The “best little cafe in New Zealand” has reopened its doors.
The Black Forest Cafe in Naseby is back on the menu under new ownership.
First opened by Wendy Becker in 2006, the cafe quickly became a staple in the lives of locals. It closed its doors in September 2015 after Mrs Becker became ill, and her daughter and son-in-law took over the running of the cafe until it sold in 2019.
Last year it opened as Yeet Cafe, however closed earlier this year.
Local chef Kirsty Sloan saw an opportunity to stop working nights and return the cafe to it’s roots.
“I decided if I was going to work that hard I may as well do it for myself,” she said.
“For me, it’s always been the Black Forest, and that’s how people know it. It had a really good reputation for many, many years as the Black Forest.”
Ms Sloan has come full circle, having earlier worked for Mrs Becker in the cafe, followed by her daughter.
The cafe reopened on July 4 – just prior to the school holidays which was “chaos, but good”.
“It’s been really nice to have the support of the locals – people have been amazing – even those I don’t know that have come from out of town.”
While staffing was a challenge at the moment, the cafe was still operating six days a week, closing on
Thursdays.
