Oysters to go? Hit up the BillyPot from Tuesday when lockdown ends. Photo / BillyPot
Oysters to go? Hit up the BillyPot from Tuesday when lockdown ends. Photo / BillyPot
If you're not jazzed for greasy fried food, soggy pizza and lukewarm curries delivered to your door when the lockdown ends next week - maybe freshly shucked oysters will float your boat.
From Tuesday, Auckland seafood fiends can get their mitts on the freshest oysters, mussels, prawns and squid fromCBD restaurant BillyPot.
BillyPot is situated in the Auckland Fish Market and is famed for its fresh fare.
Owner Ofir Yudilevich, who like many hospitality operators has been completely shut down since the national Covid-19 began, is excited to offer Aucklanders a "unique" dining experience.
Yudilevich hopes regulars will be as excited as he is to see the menu up and going again.
"There's three types of offerings right now - there's bottom of the barrel drive though and top end like French Cafe, Cassia and the middle which is what I consider Billy Pot to be, the little owner/operator takeaways," he said.
"And I don't think there's anywhere else you can buy takeaway oysters from."
Yudilevich said reopening BillyPot was about far more than making money.
"It's not for profit, it's to employ staff and get them out of their houses, and it's to let customers know that we're still around," he told the Herald.
"There has been huge demand, lots of people asking us when we are open for business again - we can't wait to get back into it.
"Staff will get to work again and they are fully excited."
Mussels in white wine sauce from the BillyPot. Photo / BillyPot
Yudilevich was set to open a second restaurant last month but the lockdown stymied that.
The Commercial Bay site was supposed to open the weekend the country went into lockdown.
It is now delayed until at least level 2.
"We signed all the staff contracts for Commercial Bay the Wednesday before the Prime Minister announced the lockdown," he said.
"They were supposed to start training on the Monday, so these guys, brand new staff have been sitting around doing nothing.
"Luckily they have been getting the Government subsidy, so that's great.
"As an employer I obviously want to pay the subsidy for hours worked, not hours sitting at home."
Yudilevich appreciated there were going to be plenty of options when the lockdown lifted in terms of delivering food, but his offering was not like any other.
"We have a unique product that you can't get anywhere else," he said.
"We're not a fish and chip shop, we're a specialised seafood shop and when people buy from us they are getting the freshest oysters in Auckland - for the best price."
Ofir Yudilevich owns BillyPot and The Jefferson. Photo / supplied
And that price is $4 each for a Pacific oyster and $5 each for a Bluff oyster.
They also come in half dozens - $24 for Pacific and $30 for Bluff.
Yudilevich also owns whisky bar The Jefferson in Fort Lane which he hopes will be open for business when the country moves to Alert Level 2.
"We're hoping that the BillyPot will start getting some cash flow and we'll start seeing some of our regulars.
"It's a good start to the business as whole which includes The Jefferson.
"The idea is that the BillyPot will open followed by The Jefferson at Level 2 and Commercial Bay after that."
Yudilevich said the last month in lockdown had been hard - and it wasn't over.
"There's been zero revenue in hospitality but with outgoings that people don't usually think about, it's not just stock and wages.
"It's things like music licences, food licences - ongoing overheads that you literally cannot turn off, you cannot get away from when you're closed.
"And it's not over, the next two weeks we'll still be in negative territory, we're still going to be at a loss.
"We're looking forward to Level 2 and we're looking forward to getting reunited with our customers over a dram of fine whisky."
For the first week, orders can be made through the app Regulr, billypot.mobi2go.com but are pick-up only from the restaurant.
Yudilevich and his staff are hoping to make personal deliveries after that.
