Local Heroes Q&A: Ombrellos

Ed and Michelle Lobo

Ombrellos Kitchen and Bar is an established name in the hospitality industry in Dunedin. Long known as a pillar for craft beer offerings and gorgeous plates, Ombrellos is evolving into a hub for all things, existing as more than just a wining and dining affair.

With the coming addition of Ombrellitos, a mobile tapas experience that also serves premium craft beer, wine and spirits, Ombrellos is staying ahead of the curve in providing for the Dunedin community.

PocketSmith snuck behind the bar to talk to owners, Ed and Michelle Lobo, about whats cooking in the Ombrellos kitchen…

Tell us a little about yourselves, and why you’re the new owners of Ombrellos!

Michelle and I have always dreamt of running a hospitality business. When we first met, back in South America, I used to run a daytime cafe. Now, 22 years later and with older children, we decided that it was time to work on our dream. Ombrellos (which happened to be our favourite local Dunedin place) came up for sale and we took first place in what could have been a long queue of potential buyers. There was no two ways about it. Ombrellos has an outstanding reputation for food and craft beers and we as customers had experienced it for the last 5 years. Now as the new owners we are upholding Ombrellos reputation while adding our own touch.

What’s your favourite item on the Ombrellos menu at the moment?

Michelle’s choice is the Halloumi Salad, in her words: “…because it is amazing, and I cannot go past it, every time I smell it I just want it”. For me, the new Ombrellos Burger, with our original Guasacaca sauce, it is just to die for.

What is one thing you’d love your customers to know about the food you prepare?

When it comes to our food, we are like proud first time parents. We would like to highlight that around 98% of all the food we serve is completely made on premises, right down to the tomato sauce we serve with our fries…

Do you have any culinary tips for those of us looking to cook something new this holiday season?

Simple is good and fresh food is best in the summer. One of our personal favourite summer go-to’s is… Freshly baked french bread, two tomatoes, two spring onions, two spoons of white balsamic vinegar, two spoons of cold pressed olive oil. Slice the bread diagonally, dice the tomato and spring onions and put them in a small bowl. Add the oil and vinegar to the bowl, mix well and serve on top of the bread. Add salt and pepper to taste (but you might not even need it). All this can be done in five minutes…so why get fast food? This will do two people on a summer afternoon, best shared with a cold bottle of rosé in your back yard. This is just one of many examples of simple, fresh food.

Is there anything you do with money to prepare for the holidays?

We apply the “rainy-day” rule to the holidays: make as much as you can before the break, in order to be able to survive the drought that comes after Christmas. Dunedin comes to something of a stand-still at Christmas and New Year, but our costs will continue. We use the money from the run up to Christmas to survive into January and February.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

The people, by far. Our customers, their stories, their smiles and friendliness. Our customers are a mixture of ages, styles and backgrounds, but what they all seem to have in common is that they are grown-ups, looking for a grown-up experience at our place. To us, being a grown-up is not an age related subject, but more of an attitude. Some want a quiet space to enjoy a beverage with their friends or relatives, others want a culinary experience. Maybe they come for the latest craft beers, or the live music, or Thirst for Knowledge and other club affiliations…and some even come purely for our staff and service. Michelle and I always make a point of personally serving customers and engaging in conversation. Every item on our menu has a story to tell, same with every beer and every band and our customers enjoy those stories as much as we like to tell them.

Tell us a bit about your new joint, Ombrellitos!

Ombrellitos is our new project, our collaboration with Petridish. If we think about Ombrellos as the tradition, Ombrellitos becomes the vanguard, the rebel child of Ombrellos but with all the characteristics of Ombrellos. Ombrellitos is a hospitality-based innovation project to complement the needs of the west-end of Dunedin. It is our plan that you will be able to go to Ombrellitos or Ombrellitos could also come to you. From an early morning coffee to a fully catered and licensed party delivered to your office. We will focus on a true tapas experience, where people can pick and choose whatever we offer, by the plate. All served with some of the best craft beer, wines and spirits available.

What is your favourite Christmas movie?

Die Hard.

PocketSmith’s Local Heroes are cultural touchstones that we think make the Dunedin community a better place. The series recognises each hero for all they have done, while giving them a chance to share their story with you.

Get to know the other Local Heroes (here) and see what you could be Ombrellos are serving at their website (here) and on their Facebook (here).