Humble crumble helps keep the Wanaka restaurant afloat

A Wanaka restaurant owner says he has been impressed by the community’s support for his crumbling apples, after Covid-19 threatened his business.

Ode Wanaka faced thousands of dollars in bills and loans when the country closed in March.

On top of that, the popular restaurant has been in an insurance battle over a fire that burned the place in 2018.

Owner Lucas Parkinson was forced to sell his house to reopen the restaurant due to the fire, and said the Covid-19 outbreak had been a major second hit.

Parkinson made a plea last week for the community to buy apple crumbs to help save the business.

He said the response has been overwhelming, with more than 1,000 requests so far.

“The orders are coming in and it’s great and (as) I walk around town to pick up some ingredients … people are letting me know that they have asked for crumbs and how good they were. I just decided to use something the kiwis know and love” Parkinson said.

Continued support may save the restaurant and its staff for now, but it won’t open fully until at least winter, he said.

“We have to keep doing it until we can reopen the restaurant.

“Right now, we don’t even have the funds to reopen our restaurant and I can’t put my family in debt.”

“It just isn’t fair to them to live my dream as we go into further debt, when we know the economy is going to go through some tough years.”