Originally from Auckland, Sean Smith has worked in some of the best restaurants around the world in food capitals Melbourne, Berlin and New Mexico.
So, it is no surprise that since taking over Francesca’s restaurant little more than 18 months ago and opening Greek restaurant Sofi last year, he has been rushed off his feet as the two venues prove popular.
Smith is not done with two, he plans to open up a third restaurant in Wānaka at an unnamed venue.
In his plans to make the Wānaka food scene more nationally recognised and surpass its neighbour as a dining destination, he hopes to reel in a few of his foodie mates from overseas and up north.
"Wānaka is kind of the culinary hub of central. Queenstown is the adventure capital and, yes it has restaurants, but in general, they’re very expensive for what you get.
"I think they know that they’re going to have unlimited guests every single day, and they are going to have rotating customers and they can do whatever they want and let people down, and still charge them. There will be less repercussions for them."
Smith, who was schooled in his last year at Cromwell high School "many moons ago", started his hospitality career in Queenstown at the Surreal Bar.
He moved to Melbourne where he said his eyes were opened to not only quality food, but also service.
"How many people go to New World and buy a $70 bottle of wine? Not many of us. So it’s about showing the customer what you are getting for that $70 bottle of wine at my restaurant.
"The wine itself is not entirely what people are paying for. They’re paying for the ambience, the lighting, the music and the smile from the waiter and the jokes and the rest of it."
Until the past few years, Wānaka has lacked that, he says.
The competition has been flat and most of the prime real estate on Wānaka’s waterfront has been filled with pub food, which Smith himself is a fan of from time to time.
"We could see so much more potential there than accessed, you know. And I think for me, Wānaka is so well placed to be the place Kiwis book for a food experience."
On April 27 they will close Sofi for two months to completely fit it out.
While patrons have been happy with the refurbishment of the former Trout restaurant, there are some changes they would like to make.
"We still have $10 Kmart curtains hanging, so we need to improve on that and justify that $70 bottle of Prosecco."
This will include new shelving, a new kitchen and several other noticeable changes for customers.
Through both of his restaurants Smith uses mostly local produce and wine, from the likes of Mount Edward, Maude, Royalburn Station, Rippon, and Redbridge Strawberry farm.
He sees the importance of looking after local growers and farmers, as opposed to signing up to the likes of DB or Lion breweries who give a hefty $50,000 incentive.
"It’s not worth it, you lose the freedom for a good period and you are tied to mostly their labels."
He says Wānaka’s biggest issue is that most owners can guarantee the crowds if they are in a prime location. This can diminish the effort to change menus. It can contribute to "same old", he says.
"In Melbourne, you could pretty much walk into any place and know you don’t have to go far to have good time. It is hit more than it is miss.
"Here in New Zealand our best streets, we quite often have the least variety of options. A little bit of variety on the lakefront would be nice.
"If it was France or anywhere else in the world, it would be little boutiques, cafes and wine bars and it would be beautiful and ... for whatever reason, New Zealand is not quite getting there exactly."
Smith is not a qualified chef nor winemaker but has spent enough time among the two, to know what he’s talking about with customers, which gives him a bit of a buzz, he says.
"When you’re explaining dishes to people, you feel it’s like kind of empowerment in some ways, to be able to just, when someone asks you a question, you can snap off the answer."
Perhaps the best kept secret though isn’t the food, but the woman the restaurant was named after, Grandma Sophie, who unlike the Greek restaurant itself, was Dutch," Smith says.
"We decided to call the restaurant Sofi. Then I was speaking with Mum and she said, ‘oh, you know, it’s my grandmother’s name.’
"Now she gets to greet everyone and say goodbye to them too."
