Pepe's Cafe owners Yanah Partsch and James Tangitamaiti. Photo: Supplied
Pepe's Cafe, much loved for hearty pies with fillings from creamed pāua to boiled brisket Povi Masima, is closing its doors at the end of the week.
The owners said they got off to a booming start in 2024, but rising costs and dwindling customers had forced them to make the call to close.
Pepe's Cafe stood on the edge of an industrial estate between Tawa and Porirua.
When RNZ visited on Monday, contractors and workers from the nearby businesses were turning up to for their lunch.
Dallas Paul of Ōtaki has worked for much of his life in Porirua.
He said he planned to bring his wife and son to the cafe this week, so everyone could have a last meal of their favourite dishes.
Paul said he was going to miss the shop's boil up pie so much, he was considering taking "bereavement leave".
"I'm a typical Māori fulla, love boil up, and [it] just really tasted like a nice boil up. They put tomato sauce on their boil up pie. Not a lot of people like tomato sauce on a boil up pie, but I do. I love it," Paul said.
The cafe's Pasifika influenced pies included creamed pāua to boiled brisket Povi Masima. Photo: Supplied
Retiree Linda Fisher lived in Paraparaumu and had a regular lunch group with eight former workmates.
She said the cafe just down the road from the Porirua tip was not a typical location for great cuisine, but the unique flavours impressed them all.
Fisher said the creamed pāua pie was a favourite, but the boil up pie was a dish that could make almost anyone - who had grown up in New Zealand - feel at home.
"It's moist without being sloppy. All the flavours of the slow cooked vegetables and meat come through. You bite into it and it's like biting into a slice of nostalgia.
"We're a group of old Pākehā ancients sitting around eating pies so - at first glance - it's not your usual demographic. [But] we all loved it," Fisher said.
Pepe's Cafe in Porirua. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman
Local worker Rob said he'd worked his way through almost every flavour at the shop, but had settled on the chicken and creamy mushroom as his personal favourite.
"It's my once a week treat and I come along for one of the pies. They have amazing flavours and they cater for western tastes and the Pasifika. Lovely. They're always friendly, they've always got time for you. You have a little chat and you're on your way having had a good day," he said.
The cafe's Wellington on a Plate entry featured a home Pani Popo bun, creamy coleslaw, corned beef and taro hash and coconut cream, taro leaves and cheese sauce. Photo: Supplied
He said he was gutted that a small business offering uniquely local flavours was having to shut its doors.
"I'm a great one for eating out, buying food and supporting local businesses and I'm really sad that some of the small businesses are going under and we're left with big chains that are a bit bland," he said.
Co-owner Yanah Partsch opened the business with her partner James Tangitamaiti in 2024.
She said customers seemed to dry up early this year and - despite an honourable mention at this year's Wellington On a Plate - the cafe's reputation just did not put enough money in the till.
Partsch said she was sad to step away from the business but felt proud of what they had been able to achieve.
"Our main goal was just that we wanted to bring something different, something that excited people. Our dream for that store was that we would feed the workers in the area but also it would be a place where people would be willing to make the effort to come from near or far and we definitely feel we achieved that," Partsch said.
Partsch said her family was looking forward to a fun Christmas break - with a little less pressure on their backs - before they deciding on the next step forward.
"Being such a new business in a really economically difficult time has been hard. We know people enjoyed our food and we know that if people had more money to spend on our food then we would've seen them more. It's just the times we're in," Partsch said.
Pepe's Cafe will close on 21 December.
On social media Pepe's Cafe owners said rising costs and demands of balancing hospitality industry pressures against family life were forcing them to step back from the business. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman
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