Kerikeri is all the sweeter with the Honey House Cafe reopening.Photo / Jess Burges
Kerikeri is all the sweeter with the Honey House Cafe reopening.Photo / Jess Burges
Heritage New Zealand has again popped the kettle on and thrown open the doors of the Honey House Cafe but this time, the organisation has decided to run the cafe itself.
It's the first year that it has taken over the running of the cafe which will remain serving aslice of Kerikeri sweetness until March, or April if the season lasts a little longer.
The riverside cafe is usually leased out by the organisation but Heritage New Zealand's property manager, Liz Bigwood, said it was now being run by the Kerikeri Mission Station team.
She said she had spent much of Monday happily up to her eyes in tea and sandwiches - as the cafe was hosting a birthday high tea.
"The Honey House Cafe is now run by the Kerikeri Mission Station team who have put their own stamp on the cafe menu, integrating the cafe with the rest of the visitor experience, and focusing on food that sounds all the right nostalgia notes," she says.
The team is serving up classic New Zealand-themed dishes to.
Ms Bigwood hopes the upgraded basin loop walk will also bring some new customers to the cafe.
The cherry on top is the fact that profits generated by the Honey House Cafe are being used to support heritage, including the ongoing maintenance and conservation of the neighbouring Kemp House and the Stone Store.
The New Zealand Historic Places Trust had earlier commissioned Salmond Reed Architects to transform the lower floor of the 1976 administration building on the Kerikeri Mission Station site into a bright and airy cafe.
The cafe takes its name from James Kemp Jr's storage shed for beehives which used to stand nearby.
