Tamati Coffey to open Eat Streat bar

Tamati Coffey

It's been a busy year for Tamati Coffey and his partner, Tim Smith, and it's going to get even busier for them next year when they open their new bar in Eat Streat.

Mr Coffey and Mr Smith said they were committed to living and working in Rotorua after Mr Coffey missed out in his attempt to win the Rotorua electorate seat for the Labour Party in September's general election.

The former television presenter and Dancing with the Stars champion has made Rotorua his home base and is also busy organising a "Proudly Rotorua" float for the Auckland Pride Parade in February and reinventing Bay Pride for the region's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in 2015.

But his new venture will see him and Mr Smith behind the bar at their new premises in a former hairdressing salon in Eat Streat, which will be known as Ponsonby Rd.

"We want to bring some Auckland style to Rotorua with live jazz music in a stylish upmarket setting," Mr Coffey said. "We felt there was a gap in the market on Eat Streat, something that's really slick and stylish, somewhere you can show off to your friends and get dressed up for pre or post-dinner drinks."

They didn't want to compete with established restaurants and food was not a priority.

"We're not going to do a lot of food. There are already some fantastic restaurants on Eat Streat, but we've done our homework and really think it will work."

He said work would start in January and he hoped to be open by early March.

"The Rotorua Lakes Council has put in a huge amount of effort to make a funky modern precinct in Rotorua to rival the big cities and we should all be rightfully proud of it. Eat Streat is at the very start of its life and Ponsonby Rd will definitely add value."

Mr Coffey said they'd received some great advice from friends in the hospitality business as well.

"We have a really good friend who has owned 30-plus bars around the country. One of his places is Shanghai Lil's in Ponsonby.

"We want to have a similar theme, but with chandeliers and a baby grand [piano] with lush dark tones inside - a real lounge bar that will do high teas in the day time and champagne and cocktails at night with some great live jazz music."

The two will spend time in Auckland during summer honing their bar and hospitality skills. "It's really exciting and something we have always wanted to do. Post-election we said, 'Let's do it', so here we are," Mr Coffey said.