End of an era
New Zealand’s first training restaurant open to the public, ‘Mellor’s’ at Otago Polytechnic ,is about to close its doors after more than 30 years of operation. The restaurant is winding up in preparation for the Hospitality School’s relocation to the Forth St Campus where a brand new restaurant will take its place.
Otago Polytechnic introduced its first part-time basic cookery classes, designed for those already working in the catering industry, in 1966. Three years later the country’s first block courses aimed at caterers in the tourism trade were launched.
In 1977 a training restaurant, previously only been open to students and staff, was opened to the public. This despite protests from eight local restaurants concerned at the competition. The restaurant was christened Joseph Mellor’s, celebrating one of the Polytechnic’s most famous graduates, following a naming competition in which such suggestions as ‘Polyfiller’ and ‘Polywantacracka’ were cast aside!
The School of Hospitality is to move from its Tennyson Street premises late this June into a purpose-built facility within the Harbour Terrace Student Centre. This means that Dunedin residents have only five more weeks to experience Mellor’s restaurant, a true bastion of Kiwi hospitality training and a lively example of Dunedin’s educational history in practice.
The restaurant will continue to take bookings for its scheduled lunch and dinner services through to June where service will culminate in the ever-popular Midwinter Christmas Lunches.