•    Vivace Restaurant and Bar in Auckland was liquidated on Christmas Eve, resulting in 20 job losses.
•    Owner Mandy Lusk cited financial struggles, including debt to Inland Revenue and impacts from Covid-19 and a recession.
•    Liquidator Ben Francis aims to find a buyer for Vivace; otherwise, its assets will be sold.

Auckland CBD dining institution Vivace Restaurant and Bar was placed into liquidation on Christmas Eve with the loss of 20 jobs.

Owner Mandy Lusk said breaking the news to staff the morning of Christmas Eve was like splitting up the family, some of whom had worked at Vivace for 20-plus years.

“It’s the end of an era,” she said.

“The only great thing is we managed to pay them [staff] all their holiday pay owing, and stats and stuff, and that made it a little bit easier.”

Vivace Restaurant and Bar owner Mandy Lusk. Photo / Greg Bowker

The Mediterranean-style restaurant, once described by a Herald reviewer as “warm-hearted, honest, and unpretentious”, has been running for 33 years at two sites on High St before moving to Fort St in 2018.

Lusk said the closure stemmed from a demand by Inland Revenue. IRD had tried to liquidate the business 18 months previously but she avoided that by borrowing a “huge amount of money” to pay them.

“Just this last year and a bit we got behind again,” Lusk said, saying the business had lurched from the ongoing effects of lockdown, a flood last year, a quiet pre-election period, and the country going into recession.

“Were it not for the IRD calling in our debt to them we would still definitely be trying to trade … [but] we got to the point where we couldn’t pay the debt,” she said.

Lusk’s happiest memories are of families who’ve kept returning to Vivace for birthdays, graduations, and other celebrations.

“We 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.

“It has really been a family restaurant, not just for us, but our customers,” Lusk said.

Lusk has talked openly about the financial difficulties facing the hospitality sector since Covid-19 in 2020.

Vivace restaurant at Fort St in Auckland's CBD. Photo / Fiona Goodall

Today, she said, a lot of restaurants, bars, and cafes are for sale in the CBD but some suburban residents are doing okay with people sticking local, especially with so many people working from home.

“I sadly expect there will be more following us.

“In central Auckland most of the firms we deal with [have staff working from home] maybe two or three days a week. There is talk of some of them bringing staff back full-time next year.

“A few new people are popping up in old sites that have fallen over and they have kind of got a chance because they are not carrying the level of debt we are all carrying after the last four years. They may be able to make a go of it,” she said.

Liquidator Ben Francis said the aim is to try to find a buyer for Vivace. If not, the assets will be sold, he said.

“If anyone is interested in buying it, we are very keen to have a conversation. Hopefully, the business can continue in some form or other,” he said.

SPQR on Ponsonby Rd closed in July this year. Photo / Alex Burton

The shutdown follows other high-profile restaurant closures in Auckland and a string of Wellington cafes closing.

Other Auckland CBD restaurants shutting their doors this year have included Homeland, Pilkington’s and Madam George.

After 32 years on Ponsonby Rd, the stylish restaurant SPQR was placed in liquidation in July for tax arrears owing more than $2 million to Inland Revenue and creditors.

Wellington’s cafe culture has been hit by the struggling local economy, people working from home, claims that moves by the Wellington City Council to install cycleways and bus lanes have come at the expense of car parks, and Government-imposed job cuts in the public sector.

In September, the city’s three Pandoro cafes closed their doors with the loss of 20 jobs, Bordeaux closed all three of its doors, and popular bakery Myrkle announced it would be closing down before Christmas.