What began as a bright idea over a few beers has quickly turned into a successful business, providing one Wakatipu community with ''heart''.
Originally from Southland, Hamish MacPherson had been living in Auckland, running bars there and in Wellington, but was looking for an opportunity to move closer to home.
When his wife, Jana, was offered a job with Peregrine, he ''jumped at the opportunity'' to move to Queenstown.
''Auckland was becoming a bit of a frustration, I suppose.
''I had a couple of businesses up there that I was losing motivation with [and] this part of the world is pretty special.''
Mr MacPherson spotted a proposed cafe/restaurant in Lake Hayes Estate advertised in a property magazine, which led to a brainstorming session.
''I got excited and decided to do it - we threw a pitch together ... what you see is what was in the first draft.''
The resulting business, Graze, opened its doors on December 19 last year, featuring a cafe/restaurant, bar, microbrewery and dairy, with office space above the premises.
''We didn't know how deep the pool was when we dived in,'' Mr MacPherson said.
''If we just opened something here that was standard ... I just don't think it would be as successful.
''People of Lake Hayes Estate waited a long time for this. We want them to be proud of it and add a little bit of value [to the community].''
Part of that was supporting local businesses wherever possible, with Graze stocking local wines, using Zamora meat and selling Cranky Corn and biltong, both made by Lake Hayes Estate residents.
The couple have also held several events, including Flight of the Honey Bee and Duck & Pinot dinners, a long lunch and ''The Grazer Gatsby'', and two forthcoming events have sold out in record time.
Graze's Melbourne Cup event sold out before posters had been hung. and the 115 tickets available for an Augustine fashion show, supporting Plunket and using ''real models'', were snapped up within two days of being released.
''We want to be a place where people can ... find something that's going to suit them,'' Mrs MacPherson said.
''We like to have different types of events ... we need to make sure there's always something exciting going on.''
