CAFÉ CECILLE - Masterton

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A short drive over the Rimutaka Hill from Wellington, the stunning Wairarapa Valley opens up before you. Masterton is the commercial hub of the region, where dozens of eateries compete for the customer dollar but Cafe Cecille in Queen Elizabeth Park, is losing the battle.

Restaurant manager Claire and her ex-kiwi partner, bought the place three years ago when they came from England, for the perfect lifestyle, it’s been anything but! The relationship didn’t last so Claire took on the business alone, as well as caring for her young kids: Penny, and Oscar.

Claire’s totally out of her league, and despite eight years restaurant experience; relies heavily on assistant manager Emma. Fortunately Head Chef Dwayne has more of a grip on his job, with ten years experience under his belt. And then there’s sous-chef Sean who is confused by the direction of the place – a cafe in a park, that has no food suitable to take into the park?

Before Claire took over, Cafe Cecille was once a well respected French bistro however now, $40,000 in debt and with overheads spiralling out of control, Claire’s panicking that ‘Receivers’ might come knocking and she could lose everything.

So John’s come down to Masterton for the day to work out what’s going wrong with Cafe Cecille.

First step is to check out the location. John loves the park setting but discovers a café with signage that has massively deteriorated, too much history hanging on the walls and a tired paint job. John finds the food okay, apart from the jaw breaking biscotti, but believes the food should be more ‘park appropriate’. An observation of the evening service reveals three staff in the kitchen who have very little to do. Armed with this knowledge, John heads away to formulate his plan.

When he returns to the café a week later, he reveals his ideas; he’s going to change the name and rebrand the café, create a menu that will entice park goers through the door and ice cream is going to go on the menu.

Afterwards, John and the team have a brainstorm, they come up with a new name – it will be called The Fat Duck Café.

A business meeting with Claire reveals that she’s falling $4000 short of her basic overheads every week and that she’s making no money from her night time trade. John convinces her that she needs to close the restaurant at night and cut back staff hours.

On renovation day, John finds he’s got his work cut out convincing Claire to go with his paint selection. She is adamant his choice of colour is too dull and has her heart set on a bright blue, but John is adamant it will be too kooky for the cafe. Eventually they reach a compromise, with Claire agreeing to go with John’s colour selection and Claire getting a blue feature wall.

With the colour schemes finally settled, the renovation continues; the old shabby signage gets overhauled, the masses of overbearing pictures are replaced and a new counter to provide food that can be taken into the park is installed.

Meanwhile in the kitchen John has brought a pie making chef in to teach the team how to make gourmet pies, a food that he thinks with go down well with park goers.

John is seriously worried about Claire’s business nous, so he’s called in the services of a financial advisor to give her some advice. He leaves her in no doubt that she needs to step up and take the management process seriously and Claire says she is going to share some of the financial responsibilities with Emma.

On the morning of the re launch, while the chefs are completing the prep’ for the new menu, John Claire and Emma are at the local famers’ market, where John has organised them a stall to sell produce and in order to raise the café’s profile. They are selling pies, ice cream, and Fat Duck branded jams and chutneys – which are all a hit with the locals.

Back at the restaurant it’s a race to the finish line, with the boys in the kitchen beginning to feel a little stressed, they’re up against it still prepping food for both the new menu, and to get the food ready for the fridge cabinet. Front of house, the final touches are being put in place, the new table layout is arranged and outside on the veranda a brand new ice cream fridge is put in place for everyone in the park to see.

With the cafe transformation complete, John gives the crew - except Emma, who’s still missing in action at the markets - a final pep talk before the relaunch. This is when he drops his bombshell, there will be a mystery critic in the house.

Today cafe-goers will order ‘a la carte’ from the new menu offering tasty dishes like pumpkin risotto with fresh herbs & parmesan, the Montreal stack of salmon with a homemade potato rosti or a selection of salads, gourmet pies and sandwiches, from the counter cabinet, to take away.

The direct marketing proves to have worked a treat with lots of customers turning up for the relaunch. However this places Claire under stress, she becomes short with the customers and ignores our critic when she arrives.

The kitchen descends into chaos with confusion over orders, meanwhile top waitress, Emma, just back from the market is relegated out to the veranda to man the new ice cream station which, thankfully, is proving to be a hit.

As the lunch service progresses, calm finally descends both in the kitchen and the front of house with the food making it out to the tables in much better time and the new takeaway cabinet working out well.

The critic praises the food, but criticises the service, saying she wasn’t sure who was looking after her. Claire struggles with this criticism, and defends her waiting staff. However, overall, the relaunch is regarded as a success.

Three weeks later John returns and find that Claire is hosting a High Tea, a new initiative to attract punters. He also discovers that, since he’s been gone, she’s done her busiest day yet, taking $4000. He discovers the stall at the weekend farmers’ market going equally as well, where Dwayne’s gourmet pies have proved a big hit.

After a disastrous three years, Claire is finally starting to meet her weekly overheads, paying back her suppliers...and beginning to chip away at her massive overdraft!

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