SPQR: New lease signed for famous Ponsonby restaurant

Ponsonby Rd restaurant SPQR has been closed since it was placed into liquidation on July 12. Photo / Alex Burton

Famous Auckland restaurant SPQR closed its doors to diners on July 12, and since then there’s been speculation about what’s next for the famous Ponsonby Rd location.

Liquidators have confirmed to the Herald the site had been leased, and that the chattels it had acquired had been sold to an existing restaurant operation, who had also taken over the lease.

It would not confirm who the operators were, and it’s not known whether the new operators will retain the name.

On August 21 the Herald’s Tom Raynel reported that liquidators PKF Corporate Recovery & Insolvency had renewed the site’s liquor licence and confirmed “a few parties have shown interest”.

SPQR Ltd was placed into liquidation for tax arrears, with a liquidators’ report showing the restaurant owed more than $2 million to creditors and Inland Revenue.

Current owner Chris Rupe (director of SPQR Ltd) took over the restaurant from founders Stuart Dryburgh and film-maker Dorthe Scheffmann.

Opened in 1992, the stylish establishment became a fixture of the Ponsonby dining scene and a party spot.

Sally Ridge and daughter Jaime were filmed at SPQR Restaurant in 2012. Photo / Doug Sherring

Herald Spy editor Ricardo Simich said the parties at SPQR “the stuff of legend”.

The abrupt shuttering after 27 years shocked industry and patrons alike, with many lamenting the loss of the eatery.

“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,” said Newstalk ZB’s Kerre Woodham.

In the introduction to the 2014 SPQR book, Simon Farrell Green called it “a barometer of the city”.

If SPQR is a barometer, then its sudden liquidation and the site’s new lease show how rapid change can be in Auckland.

The closure came amid wider changes in the city’s hospitality scene, with CBD restaurants – including Homeland, Pilkingtons and Madame George – also shutting.

With new leaseholders and a new era imminent for the historic location, 150 Ponsonby Rd joins a cohort of hospitality businesses embracing change in 2024.

Down the other end of the famous strip, fine-dining restaurant Sidart has switched its operation to Italian casual, and the neighbourhood has seen some notable new openings this year, including Bodega and San Ray.

Who will take over the SPQR site, and what that establishment look like, is the next change poised for Ponsonby dining.

Emma Gleason is the Herald’s lifestyle and entertainment deputy editor. Based in Auckland, she covers culture, media and more.