass mosaic tiles and artwork lining the walls. A few years after opening, the dining room expanded to a canvas-covered courtyard. Upstairs there was a private dining room for 16 people decorated in burgundy and black.
It had its quirks though. Reviewers remarked on Rocco’s strange entry, which wasn’t the front door but the sliding side door that would transport diners into an awkward bar area. The bathrooms were accessed up extremely steep, narrow steps. The repurposed two-storey house suffered from oddly sized rooms and compartmentalised spaces – far from the open-plan restaurants of today. But that was all part of its charm.
Viva reviewer Ewan McDonald noted in 2003 there were “a few nervous glances” when Russell and Wallbank took over the reconstructed villa. “The place had been home to a number of previous ventures and hadn’t been kind to any. Rocco, however, was an instant hit.”
Five years later, also in Viva, he called it an “institution on the boulevard most regard as Ground Zero of eating out in Auckland”.
There were signs of trouble later in the decade, with Peter Calder declaring the ambience “deafening” in a 2010 Herald on Sunday review. “Rocco – which is at least as much a bar as a restaurant – is bloody noisy ... As the Professor said: ‘It’s really a place where people go to drink and shout at each other.‘”
A 2010 Viva review remarked, “The last time we visited Rocco it was chaotic. But a couple of weeks ago, during an economic downturn, they couldn’t put a fork wrong.”
It wasn’t to last, with Rocco closing that year, and the owners announcing bold new plans.
2011-2017 – Moochowchow
Moochowchow opened in 2011 and made it straight to Metro’s best restaurants list that year. The Thai-fusion restaurant was born out of Rocco’s owners going their separate ways – Blair Russell to open Ponsonby Road Bistro (previously Magnum), and Mark Wallbank to transform Rocco into one of Auckland’s early Asian fusion restaurants, Moochowchow. He employed the talents of chef Che Barrington to craft the menu, which featured flavour-packed share plates like caramelised pork hock, soft shell crab and tamarind smoked fish curry.
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The building had a makeover too, with the house’s exterior painted a gunmetal green, including the trim and roof, and Moochowchow signage added in black, red and white.
The interior was revamped from its Rocco era into a dark, sleek and moody space with multicoloured timber-lined walls, brown lacquered tables and matching square wooden stools. The covered, semi-outdoor dining room was treated to bright yellow velvet panels and cosy banquet seating.
The stairs though, remained the same, labelled as “positively vertiginous” by the Herald on Sunday’s Peter Calder in 2015. He suggested the restaurant ought to have “amassed a decent body count in the four years it’s been open”, such was their precariousness. He also noted that, like Rocco, the front door remained inaccessible, with diners instead having to use the folding glass side door, causing much confusion.
Despite its architectural shortcomings, it was still “the best Thai food in town ... and more”, he said.
It remained strong right up until its closure, with Jesse Mulligan writing in 2016, “It’s one thing to be big news when you open, but it requires a different class of restaurateur to be just as exciting five years later.”
In 2017, with the likes of Saan and Azabu also on Ponsonby Rd, Wallbank closed Moochowchow to pursue a new venture, Gogo Daddy in Ponsonby Central (which subsequently closed in 2023), and focus on The Blue Breeze Inn, which he’d opened in 2013.
2018 – Teddy’s
Teddy’s appeared in 2018, with owners Oliver Scutts (who’d co-opened Annabel’s wine bar) and Robb Hill (who helped to launch Britomart’s 1885) noting the location was “too good an opportunity to pass by”, praising the corner Ponsonby site that “gets great sun”.
The pair completely transformed the interior, stripping it back, moving the bar to the front of the restaurant and lining the walls with pale vertical timber panels. The branding was swish too, with a logo and good-looking website devised by Studio South.
But when Viva‘s Jesse Mulligan visited in June 2018 he had concerns with Teddy’s bistro food. “I had high hopes for Teddy’s but I can’t let you eat here until they sort out the kitchen. It’s such a waste, this beautiful, old building in an iconic location, tastefully redecorated for its latest incarnation.”
At Teddy’s, the bistro experience “unravelled”, he wrote, with dishes that looked good, but didn’t deliver. “The Auckland food scene is too wonderful right now for me to risk your money on a meal that’s not up to scratch.”
Canvas reviewer Kim Knight noted that despite the makeover, the “Everest-like ascent to the bathroom remains ... The thing with Teddy’s is that the food is fine, thanks. The thing with Ponsonby Rd is that it is a dining destination. In this neck of the woods, you can’t afford to be bland.”
