It was announced today the restaurant will reopen as Vivace Restaurant & Bar at DeBretts, once again on High St, on October 16. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a natural fit,\u201d Hotel DeBrett manager Jess Singh said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoth brands have strong ties to Auckland\u2019s heritage and hospitality. Together, we\u2019re creating an experience that honours the past while offering something fresh and exciting for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Auckland hospitality\u2019s most respected couples, restaurateurs Mandy Lusk and Eugene Gibson, said they were thrilled to bring Vivace to DeBrett. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is more than a move, it\u2019s a merging of two icons to create something truly special for Auckland. Guests will find everything they\u2019ve always loved about Vivace, now with the added charm and character of DeBretts,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n
Vivace at DeBretts will be open daily for breakfast, coffee, lunch, drinks, nibbles and dinner. It will also have its 1920s-inspired high tea on weekends. <\/p>\n
Hotel DeBrett had already announced that Lusk and Gibson had taken over managing the hotel\u2019s food and beverage options last month. <\/p>\n
Eugene Gibson and Mandy Lusk, owners of Vivace, stand at their old site on Fort St. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Lusk and Gibson took over management at Crown Range Lounge in Parnell. Some Vivace staff had been offered jobs there. <\/p>\n
When Lusk spoke to the Herald upon liquidation of her business last Christmas, she said breaking the news to her staff was like splitting up a family. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the end of an era,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lusk said the closure stemmed from a demand by Inland Revenue (IRD).<\/p>\n
IRD had tried to liquidate the business 18 months previously but she avoided that by borrowing a \u201chuge amount of money\u201d to pay them.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust this last year and a bit we got behind again,\u201d Lusk said at the time. <\/p>\n
She said the business had lurched from the ongoing effects of lockdown, a flood, a quiet pre-election period and the country going into recession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere it not for the IRD calling in our debt to them, we would still definitely be trying to trade \u2026 [but] we got to the point where we couldn\u2019t pay the debt,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lusk\u2019s happiest memories are of families who kept returning to Vivace for birthdays, graduations and other celebrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people who got married, they had first dates, blind dates, they come in for every anniversary which is such a cool thing. And so many of our staff over the years who, by a chance shift or two, have married some of these people and had Vivace babies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has really been a family restaurant, not just for us, but our customers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lusk has talked openly <\/a>about the financial difficulties facing the hospitality sector since Covid-19 in 2020.<\/p>\n She said she expected there would be more businesses \u201cfollowing us\u201d.<\/p>\n