Sponsored: “Passion and late nights”

Picton restaurateur tells the story of newly opened Fork & Fable

How long does it take a dream to become reality? For Kody North with Fork & Fable, his brand new restaurant in Central Picton, the answer is astonishing.

Evan Tuchinsky

Kody, part of a family ingrained in Marlborough’s food industry, managed Cafe Cortado at the corner of High Street and London Quay for years.

Three months ago, he got the opportunity to buy it. On 1 October, he got the keys.

Over the next 16 days, Kody and an assemblage of his business partners, relatives, employees and tradies transformed it.

Friday, 17 October, they readied Fork & Fable for a soft opening that evening – and, the very next day, hosted the grand opening.

That seems hardly any time at all, at least on the calendar. On the clock, though, it took hours upon hours of hard work. Along with the new look, Fork & Fable has a new menu focused on shared dishes created with ingredients from as many local sources as possible.

“This is a dream come true,” Kody said during a brief break in preparations for the soft opening

What is the secret behind this successful launch?

“Passion and late nights,” Kody replied. “I’ve been up in the office till 4 am getting stuff done. It’s not like I’ve been freaking out about it; I’ve been excited about it, sitting in the office thinking up ideas, and I’ve got really good support.”

The dream

Working at Cortado, Kody saw promise and potential in its prominent place. The highly trafficked corner looks out onto Picton Memorial Park, Waitohi Bay and Picton Heritage & Whaling Museum. It is situated centrally between piers for ferries and day cruises.

Town Centre has vibrancy during the day which ebbs at night. Kody and his partner, Adam Kuyf, envisioned “a hot spot” where their contemporaries could gather until midnight and late-arriving travelers could grab a nice meal.

“For us, it was very clear-cut that we wanted to make our own identity and create something really new and dynamic and fun and modern,” Kody explained, “just bring something new to Picton.”

The name Fork & Fable flowed from their vision.

“Adam and I both really like books, reading and literature,” Kody said. “The thing for me was shared stories around the table, the stories behind the food, where it comes from. It started with the ‘Fable’ and the rest of it came after.”

The “Fork” part – the food – draws inspiration from farm-to-table cuisine in which chefs build menus around items that are fresh and local. As a result, dishes come and go based on which ingredients are in-season.

Seafood from the Sounds and produce from Marlborough farms drive what Fork & Fable serves. That local emphasis extends to the wines, beers, spirits and even the coffee. Just about the only holdovers from Cortado are pizzas – Kody kept the oven – and the staff.

Dream team

Kody acquired the establishment in partnership with Adam and his parents, Kris and Joanne North. Kris spent decades in supermarket management before transitioning into restaurants with Joanne, for whom hospitality is a family business. They opened, then eventually sold, Speight’s Ale House Blenheim and Good Home Gastropub Marlborough.

Adam began as a supermarket manager in Christchurch before heading up a department store in Blenheim; he helps after retail shifts as his schedule allows. Kris got hands-on with the remodel work and now, Kody said, “is going to be my all-arounder.” Joanne brings expertise, augmenting input from business mentor Liz Perkins of Perkins Coaching.

The staff is virtually the entire team from Cortado plus a new executive chef in the kitchen. Employees and guests matter at Fork & Fable, where “People Over Product” is the motto.

“We’re like the United Nations in here,” Kody said. “We’ve got so many different cultures and identities in terms of our team, and we’re trying to be as inclusive to the customer coming in as well. At the end of the day, what I think makes hospitality is connection.”

Connection extends to suppliers, too – another reason Fork & Fable could open so quickly.

Relationships Kody cultivated at Cortado continue to thrive. He procures coffee from Imbibe, mussels from Mills Bay Mussels and beer from Boom Town Brewing, just to name a few. For the remodel, beyond DIY help from family, Kody turned to Max George Joiners, Advanced Electrical and Lynfords Furniture.

“We want to be a welcoming place,” Kody reflected. “We don’t want people to go, ‘Oh, it’s new, I don’t want to go in with my work boots.’ Come in! Leave your work boots at the front door, and we’ll get you a beer.”