A Wellington eatery popular with public servants and where two high-profile careers were famously ended is expanding to be closer to Parliament.
Situated in Midland Park on Lambton Quay, Astoria has been at the heart of the capital’s political scene since it opened in 1996.
In 2020 the restaurant’s sudden closure in the days leading up to Christmas sparked fears it wouldn’t return, but it reopened in 2022 with a refreshed look offering modern Italian cuisine and a takeaway coffee window.
The venue’s now considering further expansion, with Yu Group general manager and executive chef James Pask revealing to the Herald plans to open a “second Astoria” under a new name early next year.
It’ll be housed in the new Bowen Campus near Parliament on 40 Bowen St, a 10,049sq m office building which also hosts corporates EY, Fujitsu, Simpson Grierson, and Dentons.
In 2017, former broadcaster-turned-RNZ executive Carol Hirschfield met then Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran for a coffee at Astoria. A political scandal erupted over whether the meeting was a “chance encounter” or pre-arranged, and whether what they discussed could be seen as an attempt to influence the editorial direction of the state broadcaster.
The newly refurbished Astoria Espresso & Wine Bar in Lambton Quay's Midland Park. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Pask said initially they were hoping to open their new offering before Christmas, but it was now looking more like late January.
The new location won’t be named Astoria, but “will have a name linking to Astoria”, Pask said.
“The second site will have the same offering as Astoria, minus the morning coffee trade. This is mainly due to an already strong coffee trade in the area with internal coffee shops and a large Mojo next door”.
He said the current Astoria location is doing well since its revitalisation.
“There are still challenges, we are seeing a change in people’s spending habits currently and Saturday day trade has never been the same as pre-covid levels.”
He hopes the “large market of people” in the building and nearby government department offices offer a big enough clientele to sustain the new venue.
Pask said it “certainly won’t hurt” being closer to Parliament given the cafe’s political history but said that wasn’t the motivation for the new restaurant.
The new cafe will open in the 'Bowen Campus' at 40 Bowen St. Photo / Supplied
Astoria’s political history is well documented, with the likes of Steven Joyce and Don Brash having been known to frequent the venue. Minister Chris Bishop called its sudden closure in 2020 “gutting”.
Jacinda Ardern joined Grant Robertson at the café in 2013 for an event as part of Robertson’s unsuccessful bid for the Labour Party leadership.
That same year food critic David Burton wrote about Astoria in the Dominion Post, saying by mid-morning it is “a sea of suits, ranging from Government ministers and CEOs down to humble office toilers, not to mention the odd lobbyist and journalist”.
For most of its existence, Astoria was run by Sue Dempsey and Janice Kirkwood. At the time of its 20th birthday, at the start of 2016, the pair claimed to have made close to nine million cups of coffee.
“We have seen careers that have changed, many a lawyer become a judge, even a QC. And we’ve watched kids grow up at the café who now are regulars independent of their parents,” Dempsey wrote at the time.
Early staff had gone onto successful careers in their own right, with its first baker, Kelda Hains, going on to run Nikau, while Shepherd Elliot, who started as a sandwich hand, went on to run Leeds St Bakery and Shepherd.
Shepherd went on to be named Best Casual Dining at the Cuisine Good Food Awards in 2019, but announced its closure last year.
Author Lloyd Jones and then Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Shane Jones outside Astoria cafe in 2004. Photo / Mark Mitchell
In recent weeks Wellington has seen a flurry of retail and hospitality closures, including the likes of Concord restaurant and Egmont Street Eatery.
Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen described it as a “triple blow” of economic headwinds currently hitting the capital – consumers having less money due to high interest rates, people working and studying from home and Government cuts to public sector spending.
Yu Group owns a number of venues in the city including Plonk, The Hudson, and Choice Bros and hasn’t been immune to economic challenges. Pask said alongside opening a second Astoria, they’d made the difficult decision to close The Hudson.
He said that was largely because of low foot traffic in the Victoria St area caused by construction work in the nearby Te Ngākau Civic Square, large businesses moving out of the area, and more people working from home.
Yu Group plans to retain the lease of the site and re-open with a new offering when the area starts to pick up again.
Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in politics, local issues and the public service. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz or messaged on X (formerly Twitter) @ethanjmanera
