The hospitality business can be brutal. You see the best and the worst of people, the best and worst businesses management - and don't forget the food. Annemarie Tiffen from Soprano Ristorante talks to Rosalie Willis about what it takes to run a successful restaurant on the coast.
For hospitality guru and owner of long established Paraparaumu Beach restaurant Soprano Ristorante, it is the customer interaction that keeps Annemarie Tiffen coming back night after night.
Nestled down on Seaview Rd, the Italian inspired restaurant is one in a string of successful restaurants Annemarie has run with her husband Corrado Ronchetti.
Working customer facing roles from an early age, Annemarie started out in retail at a dairy while at school before working as a dispensary technician at a pharmacy.
A move to the country for 10 years proved difficult with less social contact, and it was upon returning to Wellington where she met her now husband, that she found her home in hospitality after helping Corrado run his restaurant.
"He wasn't doing that much and I pretty much took over," Annemarie muses.
"It was a blend of two skills together - I'm a people person, my husband is the ideas person."
Owning and running half a dozen restaurants around the Wellington region such as Soprano Petone and Cosa Nostra in Tinakori Rd before opening up Soprano Ristorante on Seaview Rd, for the first 12 years of running Sopranos on the coast, Annemarie was very hands-on.
But when family called, Annemarie answered the call and stopped micromanaging.
Sopranos: Warm, friendly and affordable Italian food.
"I had a wake-up call when I had a grandson who was born very compromised so I spent every other week up at Starship Hospital in Auckland helping out so his father could continue working.
"I had to step back a wee bit and stop micromanaging. The place just ran so well and the staff just took on the responsibility."
Hiring staff on their friendliness and personality rather than restaurant knowledge worked a treat and the restaurant began to grow.
Starting out in the building which used to house Namaste, a small Indian restaurant, they bought the yoga studio on one side to create a private group dining area and then the neighbouring hairdresser on the other side which enabled a kitchen expansion and more dinning space.
Now, 16 years later, Sopranos has become a long established restaurant in Paraparaumu Beach and Annemarie has become a face in the community. "I think what sets us apart is our longevity.
A delectable meal from Soprano Ristorante, Paraparaumu Beach.
"The bottom line is customer service makes a good business - no customers, no business. Putting yourself into the customers' shoes, if you're well served and well looked after you will forgive many sins."
Selling a 'shoebox for a mansion' and moving up the coast while still operating two businesses in Wellington, it was their desire to open an establishment with exceptional service and be able to enjoy the Kāpiti weather which led them to establishing Sopranos.
"The reason we opened in Kāpiti is because the rare times we would go out for dinner after we moved up here, we were never happy about the service we received - that and we always seemed to be travelling from the sun in Kāpiti to the shade in Wellington."
Not looking back, it's always been about the people for Annemarie.
"I love it up here, it can be tough in hospitality but it is a very rewarding job. It's the same job everyday but different.
"The best part is all the people I've met through the restaurant. It's introduced me to the town and the town has been good to us."
When asked what makes Sopranos special Annemarie said, "It's warm friendly and affordable with exception service".
Contrary to what many people think, Sopranos is not a fine dining restaurant but you could be forgiven for thinking so with its soft ambience and gentle clink of wine glasses - the perfect backdrop for a delectable dinner out.
