Resilience and community support were two of the main ingredients in the return to normality for Hamilton restaurateurs, Melissa Renwick and Andrew Pietersz, after a fire gutted their Rototuna business on Christmas Day, 2017.

Mel was born and educated in the Waikato before studying property management at the University of Auckland. Working part-time in a local Italian restaurant she met Andy, a trainee chef. After four years in Auckland, they spent four years living and working in Australia, returning to Hamilton in 2011. 

“We knew that coming back to the Waikato would give us the opportunities we were looking for, so long as we were prepared to put in the hard yards,” Mel said.

They purchased the former Fuego restaurant in Rototuna and set about transforming it into two separate venues. Making the most of the existing wood fired pizza oven and Andy’s love of Italian cuisine, they turned two thirds of the space into The Eatery, with the remaining third a small, but cosy, bar called The Keg Room. The kitchen served both venues, with slightly different menus, and news soon spread. 

The Keg Room became a favourite with locals, largely because of Mel and Andy’s relaxed and friendly approach, and their ability to select and train their staff to share their passion for their craft. 

“We wanted it to be as much about the social aspect of eating out as it is about the food – although the food is, of course, fabulous!,” Mel laughs.  

“We’ve built up an amazing group of customers, genuine regulars, many of whom have become good friends.”

And it was that network of friends that kept the couple going after a horrific phone call in the early hours of Christmas morning rocked their world.

“It was the fire service saying they’d been called out to The Keg and we first thought, right, better go make sure everything’s okay. We were stunned to see multiple fire engines and water pouring out the front door,” Mel recalls.

The fire was centred in the kitchen, which was totally destroyed, but the smoke damage throughout both the bar and restaurant was devastating. 

“Our staff and some regulars rallied round and helped clean up as soon as we were allowed back in, but we knew it was going to be a long, hard road. 

“The insurers warned us to plan to be closed for six months so we had to think quickly about how to keep us in people’s minds and not miss out on our peak summer trade. So, we had ‘pop up’ evenings every other Friday through summer, serving bottled or canned drinks through the window and cooking food on the barbecue or in a friend’s food truck.”

“The first event blew us away – it was an emotional evening, seeing that so many regulars cared. There were so many of them, we were putting alerts out on Facebook for people to bring their own chairs,” Mel said.

Andy was particularly happy at the support from the neighbouring businesses, with the Waikato family spirit showing through at its best. 

“The supermarket lent us trolleys to use as bins, the builders went the extra mile to make the place safe, and workable for each event and the next-door cafes and restaurants didn’t mind at all that the extra people spread down the footpaths. Some of them even got custom out of it, but they were genuinely just pleased to see us operating,” Andy said.

“The pop-ups also helped us retain as many of the staff as we could,” Mel said. 

The couple also owns The Quadrant Pub in the heart of Hamilton, so were able to offer some extra shifts there. 

“We managed to hold on to most of our amazing Keg and Eatery family.”

The remodelling was finished in early June, and registrations for the launch party were snapped up rapidly. 

“We took the opportunity to move the dividing wall and make the bar area bigger and, seeing it filled with laughter at the party, we know we did the right thing,” Mel said.

“We talk a lot about The Keg Room and The Eatery as somewhere ‘where strangers become friends and friends become family’ and that’s certainly been true since the fire. I’m sure this community spirit isn’t totally exclusive to the Waikato, but it definitely lives loud and strong here, and we’re immensely grateful and humbled by it.”