SPQR closure: Model and reality TV star Colin Mathura-Jeffree remembers Ponsonby Rd dining hotspot after shock demise

Storied Ponsonby Rd restaurant SPQR is in liquidation. A landmark of the stylish strip since 1992, its diners have included everyone from Mick Jagger and Duran Duran to Sally Ridge, and long lunches - which often turned into late dinners - have shaped many memories for Aucklanders and visitors.

International model, hometown reality TV star and longtime man about town Colin Mathura-Jeffree is the latest high-profile former SPQR regular to share his memories of the popular Ponsonby Rd bar and restaurant after it went into liquidation on Thursday.

Its legions of loyal customers - many of whom are New Zealand’s most recognisable names and faces - have been left shocked at the news, which comes 32 years after SPQR opened under the ownership of cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh and film-maker Dorthe Scheffmann.

Broadcaster Kerre Woodham, Viva dining out editor Jesse Mulligan and Avatar: The Way of Water actor Joel Tobeck - a one-time waiter at the high street hotspot - shared fond memories of the central Auckland hospitality institution.

“I was terrible, and the staff let me know I was,” Tobeck said of his time working at SPQR in 1995.

“That was part of SP’s charm. They didn’t suffer fools.”

And Woodham - who met her former husband while reading by the fire at SPQR after a late-night finish at work - described going out to places like SPQR as being about more than what was on the fork, or was poured down the throat.

The restaurant is among a swag of hospitality and retail closures as the Covid-19 pandemic hangover lingers, with increased costs and people slashing their discretionary spending.

“We can all cook the food, and we can all pour the drinks, at home,” Woodham told Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB.

“You go [out] because good times are contagious, and fun is contagious, and you find the place that’s got your vibe.”

SPQR owner Chris Rupe and friends at the Ponsonby Rd restaurant and bar's 20th birthday party in 2012. SPQR went into liquidation on Thursday. Photo / Norrie Montgomery

For Mathura-Jeffree in the “naughty 90s”, that vibe was at SPQR.

“When friends from around the world would call and ask where to go [in Auckland], I’d lazily spin off a few landmarks, but SPQR was always in the mix,” The Traitors NZ season 1 contestant told the Herald.

“When I, my brother Eric, and sister Kathleen hit the scene in the naughty 90s, we’d dress in everything flammable, dancing at SPCA as we lovingly called it. Once we three were having dinner with friends, and if we danced to the 70s hit Car Wash on top of the bar, then our dinner was on the house.

“I [also] held my 39th birthday at SPQR and loved Kathryn Wilson’s most wonderful costume birthday party.”

A costumed Colin Mathura-Jeffree is pictured with 1News host Simon Dallow, who is dressed up as Eurovision winner Conchita Wurstt, at SPQR in this undated photo. The longtime Ponsonby Rd restaurant and bar went into liquidation on Thursday and is no longer trading.

Another 90s fashion disaster at SPQR occurred when he and other men wore skirts paired with suit jackets, said Mathura-Jeffree, who worked with Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier during his fashion career.

“I climbed up into the window, and because the dress wouldn’t let me step forward, I fell face first onto the long table of screaming strangers, flapping around like a beached fish in their delicious meals.”

The bathrooms were also very social and “a great place to keep secrets secret”.

“At 52, I’ve seen places come and go, and [it is] validated the only constant in life is change. But this hits hard, as the City of Sails is losing iconic destinations like falling dominos, yet has nothing as fabulously family as SPQR on the horizon.”

Sally Ridge and her daughter Jaime (second left and left) being filmed dining at SPQR in 2012 as part of their short-lived reality TV show The Ridges. Photo / Doug Sherring

SPQR owner Chris Rupe was “really sorry for the current situation” and appreciated the support he had received after the news broke, he said in a statement last night.

“Thanks so much for your understanding, Aucklanders. I know you loyally share the love I’ve had for SPQR for the past 27 years.

“In the meantime, please spread your patronage around other locally-owned hospo businesses and show your support for the challenging but highly rewarding job they do.”