Business South August 2020

| 23 Volume 29 | Issue 4 businesssouth Central Otago Lamb, raised on regenerative pastures Our comprehensive farming protocols ensure the biological life of the soil is replenished. Sustainable land use is helped by nautral inputs, minimal use of fertilisers and careful grazing. Living soil grows nourishing forage. The result is exceptionally healthy animals. r r i f r i r t l r t i l i l lif f t il i r l i . t i l l i l tr l i t , i i l f f rtili r r f l r i . i i il r ri i f r . r lt i ti ll lt i l . www.provenancemeat.co.nz . . . “There are always a lot of events happening so it’s a great place for a weekend away.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT » Cucina Oamaru restauranteurs buoyed by local support Yanina and Pablo Tacchini and family - have made their home in Oamaru. Kim Newth A ward winning Oamaru restauranteurs Yanina and Pablo Tacchini are delighted at how their community responded to the ‘support local’ message during level 4 lockdown and beyond. The couple’s flair for freshness, flavour and presentation saw their fine dining establishment in Oamaru’s historic precinct – Cucina - named as one of Cuisine’s Top New Zealand Restaurants for 2019. The food reflects their South American heritage and Italian/Spanish ancestry. Yanina and Pablo also run Oamaru’s Tees St café. Yanina and Pablo originally came to New Zealand, with their first baby, on a holiday in October 2008. They fell in love with the country, particularly Oamaru where Yanina had earlier spent a year as an exchange student. When Pablo was offered a job, they decided to stay. Nine years’ on, and with two more children, they had opened Cucina and Tees St Café. Their first son, Ian, was only 18 months old when they moved to New Zealand and, a year later, he was diagnosed with autism. This also influenced their decision to stay and settle in Oamaru, making the most of new opportunities here. Cucina had its busiest ever February this year but once the couple realised that the country was head- ing into lockdown their first priority was to cook hundreds of pasta-based meals for IDEA Services to ensure local people with disabilities would not go hungry. The next challenge was working out how to keep going during lockdown. That meant having to develop an online takeaway menu system, with contactless delivery, for both Cucina and Tees St Café. “That’s still running as of today and we also worked on our advertising,” Yanina says. “People knew from day one to support local. They realised how important it was to do that.” All the same, worry over how bad things would get this year led them to make a tough decision to let staff go but, as it turned out, they had to re-hire again almost straight away after lockdown. That’s because Oamaru came back very strongly, thanks to a supportive community, a proactive local coun- cil, an innovative business sector and a growing domestic tourism market. “A lot of people pass through Oamaru and stop here for dinner then decide to spend more time here because it’s a pretty cool town. “There are always a lot of events happening so it’s a great place for a weekend away. “Coming from a very big city – Buenos Aires – to Oamaru was a major change but we absolutely love it here. “We started from the bottom but a few years later had people wanting to help us set up our own restaurant. To come here with only our suitcases and have people believe in us like that has been hugely rewarding.” Since coming out of lockdown, special attractions like Argentinian Feasts and happy hour pasta deals have ensured Cucina has stayed busy. “The support from locals has made up for the loss of overseas tourists. We are fully booked tonight and that’s all people from here. It’s what makes us keep going!” Call us now for an on farm visit p: 03 466 5062 Dunedin: 25 Mailer Street, Mornington www.yardleylo.co.nz Our Rural Team Hayden Yardley CA / Managing Partner Rose Johnston CA / Associate Dave Yardley / Rural Consultant We travel within Otago, Southland and Canterbury. Helping your farm stack up When there are so many aspects to your farm, piecing them all together can be challenging. Our strength is supporting and empowering you, so together we can build your best farming business that succeeds today and well into the future. Let us help you with our range of services including chartered accountancy, succession planning and farm advisory.