Changing the guard at the Hut

Bob and Jill Coates didn't listen to the people who told them they were mad to contemplate opening a restaurant in Kaitaia. There wasn't room for another one, they said, but they were wrong.

The Bushman's Hut had been very successful over the last 14 years, they said last week, but now the time had come for a change of the guard.

Bob and Jill embark upon retirement today, with new owner Tyler Bamber, who has been managing the business for the last six months, officially taking ownership. He will take today to get his ducks in a row, and will open for business tomorrow.

Jill seemed a trifle ambivalent last week about leaping from the kitchen to retirement - what's the worst that could happen? Bob will say he's had an idea - but he reckoned he would have his hands full getting his golf handicap down from 32 (once his gout comes right), gardening and working on their four-hectare property at Takahue. That had been the source of much of the restaurant's fruit and veg over the years, he said, and would possibly continue to be under Tyler's ownership.

Close of business last night brought an end to more than 40 years in the catering business for the couple, who first opened their doors at Maxim's in Newmarket, Auckland, in 1969. They had been at it ever since, apart from a short stint selling cars, and arrived in Kaitaia in 1999, converting what was then a fruit and veg shop into the Bushman's Hut.

The restaurant had evolved over the last 14 years, Bob said. Some dishes, notably the kumara and mussel chowder, had never left the menu but the food had otherwise changed significantly over that time (perhaps thanks in large part to the plethora of cooking shows on television, Tyler said).

Diners' expectations had changed too.

"The service and food have to be very good these days. Everything has to work together now," Bob said.

He and Jill had eased off a little since Tyler arrived, he added, before which both had been putting in 70-hour weeks, and neither would miss the lightening of the load. One thing they would not be letting go, though, was the hot roast sandwiches they have been serving at Kaitaia's A&P show over recent years.

"I might try some of the other shows too. I might take my spit on the road," Bob said.

Meanwhile Tyler wasn't planning any drastic changes, although he did intend to move towards a gastro bar, so people could call in at the end of the working day for a refreshment or two, but the restaurant would continue - "More of the same and more of it."

And while he couldn't boast Bob and Jill's longevity in the business, he had well and truly done his apprenticeship in bars and restaurants, most recently in Auckland but prior to that in Whangarei, Palmerston North, Canada and the US, for the last eight years. And he wouldn't be surprised if Bob crossed his threshold from time to time, in search of a beer after a marathon round of golf.

"A lettuce for a beer. That sounds fair," Bob said.