Wendy and Jim Campbell served their last dinner on Saturday
night. Their regular customers – and there were quite a few of them – will be
bereft.
Wendy and Jim ran The French Bistro in Martinborough. The
genial Jim was the front-of-house man and Wendy did the cooking (and in the
early days, before they could afford staff, the washing-up too).
The French Bistro won the Cuisine award for best regional casual dining restaurant in 2008
and once earned the rare distinction of a glowing mention in the New York Times
by the late R W Apple Jr, an associate editor of the paper and noted traveller
and bob vivant.
As the name implies, The French Bistro served French-inspired
cuisine based on local, seasonal produce. The menu, elegantly hand-written by
Jim, changed constantly, depending on what was fresh.
The food was exemplary. Some of the most enjoyable dinners
my wife and I have had were eaten there. But after 10 years of hard work, Wendy
and Jim (that’s their son John on TV3) have decided it’s time to ease off.
They closed without fuss or fanfare. They will be missed not
just by their many loyal supporters in the Wairarapa but also by weekenders from
Wellington for whom dinner at The French Bistro was the high point of a visit to Martinborough.
