Mezze Bar

Sally and Ed started the Mezze Bar in April 1992, with help of Clare(whose café Caravanserai next door they had been working in) when the opportunity came up to do something in the then art gallery next door. It was decided to put something there that would be complementary to the BYO restaurant, not competitive - so the idea of mezze (nibbles and small dishes to go with drinks), wine and espresso coffees - along with homemade cakes to accompany, was born.

The inspiration had come from travels by all 3 around the Mediterranean, Mid East and Africa – what the real people ate every day – simple, tasty morsels, shared and savoured over relaxed hours in the company of family and friends. The areas travelled in also influenced the design and colours, and the casual, unpretentious feel of the café.

Sal and Clare also attribute the decision to go into the hospitality business to the upbringing they had – a mother who was an adventurous cook, who ‘travelled through her cookbooks’. Both parents loving entertaining – fantastic house parties conducted over long weekends in semi-rural Taupo, with friends descending on them for four days from both ends of the country…

Setting up cafes seemed a natural way of combining the fascination of foodie leanings, creating an ambience, and the concept of real hospitality that had been experienced in countries way less well off than our own, where looking after guests is part of their way of life. And in a way it kept those life changing travels alive, instead of being relegated to the photo album!

In the beginning Sal and Ed learned the art of making espresso coffee, which was just about to have its renaissance, on their beautiful original Gaggia machine - while Clare kept on with Turkish and Arabic coffees at Caravanserai. The Mezze Bar was the first café to take advantage of the new licensing laws in which a glass of wine could be had on it’s own instead of with a meal - this suited the unusual situation whereby customers who were on waiting lists for tables at Caravanserai were sent through to the Mezze Bar for a wine, which they proceeded to bring through next door when called for a table! After a couple of years of perseverance while customers got their head around the relaxed concept, the Mezze Bar really started to take off – overtaking its neighbour in popularity. After nearly twenty years they must have made millions of coffees.

They started with a small band of about 5 friends, but Sal and Ed remember doing everything from dishes to service to coffees and cooking - chief cooks and bottlewashers! These days they employ about 20 people.

A major challenge was presented when the landlord, after 13 years on Mayoral Drive corner, finally called in the 6 month demo clause, necessitating a relocation. At this time Clare rejoined the Mezze Bar and was instrumental in recreating and establishing the new Mezze Bar in Durham St East, keeping as much as possible the feel of the place, even tho the space was very different from the original. Some customers were not convinced but many have been won over and now declare it to be better than the old one. The proof is in the pudding, though, and if – in this fickle industry – the Mezze Bar can be busier every year than the previous, then the move has been successful.

The best part of the job has got to be when the place is humming - full to bursting, the music and lighting creating just the right ambience, the wine flowing and the kitchen pumping out the food – every aspect just as it was envisaged! The vision of Ant Sumich deftly dancing his traditional Yugoslav jig on the bar amongst the wine glasses at one of the staff parties was one of the more memorable moments…
RIP Ant - glad you were part of it!