Restaurant lets diners fish for their supper
A UNIQUE dining experience near Albert Town that has been about eight years in the making is nearly ready to open its doors to the public.
Hook will offer visitors the opportunity to fish for their food from chinook salmonfilled manmade lakes next to the restaurant, and see it prepared, raw or cooked.
It is the idea of local couple Graham and Hayley Lee, who applied for consent to create the business around five years ago.
The concept caused some opposition in its early stages, from neighbours concerned about potential noise.
Following a hearing, it was granted resource consent in late 2015. However, the project has suffered some significant setbacks.
In 2016, Fish & Game opposed the Lees’ application for a fish farm licence from the Ministry of Primary Industries, and in 2017 the couple were prosecuted by the Otago Regional Council for redirecting Camerons Creek, a tributary of the Cardrona River, to flow into the ponds.
It cost the pair hundreds of thousands of dollars and had pushed back the opening date more than a year.
Hook general manager Adam Ross said the effort to develop the facility had been ‘‘really intense’’ over the past two years.
The multimilliondollar operation is set to open early next month.