A new restaurant-bar is emerging in the Octagon but it has got a familiar name. CBK — Craft Bar & Kitchen — closed in May with the operator putting the business in liquidation blaming tough times in hospitality and tax demands. Known first as The Terrace Bar, it had been one of the first bars to open in the Octagon as the area became home to an active nightlife a generation ago. But it will live on as the owner of the CBK brand has decided to take over and relaunch the Dunedin operation. CBK chief executive Dan Roos is now in charge of the location and was planning to reopen it in September. The restaurant-bar was getting a significant makeover with brand new furniture, the golf room restyled and a new beer deal with Lion. He declined to say how much the makeover cost. Mr Roos, of Christchurch, said it was a big job and hospitality could do with the economy opening up but he had confidence the new business had what the Dunedin public wanted. “Good food, great customer service, a good experience and a great atmosphere will all make it successful,” he said. There was no doubt big events helped drive the hospitality sector, he said. He has been down in Dunedin when rugby tests were on and it was great to see the city alive and people spending. CBK has six operations around the country and a seventh will be opening in West Auckland in the next few weeks. It was started in Rotorua about 20 years ago by Tony Scott, who still owned the company. CBK had taken over the Ferrymead branch last year and within a year, visits had gone up and revenue increased by 70%. At this stage CBK was not looking to hand the reins over to a new Dunedin operator. Mr Roos had a history with former operator John Macdonald, who put the company running the business into liquidation. It was tough to see what happened, having spent a lot of time with Mr Macdonald, he said. The first liquidation report states Mr Macdonald and his wife Kim, owe more than $200,000 to Inland Revenue. A new menu would be developed which CBK national operations manager Tyson Burrows was overseeing. He worked in food preparation for nearly 25 years and together with his mum, won the 2019 season of the My Restaurant Rules television programme.
