Opium owner liquidates

The recession has taken a bite out of Auckland restaurateur David Williams. Photo / Martin Sykes

Hospitality heavyweight David Williams has been clobbered by the recession. Mounting debts of more than $2.7 million have forced the restaurateur and his wife and business partner Harbans to put five of their companies into liquidation.

The couple have made a name for themselves in the Auckland food and hospitality industry since the 1980s, opening a series of high-profile restaurants favoured by A-listers and celebrities.

During his heyday Williams reportedly partied with Elton John, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury during their New Zealand tours.

Last week Sony Pictures hired one of his restaurants, Opium, for a glamorous pre-movie drinks reception before the New Zealand premiere of the Michael Jackson film This Is It at SkyCity.

It will be one of the last parties held at Opium, an Asian tapas bar in Aotea Square, which has racked up debts of nearly $1.5m.

The venue is due to close after Opium NZ Ltd was put into liquidation. Pontoon Ltd and Scoozi Restaurants (NZ) Ltd are also in liquidation but, according to the liquidator's first report released on Friday, Pontoon Bar and Restaurant at Pier 21 and Herne Bay restaurant Scoozi will continue to operate under a new company connected to the couple.

Williams' catering company Glorious Food NZ Ltd and the main company that oversees his hospitality empire, The Relish Group Ltd, are also in liquidation. The liquidator's report shows debts totalling $2.725m in aggregate for the five companies in liquidation.

According to the Companies Office, David and Harbans Williams remain directors of eight companies, including Relish Hospitality Ltd, formed less than two months ago. The couple also run the Sugar and Spice Cafe in the Auckland Domain.

Financial strain showed up earlier this year when Auckland City Council took legal action against one of Williams' companies, Pinot New Zealand, over an unpaid debt relating to Pinot, a council-owned function and wedding venue in Orakei. That company, Pinot New Zealand Limited, was liquidated in September.

The council and the IRD were collectively owed almost $45,000 and seven other unsecured creditors, including power companies and alcohol suppliers, were owed more than $230,000.

The liquidator's report said the reason for the Pinot liquidation was a general downturn in the economy leading to a reduction in demand for the function/dining services.

Williams, 55, did not return calls or respond to messages left by the Herald on Sunday in the past three days.

In a profile published in National Business Review five years ago, he claimed to have introduced the champagne flute to New Zealand in an era when bubbles were still served in "saucer" shaped glassware.

In 2004 The Relish Group employed almost 340 staff and had an annual turnover of $10m, an impressive comeback by a man "crippled by alcoholism" 11 years earlier, according to NBR.

Williams' catering business meant he rubbed shoulders with international celebrities. "Freddie Mercury was all about the cocaine. It was all terribly debauched and terribly gay and outrageous," he told NBR.

The excesses of the 80s led to Williams seeking treatment for alcoholism, and he credits his wife for sticking by him.

The Relish Group's website says the couple were both "born with a passion for food, design and [the] art of entertaining".

But Williams had no tolerance for foodie pretentiousness or "wine Nazis" who insisted only certain wines could be drunk with certain foods.

"Thank God for supermarkets," he told NBR. "At least they put wine back into a normal product mode."

- HERLAD ON SUNDAY