The iconic Chocolate Fish Cafe in Wellington said it has been forced to close at the hands of its famous landlord, Sir Peter Jackson.
Well-known Wellington eatery, the Chocolate Fish Cafe, said it will be forced to close next year as the property’s prominent owner, Sir Peter Jackson, ended its lease as part of a redevelopment plan for the site.
The Lord of the Rings and Oscar-winning director bought the former submarine barracks at Shelly Bay with his partner Dame Fran Walsh in 2023. The couple said their reasoning was to restore the natural beauty in the area.
Owners of The Chocolate Fish Cafe John and Penny Pennington said they had been notified that their lease agreement would be ended in January, labelling the move as a devastating blow.
"Despite our requests, we haven't yet been given the opportunity to speak with Peter and Fran directly, and we are asking for that chance," the Penningtons said in a statement on social media.
"After 15 years of building this community together, we don't want the laughter of kids on bikes, the joy of giving well-behaved dogs their TUX biscuit, the clink of coffee cups, or the sight of big bikes leaning outside to simply disappear forever.”
The owners said they didn not want to be forced to close, and they didn’t want to be shut down either. They said they wanted the chance to keep going, or at least to say goodbye properly, for one last summer.
The Pennington’s said further updates on the situation would be posted on their social media channels soon.
Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh’s WingNut Group said there had been occupancy discussions with the cafe’s owners since 2024, and that the redevelopment plan was intended to reinvigorate the city and provide a public amenity for all Wellington residents and tourists to the area to enjoy.
WingNut PM also said that in order to deliver on the vision, a complete refurbishment of the historic submarine barracks building that The Chocolate Fish Cafe presently occupies is necessary.
The planned renovations would also make it impossible for The Chocolate Fish Cafe to operate past the January date, but support had been offered to the owners to allow it to remain open into the summer period.
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