Fleur’s Place, the seafood restaurant in Moeraki owned by hospitality icon Fleur Sullivan, had tens of thousands of dollars of stock stolen from it in a night-time raid.
Items stolen included 80kg of frozen whitebait, twenty buckets of muttonbird, 75kg of sausages, 70kg of salami and cartons of other seafood items. The locks on the freezer were drilled into so they could be removed.
“It's so calculating, you know they are not hungry,” Sullivan said. “For somebody to be so calculating and disrespectful ... that's something that beggars belief.”
Sullivan established her reputation in Central Otago with Olivers. Fleur’s Place been open since 2002 and has gained an international following. Sullivan has offered a $5000 reward for information leading to those responsible, and is planning on installing lights and cameras – something she said she’s never had to do before.
“It's unfortunate. In the about 45 years I have been in this job and 16 years in Moeraki, it's never, ever entered my head. I don't go wondering who is going to burgle me.”
