SPQR liquidation: Kerre Woodham, Noelle McCarthy, Jesse Mulligan share restaurant memories

SPQR has gone into liquidation. Open since 1992, the restaurant has hosted many famous names - both local and international - over the years. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Storied Ponsonby Rd restaurant SPQR is in liquidation. A landmark of the stylish strip since 1992, diners have included everyone from Mick Jagger and Duran Duran to Sally Ridge, and long lunches - which often turned into late dinners - have shaped many memories for Aucklanders and visitors.

Formerly a motorcycle repair shop, when SPQR opened in 1992 it quickly became the place to be - and be seen. But now its doors are closed, with liquidators appointed to the business on Thursday and the restaurant no longer trading. Its legions of loyal customers - many of whom are New Zealand’s most recognisable names and faces - have been left shocked at the news.

“My thoughts are with the SPQR team, both present and past, who looked after so many people so well and gave us great memories,” said Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham, who noted she would be “one of thousands who are beyond sad at reading this news.”

“I was living in Brown St when the motorbike repair shop on Ponsonby Rd was being transformed into SPQR and I think my daughter had the first fluffy there as a toddler. (She’s now in her 30s...!)

“I met my (now ex) husband there one night when I popped in after finishing on the radio at midnight. Drinking a red wine, reading my book and the world’s most handsome Irishman just happened to be there,” Woodham said.

“SPQR was a place where things happened and we wouldn’t have been the first couple to have been magicked up after a night at SPQR.

“So many, many amazing memories of long lunches with fabulous friends - usually lunches, not dinners - with staff who understood manaakitanga, no matter where in the world they came from.”

Kerry Woodham says her daughter, now in her 30s, probably had the first fluffy at SPQR. Photo / Kellie Blizard

Kiwi actor Joel Tobeck, who has appeared in films including Avatar: The Way of Water, and TV shows like The Luminaries and One Lane Bridge, revealed he was once a waiter at SPQR, then later frequented the restaurant as a patron.

“I used to go to SPQR at least two or three times a week when I was single and still drinking. Loved it,” he said. “The food was always fantastic, especially the pizza. Chris did a great job running that place for so long. I worked there as a waiter in 1995. I was terrible, and the staff let me know I was. That was part of SP’s charm. They didn’t suffer fools.”

Tobeck was among a group of famous faces in a short film shot at SPQR in 1997. The Bar is available to stream for free on the NZ on Screen website.

In the introduction to the 2014 SPQR book, Simon Farrell Green wrote: “It is a place for everyone, from millionaires to the stony broke, and all walks of life have always been welcome. It is in this way that S.P.Q.R has become a barometer of the city. So often you realise the city is in a subdued mood when S.P.Q.R is quiet.” His words carry extra weight now, as the restaurant joins a slew of hospitality and retail closures.

Before it was a restaurant, the building had housed a motorcycle workshop, and its new chapter typified the evolution of the suburb.

People drank there for the first Hero Parade in 1995, and the restaurant had a long history of being queer-friendly.

“It had a licence to stay open until 2am when few other places on the strip could. It was, in fact, the place to drink on Ponsonby Rd,” explained Farrell-Green. “It’s opening, really, showed that Ponsonby had hit a sort of critical mass.”

Viva dining out editor Jesse Mulligan said: “Was the food any good? Well yes, but for the past decade or so that hasn’t even been in the top three reasons to book a table at SPQR. Auckland had nothing else like those outdoor tables, which were both a front-row seat to watch the people of Ponsonby Rd and, more importantly, a place to be watched yourself.

“You would technically book for lunch but it was more about the long hours afterwards bleeding into twilight. We will never know how many TV shows, real estate deals and extra-marital affairs were commissioned at those tables and that’s probably a good thing. If this all sounds a bit grotesque in the politically safe environs of 2024 well, maybe that explains something about why it hasn’t survived. Still, the operators were great people, and plenty of Aucklanders will miss it. RIP, SPQR.”

Jesse Mulligan, Viva's Dining Out editor, calls the outdoor tables at SPQR 'both a front row seat to watch the people of Ponsonby Road and, more importantly, a place to be watched yourself'. Photo / Babiche Martens

Ricardo Simich, the Herald’s Spy Editor, called the news “very sad”. He first encountered SPQR when he returned from a stint living in Sydney and he says the restaurant was like nothing else that had appeared before in Auckland.

“It was like the cool places in Sydney. Then by the end of the ‘90s it was an institution. I lived across the road from SPQR and Chris Rupe was my neighbour. The parties at SPQR are the stuff of legend. Rupe and all who have worked at SPQR gave Auckland its very best era of hospitality.”

Spy editor Ricardo Simich says the parties at SPQR are 'the stuff of legend'. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Amanda Linnell, former managing editor of Viva and co-founder and editor of Auckland’s Citymix time-out guide, recalls SPQR in its heyday as “the place to go for a good time”.

“Jostling for cocktails at the bar, random chats waiting for the loo, nabbing a table outside and partying into the wee small hours … The floor staff were always brilliant and made everyone feel like they were in on it - whatever it was!”

She called it “a sad day for Ponsonby”.

