Vine idea comes to fruition with summer approaching
The cafe at Nelson’s Founders Heritage Park has reopened with new tenants, just in time for summer.
McCashin’s Hop Garden welcomed its first batch of customers yesterday. It occupies the former premises of Founders Brewery and more recently Park Life, which closed in March.
After a hectic final week of preparations, Hop Garden operator Lincoln Womersley said it was a relief to see months of work coming to fruition.
‘‘We put a bit of pressure on ourselves to get it ready in time, but now it’s done and we’re just waiting for people to come in.’’
Womersley, who is also involved with McCashin’s Brewery Kitchen and Bar in Stoke as well as Blinc Catering, said the move to Founders was a collaborative effort between himself and McCashin’s to secure the spot, eventually opting for a lease over an outright purchase of the building.
While some of the Founder’s Brewery infrastructure was retained, the interior has been given a refurbishment to reflect the flavour of the new ownership.
‘‘It was pretty much walk in, make the changes that we wanted and get cracking,’’ Womersley said.
However, an on-site brewery was not on the menu at this stage, he said.
‘‘In the initial stages we were thinking about maybe having some kind of micro-brewing here, but we sort of moved away from that . . . We’ll just stick to what we do here and build it more as a food and beer outlet.’’
Womersley said the menu, featuring a range of options from sticky ribs and burgers to maple roast kumara salad, had been designed to work well with McCashin’s award-winning beers and ciders.
With the help of head chef Jody Laing, Womersley said the Hop Garden had adopted a ‘‘heavy on prep, light on service’’ philosophy. As foot traffic increased over summer, he hoped to employ another chef to help run the kitchen.
The new venue is open for breakfast and lunch every day but Mondays and Tuesdays. Womersley said it was planned to stay open later between Thursdays and Saturdays to encourage people to make the most of the dining aspect.