‘A new lease of life’: Hospitality star sisters take over SPQR site

Bronwyn and Jessica Payne are taking over the SPQR site at 150 Ponsonby Rd, Auckland.
After weeks of speculation about who would take the reins of renowned Ponsonby restaurant SPQR, the Herald can today reveal the new owners.
Hospitality sisters Bronwyn and Jess Payne picked up the keys last Wednesday.
The sisters own Hoppers Garden Bar at 134b Ponsonby Rd and Elmo’s at 151 Ponsonby Rd, adding SPQR at 150 Ponsonby Rd would be a trifecta that makes sense.
A press release announcing their takeover said the site “has been given a new lease of life, having been purchased by two of the suburb’s hottest hospitality stars”. It said they are “set to bring sophistication, spontaneity, theatricality into new genres of inner-city escapism”.
Last Thursday, liquidators confirmed to the Herald the site of SPQR had been leased and the chattels it had acquired had been sold to an existing restaurant operation, which had also taken over the lease.
It would not confirm who the operators were, but in the press release, the Payne sisters were confirmed as the new owners.
The release said they “were amongst those mourning the loss of SPQR, but soon saw the opportunity to breathe new life into the legendary site”.
As well as owning Hoppers and Elmo’s, the sisters were guest judges on My Kitchen Rules New Zealand. The release said: “Having grown up in the industry, the passionate pair is well-equipped to take on the challenge that is creating something new and vibrant in the space – as well as honouring the legacy of what has gone before.”
The site will be closed until Christmas, as “much-needed renovations” take place and there will be “some incredible surprises on opening day”.
“SPQR regulars can rest assured that the renowned copper bar danced upon by so many over the years will remain in place.”
Six years ago, reportedly with the help of their parents, the Payne sisters took over the famous Golden Dawn at 134b Ponsonby Rd and turned it into Hoppers Garden Bar.
At the time, the pair told Restaurant and Cafe Magazine they had designed Hoppers as a peculiar botanical paradise, surrounded by greenery as well as other oddities in an authentic turn-of-the-century style.
The sisters started Elmo’s, an upmarket pizza restaurant a year later in 2019 as a nostalgic passion project.
In 2022, the sisters told Restaurant and Cafe they grew up in Britain and were heavily influenced by European food and had a homemade pizza night every Friday, a tradition that continues to this day. The pair always had entrepreneurial tendencies and wanted to create a big, sensory space that made customers feel as if they were transported elsewhere when they walked in.
The Payne sisters also have an online fashion business called Kynn, which designs and sells shapewear and shaping underwear.
On July 12, SPQR closed its doors to diners after 32 years, with liquidators from PKF Insolvency appointed and confirmed it was no longer trading.
Two weeks later, on July 26, the Payne sisters registered a new company with the New Zealand Companies Office called Estelle Entertainment Limited. Will the new SPQR be called Estelle?
On August 21, the Herald reported that liquidators PKF Corporate Recovery & Insolvency had renewed the site’s liquor licence and confirmed “a few parties have shown interest”.
SPQR Ltd was placed into liquidation for tax arrears, with a liquidators’ report showing the restaurant owed more than $2 million to creditors and Inland Revenue.
Owner Chris Rupe, (director of SPQR Ltd) took over the restaurant from founders Stuart Dryburgh and film-maker Dorthe Scheffmann.