Mt Eden’s Molten for sale
Owning hospitality icon would be ‘ a labour of love for many’
T he well known Molten — a Top 50 restaurant regarded by many as a Mt Eden institution — is now for sale. Established almost 12 years ago by TV chef Michael Van de Elzen and his wife Belinda, the award- winning restaurant and wine bar is situated in the heart of Mt Eden village.
The restaurant is walking distance from Eden Park, says ABC business broker Dayne Tomczyk.
Tomczyk thinks it might even be purchased by a “quick learner”, even someone relatively new to the hospitality trade, as it is effectively run under management and requires a minimum amount of administration and upkeep.
“The wine bar trades six nights a week and the restaurant five, with the premises closed on Sundays unless hired out for a function. The liquor license allows for trade up until 10pm outside and until 2am inside,” he says.
“There i s scope for trading lunches, and even brunch is a possibility with most of the cafe’s trade spilling out on to the pavements on Saturdays and Sunday mornings.”
Tomczyk says the restaurant has two private dining rooms, a main restaurant, large fully covered courtyard and a bar.
“Molten is capable of catering for private corporate groups, weddings, birthdays and family gatherings all without interrupting regular trade. It has a fantastic reputation having featured regularly in the Metro Top 50 ( winning awards for best value and best wine list and runner- up for best bar), and receiving great reviews from Cuisine, Viva ( including being named in the Viva best restaurants 2016), NZ Herald, Concrete Playground and Urban List to name a few.”
“The restaurant features a large central kitchen with a pizza oven in addition to all of the regular equipment with a large parilla- style wood fired grill and extraction system in the courtyard. Wood fire cooking i s gaining great momentum overseas and the trend is just about to hit Auckland.
“This set- up is comfortably capable of catering to large numbers.
“During the last Bledisloe Cup match, Molten catered for 110 guests dining from a two- course set menu with everyone on the premises arriving between 5 and 6pm and the last guest having left at 7.05pm, with the restaurant ready to accommodate another seating by 7.20pm,” says Tomczyk.
The kitchen is run with four fulltime and three part- time staff, including two kitchen porters.
Tomczyk says the head chef is on a salary, all other staff are paid an hourly wage.
“The floor is staffed with three fulltime and four part- time. The propri- etor covers marketing, payroll, accounts reconciliation, accounts receivable and accounts payable, front of house rostering and functions management.
“These tasks are all performed online and can be done from home. In addition, the proprietor works on the floor on very busy evenings, for example, during restaurant judging season or when important clients are on the premises.
“The proprietor also covers staff absences.”
“But I’m almost certain that, regardless of the need for hard work in this industry, owning a Mt Eden icon like Molten would be a labour of love for many.” Tomczyk says.
Tomczyk thinks it might even be purchased by a ‘ quick learner’, even someone new to the hospitality trade.