St Clair's Esplanade Restaurant is expected to be reopened by its new owners in May, after an internal gutting and refitting of the popular beach-side venue.
New owner Katrina Toovey expected to spend several hundred thousand dollars on the refit and will retain the Esplanade name, for the pizza, pasta, shared plates and antipasto-style restaurant.
''We want to retain the beach-side feel; it's not going to be a slick restaurant,'' she said. Ms Toovey, from Central Otago and later educated at the University of Otago, is no stranger to the hospitality sector, having since 1993 co-founded Abalones in George St, the dance-music bar Bath St, and Nova in the Octagon and is at present the owner of restaurant No7 Balmac, in Maori Hill.
The major refit, while going back to bare walls, will be similar to the previous layout of the past 16 years, and some deferred maintenance also will be undertaken, she said.
She expects tradesmen will be working full time throughout the coming weeks on the project. The restaurant will employ about 20 full-time and part-time staff.
Alongside the street-level refit, earthquake-proofing will also be done, and, separately, upstairs apartments have been converted to short-term holiday accommodation by the building's owner.
