28/05/2026
There seems to be a lot of people guessing what we are doing lately, so here’s the truth from us directly
Kai Manahau Limited is not closing
We opened in October with one staff member out of seven having hospitality experience. Our objective was never just to open “another café”. Yes, we built a café and restaurant — and we are proud of what we created — but the vision was always bigger than that
We took on a large empty space because we saw potential for more than just food and coffee.
We wanted to create a place that brought people together, created opportunity, and opened conversations our community has needed for a long time. As the months went on, it became clear that waiting on summer foot traffic and hoping things would magically improve was never going to be enough for our district. So we started listening deeper
After spending time talking with local whānau — including families who have been here for generations, like my own — one thing stood out clearly: pathways into employment and practical training in our area are limited.
Support is limited,
Understanding is limited,
Yet judgment is everywhere.
We cannot solve every issue in our community, and we are not pretending to. But what we can do is use our space to create opportunity, practical workplace learning, and real conversations about where our people go from here. That journey naturally led us toward hospitality training
So yes, things are changing through winter
That is called adapting, not failing
Our café will continue operating Wednesday to Sunday, with Mondays and Tuesdays dedicated to internal training and development. Over the coming weeks you will also begin seeing trainee staff working alongside our team during service periods.
We ask one thing from the community: if you want to know what we are doing, ask us — not rumours, not assumptions, and not people who have never sat at our table. Im always here, and will make the time to korero if I can
Nga Mihi
Tamsin Radick🖤🤍❤️
