WORDS DENISE IRVINE | IMAGES BRYDIE THOMPSON
Hamilton hospitality couple Lisa and Brent Quarries’ latest culinary venture is a little off the beaten track, and that’s all part of its charm. The Quarries—owners of Hayes Common Eatery— are opening a new cafe, Weave, on Waikato Innovation Park’s 17ha site at Ruakura. They started the project at the end of last year, and Weave has been months in the making. It is aimed at those who work at Innovation Park and it’s open to the wider public as well. Says Lisa: “Weave is Hayes Common’s corporate little sister, with a sharp new fit-out. We want to offer a great service to the staff on site and introduce new people to the park. It’s also a chance to change things up for ourselves and our staff who want new challenges. It keeps people fresh, and I love a good project.” Both trained chefs, the Quarries came to Hamilton from Auckland in 2007 and opened River Kitchen Cafe in Victoria Street. In 2016 they set up Hayes Common, in Hamilton East’s Hayes Paddock neighbourhood, and later sold River Kitchen.
PAGE 10 | WWW.NOURISHMAGAZINE.CO.NZ
Lisa says she and Brent were immediately drawn to the Innovation Park location: they saw another opportunity to have an eatery that had its own identity yet was part of a wider community. Just like Hayes Common. Weave takes its name from Lisa and Brent’s strong sense of providing a meeting place, bringing people together. It also honours the fertile food-producing land at Ruakura and the notion of a bountiful kete. Weave occupies the western end of the lovely light-filled Park Central building, designed by city architects Edwards White. The cafe’s contemporary-cool interior was a design collaboration between the Quarries and Hamilton firm Designwell. It includes cedar panelling, polished concrete floor, pendant lighting, banquette seating, high-backed stools, standalone tables, and two outdoor dining areas. A beautiful textural artwork by New Zealand artist Jade Townsend adds softness to the fit-out. The cafe is subtly screened from the adjacent Park Central events space, a generous area that is available for event hire Monday–Friday, 3pm–11pm, and Saturdays (day and night) on
