Tony Astle of Antoine's Restaurant
This is a story of ambition and of the New Zealand dream: a young man, raised in the working-class suburb of Brighton, Christchurch, leaves school aged 15 with no qualifications. Tony Astle traveled to Wellington to seek out legendary TV Chef Graham Kerr, of the Galloping Gourmet fame, who was then living in New Zealand. Kerr introduced Tony to Madame Louise of Wellington’s fine dining restaurant Le Normandie restaurant in Cuba Street, where he started work as a waiter. Crossing into the kitchen, Tony went on to work for Des and Lorraine Britten at the The Coachman.
It is interesting to read, that during Tony’s split shifts, with the afternoon off work he would venture to Parliament to listen to Question Time. This period framed Tony’s political perspective and he became a loyal supporter of the National Party. He was motivated to take elocution lessons to tone down his work-class accent. Tony’s father never approved of him becoming a chef.
In 1972, Tony, aged 22 with his wife Beth, who would become the legendary hostess of Antoine’s, moved to Auckland to set up a restaurant. They had two business partners and leased a premises at 333 Parnell Road. The restaurant was located in the newly developed Parnell Village surrounded by homes of well-heeled Aucklanders. For 48 years, Antoine’s was an important feature of Auckland’s hospitality world.
Tony and his business partners quickly fell out and with a stroke of exceptional luck, a wealthy customer funded a loan to buy-out the partners. This visionary act enabled Tony and Beth to own the business outright. In addition, their benefactor paid for them to fly business class to Europe to study the art of cuisine and fine-dining restaurants. From this time Tony and Beth would close the restaurant for six weeks during slow winter months to travel. This international perspective gave Tony and Beth the confidence to charge for their meals.
The front door of Antoine's with the A.
‘We were the dearest restaurant in town, and people wanted to be seen there eating the most expensive items on the menu… the most popular entree for while was a trifecta of foie gras, scallops, and caviar. I made my own brioche to go with it. That went for $150.’
Entrance from Parnell Road
It was surprising to learn of Tony's eating disorder when he became fixated on NOT becoming a fat chef and stopped eating cooked food.
‘There was an extended period of time, for instance, when I wouldn’t eat anything cooked. I decided I would only eat meat and fish.… I would have been in my 30s so I didn’t really meet the standard profile for someone with an eating disorder – but I certainly admit to having one. And I can only blame myself… I would chew chunk of raw meat and just suck all the blood out.’
Tony liked to drink with his customers and Antoine’s had an alcohol licence until 3am with a reputation for late night drinking. In the 1970s the legal limit was 100 (mg) milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of blood compared to 50 milligrams now and people would not shy away from drinking and driving.
By the early 90s, the impact of the 1987 Sharemarket crash was not over and Antoine’s was too expensive. Cheaper, less formal dining options were popping up all over Auckland.
‘The cream had gone from the business…Back at that time I was looking at our dwindling profits and wondering how we could maintain our status in the face of such fierce challenges’.
Tony went on to open more businesses with other partners including a bistro and night club.
‘Then in January 2021 almost 49 years after we opened…I finally locked the door and walked away. For good. No succession plan, no attempt at a sale. Just a swift, clean execution. For perhaps the one and only time in my life I could talk about closure in a literal and absolute sense'. Beth died of cancer on 30 March 2021.
Thank you, Tony for this tale well-told.
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Celia Hay
25/10/2024
