Nelson's Sprig & Fern Milton St the best bar in New Zealand

Nelson's Sprig & Fern Milton St the best bar in New Zealand

Nelson’s popular Sprig & Fern Tavern in Milton Street has been named the best bar in New Zealand in the 2012 Hospitality NZ Awards.

This caps off a year where the bar had already won its third local award, being voted the People’s Choice winner in the Nelson Hospitality Awards.

Owners Ken and Tracy Banner say winning the award is an accolade from their industry that reinforces their own conviction that they’ve hit on a recipe for success with their local, community focused tavern.

“A lot of our regulars say ‘The Milton St Sprig’ is like an extension of their living room,” Tracy says. “Being in a 1904 colonial villa with window-seats, open fireplaces and verandas creates an atmosphere that draws a big range of customers.

“We have sports groups coming here after their games, we’ve become the headquarters of the mountain-biking fraternity, young mums come in for a coffee in the afternoon, we’re the ‘local’ for the scientists from the Cawthron Institute, people visiting their parents at The Wood retirement village bring them in for lunch, we have the Irish folk group on a Monday night and there’s even the Coro Club who have come here for years to have a beer and let their wives watch Coronation Street at home in peace!”

Having no TV is one of the big attractions for regulars, and part of the Sprig & Fern philosophy to ‘bring back the good old art of conversation’. But the Sprig and Fern clientele is not hostile to newcomers, and accents from around the world can be heard as backpackers from some of Nelson’s most popular hostels, also located in The Wood neighbourhood, pop in for a pint and a pizza or fish and chips.

“We’ve got a tiny kitchen here and we focus on delicious fresh food platters, but we’ve developed a synergy with the Milton Street Takeaways next door and we encourage people to order their fish and chips, burgers or pizzas and have them delivered into the Tavern on a platter – it makes it a very affordable night out for a family or for young travellers,” Ken says.

Being different from the run of other bars and not being tied to a major brewery is key to the Sprig & Fern’s success. The beer comes from the Sprig & Fern Brewery, part owned by Ken and Tracy and supplier to the six Sprig and Fern taverns in Nelson, Tasman and Wellington.

“The beer is a key part of the Sprig & Fern's success,” says Tracy, an award-winning brewer and a leader in the craft beer renaissance. “We have 20 products on tap, and there’s a peak in turnover when one of our seasonal limited releases comes out. We also have a very popular six glass tasting tray so people can try our beers and ciders in smaller quantities.”

Tracy says she and Ken, who are busy during the day with the brewery business, would not have achieved their success without their ‘wonderful’ team of seven staff members.

“Our staff create the family atmosphere that we’re known for, they greet people as they arrive, they’re knowledgeable and passionate about our beers and local wines and they enjoy being part of the community that has built up around the tavern.”

The community aspect of the business is encouraged with local sponsorship. The Sprig & Fern local appears on mountain biking tee shirts, football track-suits and even on thecostumes of the local Morris Dancers!

Judges of the Hospitality NZ Awards commented that the standard of entries was consistently high. Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said the industry had seen a continued “flight to quality” by consumers over the past two years.

“The judging panel noted that marketing and customer service had become particular focus points for a number of the finalists in this year’s awards, reflecting a considerable amount of time, thought and effort which had obviously gone into each and every application,” Mr Robertson said.

Entrants into the Hospitality New Zealand Awards for Excellence are judged over a six week period by a panel of independent industry professionals who assess every competitor on a range of commercial and operational criteria – including staff training and human resources, customer service, marketing and promotional activities, and the demonstration of business growth.

Image credit Tim Cuff.

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