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The owner of Hillside Kitchen admits he has thought about walking away following the impending closure of other high-profile restaurants in Wellington.
In the past fortnight, Field & Green and Shepherd have announced they are shutting their doors by the end of this year.
Hillside owner and chefAsher Bootehas spoken out on Instagram about the mental toll of running a restaurant as well as the personal struggles he has faced in recent months.
“I’m feeling incredibly emotional at the moment hearing about high-quality restaurants making the unimaginably hard decision to close,” Boote said.
“It’s such a hard time to be a restaurant owner, I don’t think people quite realise the burden that’s being carried.”
The Tinakori Rd establishment is just across the road from the Prime Minister’s residence in Thorndon. Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern was even known to have met journalists at Hillside for interviews.
Boote said he would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about walking away from it all.
“First and foremost I want to encourage those who are feeling it to reach out and talk, owners and teams alike, we put huge amounts of ourselves into these businesses but they don’t define who you are.
“Secondly, to the customers out there, I cannot stress enough how much your business means at the moment, we know so many people are struggling financially so making the choice of where to dine out (if you can afford to at all) makes a huge difference to the people involved in that business.”
Hillside Kitchen owner and chef Asher Boote has spoken out about the mental toll of running a restaurant. Photo / Jacqui Gibson
Boote emphasised what was so scary was that high-quality restaurants were struggling.
“The old adage of cream rising to the top isn’t so much the case, there’s more of a race to the bottom.”
But he said it was unquestionably a very challenging time for the sector.
“A lot of these businesses are reputable. They’ve been long-standing in their communities. Knowing when you’re getting to a point where it’s a fine line whether the margins are there for you to be able to keep going is very difficult.”
Armitage said it was encouraging that people were starting to reach out for support.
“There’s absolutely no stigma attached to that. We want people to be doing that at the earliest possible opportunity, rather than waiting until it’s too late.”
He said there was goodwill within the hospitality community that should be tapped into and useful programmes like First Steps, which helps business owners prioritise wellbeing and awareness to grow profitable businesses while living balanced lives.
Hillside sent an email to customers yesterday saying it had been a week of contemplation after witnessing Shepherd and Field & Green announcing their closure.
“Both these restaurants opened at a similar time to us and share similar ethos and ethics around the restaurant industry so these announcements have felt very close to home, our hearts go out the people behind these amazing restaurants.”
The email said it had been one of the hardest trading periods Hillside had experienced too.
“Because of course people cut back, their discretionary spending they cut back, and they can actually really be the signal that spending patterns are changing and I think that is part of the Shepherd story.”
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