“Chris Rupe led the way in capturing the colour of old Ponsonby by creating a venue that was inclusive and celebrated what made the neighbourhood so unique,” Linnell said.

Former Viva managing editor Amanda Linnell has many fond memories of SPQR in its heyday.

Restaurateur Judith Tabron, owner of First Mates, Last Laugh, said it’s “very sad to see such a cherished establishment close its doors”.

“As a patron who has enjoyed many memorable moments there, it’s really disheartening to see. I think for most people when they think of Ponsonby Road they can’t help but have SPQR come to mind.

“Nevertheless, it’s a stark reminder of the economic challenges facing the hospitality sector. SPQR will be dearly missed and its absence will leave a large void marking the end of an era within our community.”

Restaurateur Judith Tabron of First Mates, Last Laugh says it's "the end of an era".

Deborah Pead, founder and executive chair of PR firm Pead, said she was feeling “a sense of sadness and melancholy and loss” at the news and that she wishes she could have “one last hurrah” at the restaurant.

“It feels as if we are witnessing the end of an era more and more often lately, but SPQR, another local affectionately referred to by my friends as the Senate for the People of Ponsonby Rd, it truly does feel like the end of a distinctive social and cultural time.”

Pead has “lost count” of the long lunches she’s had at SPQR, many of them “stretching into the late afternoon sun and enjoying the people watching from the coveted pavement tables”.

“It was the bastion of the hill tribes who live in Ponsonby and I can’t say we went there purely for the dining. It was the ambience that Chris [Rupe] and his team created that was the real attraction. It always felt so rock ‘n’ roll, which also describes the state many of us left in.

“But, it’s easy to feel sentimental about its closure when there are so many memories connected with SPQR. Like one particular long lunch, where an award-winning journalist and author passed out in the bathroom. After being called to the back by a thoughtful waiter, I managed to spirit the author out and drop him at home. And then there are the many occasions where the famous and fabulous would plonk down at one of the very close tables next to you, and strike up a conversation. You’d be best mates and exchanging cards by the end of the meal.”

Pead PR founder and co-owner Deborah Pead.

Broadcaster and author Noelle McCarthy, who was once a waitress at another Ponsonby hospitality institution Prego, said she first went to SPQR with some fellow waitstaff and thought the restaurant was “the most sophisticated thing I’d ever seen”.

“I kept going back, post Prego, for late-night pizza bread and too much of the second-least expensive red. The best tables were outside under the ivy. Brushing cigarette ash off the perfect white linen surreptitiously before your first drink. To this day, the red glow of those little square candle holders is a muscle memory of high-jinks ahead. Naenae was the coolest waiter, never not grinning, shimmying the whole way up the bus stop and back down again. We went through an unfortunate phase of singing Do They Know It’s Christmas long after it was seasonal. Sorry Olga. And Vale SP, scene of too many imperishable, unforgettable Auckland nights.”

Broadcaster Noelle McCarthy said SPQR was 'scene of too many imperishable, unforgettable Auckland nights'. Photo / Dean Purcell

In a statement, Restaurant Association NZ chief executive Marisa Bidois said Ranz is “deeply saddened to hear about the closure of SPQR,” calling it an “iconic institution” in Auckland’s dining scene.

“For many years, SPQR has been a cornerstone of our community, hosting countless special occasions and launching the careers of many people in our industry. It is heartbreaking to see such an iconic establishment close its doors,” Bidois said, noting that these are “particularly tough times for the hospitality industry” due to the current economic climate and cost of living challenges resulting in “a significant downturn in customer numbers”.

Preliminary results from the Restaurant Association’s most recent quarterly membership survey, collated today, showed that 50% of Auckland businesses and 35% of businesses nationwide reported their revenue as significantly worse than last year. Additionally, 56% of Auckland businesses and 50% of businesses nationwide cited managing the customer downturn as the single biggest issue they were facing.

“Sadly, 43% of Auckland businesses and 37% of businesses nationwide believe that conditions will deteriorate over the next year,” Bidois said.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the entire team at SPQR. Its contributions to Auckland’s culinary heritage and the many careers it has helped launch are immeasurable. We understand the pain and uncertainty this brings and stand with them, as we do all businesses that are experiencing similar challenges.”

Krishna Botica, Restaurant Association of New Zealand’s Auckland branch president, described the news of the restaurant’s closure as “incredibly sad”.

Botica, who worked at SPQR from 1997-99 and now owns multiple restaurants of her own, said it was an iconic business.

“I have so many wonderful memories of both working and socialising there. Often those lines were blurred in the early days! My heart goes out to Chris [Rupe] and his team. I feared this winter would be tough on hospo, as we are at the pointy end of discretionary spend.”

Bidois said the loss of a long-lived business like SPQR had far-reaching impact.

“Chris is an icon in our industry - he’s a smart, on-to-it businessman and has a lot of respect. When you see someone like that fall, it is - it’s a psychological blow.”

She ended her statement with a message of support for the hospitality industry as a whole.

“To other businesses facing similar struggles, please know that you are not alone. The Restaurant Association is here to support you. Reach out to us if you need assistance or just someone to talk to. Together, we can navigate these difficult times.”