History
The early years
Pre-2002
The building was originally the West End post office. In the early 1970’s the post office moved and the building became a Lebanese restaurant. After a few years the building was divided into two. The next occupant of Tukka’s half was ‘Café Café’, one of the first cafes in West End. In the mid 1980’s Harry started a new business called Boundary Street Brassiere, which was extremely successful for many years. The late 1990’s produced ‘Dodgy Larry’s Sports Bar’, which thankfully lasted only a short time. In 2000, Tino Sugurani started ‘Cumquats Food & Bar’ as a live jazz bar and casual restaurant. After a licensing disagreement over the live music, Tino removed the bar and converted the business to a café/restaurant.
A new beginning
2002 July
Alistair Roberts and his lifelong friend, Tom Williams, purchased ‘Cumquats Food & Bar’ with the support of Malcolm Roberts. The head chef was James Wilkins and the menu was ‘modern Australian with an Asian influence’. The restaurant was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week and the main shifts, in terms of revenue, were Saturday and Sunday breakfasts. At this time the average weekly revenue was about $5500 and was extremely volatile. The aim was to create Australia’s leading native Australian restaurant.
Native flair
2002 November
After several months of research the first ‘native’ menu was released. Everyone held their breath on the first night, but the menu was received extremely well and growth began to accelerate. Mid-week breakfasts were removed and much more emphasis was placed on the evening service. The name was modified to ‘Cumquats Restaurant – modern dining. native flair.’ Tom and Alistair were working over 100 hours every week with the help of Alistair’s partner Liz Graham, one or two casual team members plus a small kitchen team.
Tighten the belt
2003 June
Tom Williams had to return to the UK as his visa expired. He sold his shareholding to Malcolm Roberts. The business had to employ more people to replace the hours worked by Tom, but there wasn’t enough money to cover all the hours. Liz increased her commitment while working a full time job and Alistair’s hours continued to be over 100 hours a week. At this time the mid-week lunches were removed as the evenings continued to grow.
Fingers crossed
March 2003
Lizzie Loel reviewed the restaurant for the first time. Thankfully, she enjoyed her experience! The review in the Good Life (Courier Mail) was very positive and this had an almost immediate effect, increasing business by about 30% for the first six weeks after the review and resulted in many follow-on opportunities.
Thank goodness
2003 July
Cumquats was awarded as a finalist for ‘Best New Restaurant’ at the Brisbane Restaurant and Catering Awards. Alistair, Liz and James felt like they were on top of the world and it was a much-needed boost.
Overtime
2004 March
The restaurant was refurbished. Money was tight and the restaurant could only be closed for three days, so everyone pitched in. The whole team, plus friends and family rolled up their sleaves and volunteered their time. The restaurant and kitchen were repainted, all new fittings were installed, and new chairs and cutlery were added. During this time Alistair and Liz worked for 49 days straight and after 3 days and nights of painting with very little sleep, Alistair collapsed with a mild heart palpitation. A couple of days rest and he was back on board.
It was all worth it
2004 July
Cumquats was awarded ‘Specialty Restaurant of the Year’ at the Brisbane Restaurant and Catering Awards, then went on to win at the State level to represent Queensland at the national awards. Cumquats finished in the top five specialty restaurants in Australia and beat all the other native Australian restaurants in the process. All the hard work was beginning to pay off.
Poachers
2004 September
The added attention from winning the award helped to boost business, but it also caught other people’s attention. In one week the head chef, James and the front of house manager, Marie, both resigned as they had been offered a much higher salary by another establishment. The highs and lows of small business! James helped where he could, but Alistair now had to rebuild his team, cope with an increase in business and keep everyone happy. He didn’t get much time off! We took a step further down the path from café to restaurant when the weekend breakfasts were removed and more resources were put into the evening service.
The French arrival
2004 November
Stéphane Brémont joined the team as the new head chef and after a short time, stabilised the kitchen team and began working the first of many incredible menus. Alistair, Liz and Stéphane could now begin plans to re-launch the restaurant under its new brand.
Tukka’s born
2005 March
‘Tukka Restaurant – Advanced Australian Fare’ was launched. The original concept was finally complete and the name could be changed to match the ambitions and direction of the business. A new marketing campaign was launched to establish the new brand and to increase the visitor market. Finally, a new front of house manager was found, Michael Atkins, and Alistair could begin to reduce his hours to around 80 per week.
Not there yet
2005 July
Libbi Wallace had previously joined the business, and after Michael resigned, she was promoted to manage the front of house team. The restaurant had entered the Restaurant and Catering Awards with high expectations, but was disappointed to be awarded as only a finalist in two categories. There was still much work to do.
Growing up
2005 November
Alistair and Stéphane worked on building a stable team and the business began to mature. Alistair reduced his hours, stepped out of the operations of the business and began consulting for other small businesses.
Go you good thing
2006 July
Tukka continued to grow at about 30% per year. Stéphane and Libbi worked extremely well to build up the business and the menu evolved towards a more stylish and elegant cuisine. Alistair continued to shape the long-term direction of the business and refine the marketing strategy. There was a large increase in local and corporate customers, and these groups now made up more than 60% of the customer base. The restaurant entered the Restaurant and Catering Awards, but once again it finished as a finalist in two categories.
A new chief
2006 November
Alistair completed a succession plan and Stéphane Brémont bought into the business to become the new Managing Director and Chef Owner. Alistair remained a major shareholder and consultant to the business. This cemented the successful partnership between Stéphane and Alistair and ensured the future development of Advanced Australia Fare at Tukka Restaurant.
Superhighway
2007 March
Alistair and Stéphane completed a new marketing plan for the business. The Tukka website was finally launched, together with the online magazine ‘Advanced Australian Fare’. The retail products available through the restaurant were expanded.
Sowing the seeds to success
2008 December
Throughout the year, Alistair and Stéphane have worked hard to implement new business strategies including a cutting edge customer referrals system. With two excellent vintages in Queensland just past, we refocussed the cellar list to include a number of quality boutique Queensland wines.
