Mudbrick owners buy Augustus Bistro
The owners of Waiheke Island-based Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant have signed a deal to take over fine dining restaurant Augustus Bistro.
The Ponsonby restaurant was put into liquidation last month after an offer to buy the business fell over. It owes creditors $660,000.
Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant co-owner Robyn Jones said the look and feel of Augustus suited their existing brand perfectly, but the restaurant would no longer offer fine dining when it reopens in the middle of next month.
“We are excited to revive Augustus and take it to a new level,” she said.
Co-owner Nick Jones said he wanted Augustus to be “a place people can come for a great casual experience and be served top quality food and drinks.”
“I recently purchased a house in Ponsonby . . . and feel a real connection with Ponsonby, and Nick has had an apartment in the area for [many years],” Robyn said.
“So when such a special space and opportunity arose, we both felt the time was right to extend our operations city-side.”
Augustus will be the Jones’ first foray into the Auckland market. The family has decided to keep the name of the restaurant but it will no longer serve the same style of French cuisine.
It will reopen to be a more casual and family-oriented offering.
The restaurant, to reopen between October 15 and 20, will be headed by culinary director Logan Coat, the head chef of the Archive Bar and Bistro, part of Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant on Waiheke Island.
The Ponsonby restaurant, located on St Marys Rd, is housed in the former Ponsonby Post Office heritage building which was built in the 1920s.
Staples Rodway’s Tony Maginness and Jared Booth were last month appointed as liquidators to CCMR Ponsonby Post Office, the company which owns Augustus.
Maginness said the sale to the owners of the Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant was a good result.
“I was really pleased with the high level of interest during the sales process and the sale provides a positive financial result to creditors of the company.”
Augustus Bistro was listed on ABC Business Sales and with Bayleys for $600,000, and was said to make sales over $3 million each year.