"They didn't have chefs in New Zealand, so the government was advertising in Switzerland," he said.
"I didn't even need to speak English; the kitchen staff were all German, Austrian or Swiss."
He went back home in 1978 but returned in 1980, purchased the Beachcomber from Dave and Wilma Dickinson, and served his first meal on February 1 that year. He was joined there six months later by Mary Jane, from California, who by then had abandoned her original plan of teaching.
They subsequently became a couple personally as well as professionally and, together, embarked upon a process of gently changing the way their customers enjoyed their food.
Kaitaia folk had needed some culinary education, Peter said. No one had heard of cooking duck or squid in 1980, and avocados were yet to make an appearance, but the local ingredients, not least the scallops and other seafood, were superb.
"There was some amazing produce but people didn't know what to do with it. They boiled everything," he said.
"The food in those days wasn't especially cosmopolitan, Mary Jane added. The local diet was "very English," meat and three veg; even yoghurt and cottage cheese were unheard of, and unobtainable.
Change was on its way though: "Dining went from nothing to spectacular in a very short time," she said, "and Peter was here at the start of that."
It wasn't only the menu that had changed. Those were the days of BYO, when some diners would cart their alcohol through the door in chilly bins - and would then drive home.
"There's a lot more control now," Mary Jane said.
"The liquor licensing laws we have now are very appropriate, and much needed."
Meanwhile, her route to the Beachcomber had been somewhat circuitous. She came to New Zealand, New Plymouth to be precise, in 1972, for the best surfing in the world. Nine months later she returned to the States, found a sponsor and came back, on July 4, 1974, a "very appropriate" date.
"This was paradise. It was very easy living here, especially for a hippy," she said.
"New Zealand was so much like the California I grew up in. Now it's more like California is now. Consumerism has taken over the world."
Her Far North story goes far beyond the Beachcomber though. She was a passionate advocate of the proposal to build Te Ahu, and now gives the same energy to plans for as sports hub in Kaitaia. She chairs Kaitaia's Community Business and Environment Centre ("I'm a real conservationist at heart), works with the Bushland Trust, is the sole member of Waipapakauri Coast Care and long waged a one-woman battle to establish greenery in Kaitaia's main street.
"I won't be stuck for things to do in retirement," she said (although being at home with Peter all day would be a new experience). She was planning to learn to play bridge, and to start paddling on Lake Ngatu, when the weather warmed a little. She also has grandchildren (in Auckland and San Francisco).
Peter's major retirement diversion is likely to be flying model aircraft.
The couple have no plans to leave their home at Waipapakauri Ramp, or the community that had made them so welcome.
"I was accepted here from my first day," Peter said, acceptance that, in part, manifested itself in a gratifyingly loyal clientele, and staff. The Beachcomber had long been blessed with very good staff, he said, thanks in part to the care with which they were chosen and in part to the training they received. And they weren't getting any older.
"When I started we were all the same age. Now I'm the grandad," he said.
"If you still care, and enjoy what you're doing, long days aren't so bad," he said - but while, there were no regrets about hanging up his hat, the last 35 years had provided memories that both would treasure for the rest of their lives.
"We have served four generations of customers," Mary Jane said.
"We've helped celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, and hundreds of babies. And now some of those babies are bringing their children to the restaurant."
The Beachcomber's new owners take over on August 11.
