A Queenstown Mall "gastro-pub" was back in business by lunchtime yesterday, after a small kitchen fire was extinguished by Queenstown firefighters on Monday night.
No-one was injured, but an estimated 170 patrons in the Ballarat Trading Co and a further estimated 170 patrons in Winnie's Gourmet Pizza Bar above it, were evacuated when a stock pot on an oven against a plaster-board wall built up heat and combusted, after 9.30pm.
The Tatler restaurant next door was also evacuated.
Ballarat and Winnies co-owner Mike Burgess said the evacuation was orderly. The damaged area had been boarded, painted and papered yesterday and most people would not know it was where the fire occurred.
Mr Burgess said the damage was estimated at $3000 to $4000 and loss in revenue from both bars during the evacuation was about $10,000.
However, insurance covered both fire damage and business disruption.
The Ballarat Trading Co is housed within a 138-year-old building, which is not listed by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
