Home cooking her forte

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 45, 28 April 1987, Page 8

Home cooking her forte

Jo Robinson's flair for home-cooking has taken her from the restaurant of the Ohakune Hotel to manager of her own business for close to a year. Mrs Robinson's lease on the Lovin' Spoonful Restaurant in Ohakune expired this month and already she is keen to take on another business. Mrs Robinson was chief cook in the Girdlestone Restaurant at the Ohakune Hotel off and on for over seven years. She took on the lease of the Lovin' Spoonful owned by Brian and Cynthia Dowsett on 1 June 1986. She ran the restaurant single-handedly through the summer and employed parttime help during the winter months.

Mrs Robinson worked from past experience as to what people liked to see on a menu. "People generally like home-cooking — nothing too up-market," she said. Her husband Don helped serve when the restaurant was busy — on two occasions they catered for 56 people. Mrs Robinson said she felt her venture had been a success because of the favourable comments received from visitors to Ohakune who dined at the Lovin'Spoonful and the number who kept coming back for more. She said she had learned a lot during her time as manageress, including some valuable lessons about human nature.