It wasn’t a winning formula and Teddy’s closed in 2020.
2020 – Scandal
The Scandal era involved a suggestive name, a lot of black paint and the crushing impacts of Covid. Described as Asian fusion with a Kiwi twist, owner Gautam Jindal took the colonial villa into a “more is more” era, with a black-painted exterior, spray-painted brick walls and a light-up marble bar.
Unlike Rocco, Moochowchow and Teddy’s, restaurant reviewers didn’t flock to assess its menu of bao buns, yakitori and dumplings. Kim Knight paid a visit for Canvas in February and said: “I wanted to give Scandal a higher score because everybody was so nice and the kitchen was working so hard and the food was very pretty – but there were a few ‘buts’ to work through (literally)” – noting overly sweet and fried dishes.
Of the interior, Knight said: “They’ve seriously redecorated and now it’s all dark brick and epically lit marble. In the middle of summer, it felt a little close (and some of those chairs are uncomfortably wedged against the wall and the bar).”
Scandal encouraged visitors with happy hours, ladies’ nights and bottomless lunches, but it wasn’t to last.
Jindal told the Herald the restaurant had closed its doors after it was late paying its November rent, which he blamed on financial difficulties associated with Covid-19. It announced on Instagram in 2021, “Hi folks, we have not been able to persist. Hope you all had a better 2021 than us.”
2022 – 10 Eleven by Marvel
10 Eleven by Marvel opened in April 2022 and described itself as a “modern grill and seafood restaurant offering late-night kitchen and bar dining along with parkside outdoor dining”.
The arrival of the new restaurant and bar saw the building and its interior made over once again, this time with peach and green paint. The interior was painted white and decorated with an elaborate floral mural by artist Rachel Rush.
The menu offered “the finest seafood, pasture and produce suppliers” plus “the usual classic beers, wines and spirits but also offer products outside the beaten track for those who are more adventurous”.
10 Eleven by Marvel lasted less than six months and its website and Instagram have disappeared from the internet.
2022 – Kol
Celebrated restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat opened Kol in November 2022. The talent behind Cassia and Sid at the French Cafe, the duo also opened Sidart in 2009 (now run by Leslie Chandra), and Anise in 2024. The Sahrawats had been discussing a bar concept for some time when they heard the Ponsonby site was available. Before the grand opening, the premises had an extensive refit, including an update of the facade.
Kol (pronounced “coal”) serves innovative cocktails and tandoor-inspired snacks and dishes mainly cooked over fire, using New Zealand produce with an Indian influence. Kol’s “fire” element and food menu take inspiration from the Indian chula, an old form of cooking with firewood over a mud or clay stove.
Reviews for Kol have been mostly positive, with Kim Knight for Canvas calling the service “superbly professional and totally charming” and Cuisine dubbing it “the hottest spot in Auckland” and bestowing it two hats in its Good Food Awards in 2023 and one in 2024.
Despite the accolades, the Sahrawats announced its imminent closure this week, citing a “tough” past few months. “Although Kol was initially a very busy, viable business, the past few months have been tough, and while we’ve made the decision to close, we’re glad we tried – you never know if an idea will succeed unless you try”, says Sid.
The couple have announced a new concept for the space, the KOL/LAB, inviting hospitality professionals interested in taking over the space, with zero lease commitment, use of the fit-out and chattels, and mentorship from the couple and the Restaurant Association.
“We feel the space has potential and would suit other concepts,” says Sid. “Rather than try our hand at something unfamiliar, we’d prefer to give an opportunity to someone else to discover if their idea will translate in the real world and be profitable, while helping them learn the ropes of launching and running a hospitality business.”
“KOL/LAB is a hospitality incubator for a new concept – a way to test out market reception without financial risks, with support from us,” explains Chand. “The new operator will keep 100% of their profits, they just pay rent and cover their staffing and production costs. We look forward to still playing a role in this way in the lively fabric of Ponsonby.”
To assess applications, the duo have enlisted a panel of experts, including Restaurant Association head Marisa Bidois, restaurateur Al Brown and Cuisine magazine owner and editor Kelli Brett.
“Hospitality is a challenging business at the best of times, and we know many talented operators have great ideas but face barriers to entry – especially in the current climate”, says Bidois.
“What Sid and Chand are offering with KOL/LAB is not only incredibly generous, it’s visionary. By removing some of the biggest roadblocks – financial pressure and fit-out costs – they’re giving someone the kind of start we rarely see in this industry.”
The next incarnation of 23 Ponsonby Rd is in capable hands.
