“Thank you so much Pōneke for letting us be part of the landscape. We’ve been blessed to have shared the journey with this wonderful community.”
Crumpet’s owners said they decided to shut the bar down because of “the situation with the building and our lease” but the closure would give them “capacity to focus on new aspirations and career paths”.
The bar had a prime location on Manners St in central Wellington, attached to the historic Opera House theatre.
Crumpet was a popular date spot, renowned for its hand-crafted cocktails, sweet crumpets and liquor-themed nights such as Whiskey Wednesday and Agave Thursday.
Some of the drinks made by Crumpet bartenders for Cocktail Wellington.
Patrons of the bar left comments under its social media posts reminiscing on their memories at Crumpet.
“Crumpet has been my staple for an after-show drink or bumping into friends every time I’ve come back to Welly… the atmosphere, the people and the crew mixed in such a delectable way,” one person wrote.
Another commenter said if New Zealand had a “Hospitality Hall of Fame”, Crumpet would be “very deserving of a spot among the greats”.
Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.