Choice over chance: Karen Hattaway
Karen Hattaway was the visionary behind Queenstown hospitality establishments Blue Kanu, Pier, and Captains, and is now at the helm of one of Christchurch’s top-rated restaurants just three months in: Manu. She tells Metropol Deputy Editor Nina Tucker about the force of choice and a movement powered by personal trauma.
Not long ago, Karen began shifting away from the Queenstown hospitality industry, in a bid to slow down and relax. “Yes, for a whole 14 weeks,” she laughs. Retirement wasn’t for her. Something was telling her to bring Manu to life.
Despite 27 years in the hospitality industry and some of the top eateries in New Zealand cuisine under her belt, Karen is without an ego. “We don’t take things for granted. We learn and look around about how we can make ourselves better.” Laugh at yourself, Karen encourages, and practise gratitude. It’s cliché, yet the emotional and psychological benefits of being grateful are paramount.
Karen suffered the unthinkable – sexual abuse as a child, at five years old. These horrors would not cause her to self-destruct. It all comes down to choice, she explains. “We make a choice to not let things that have been horrific in our world define us.” At age nine, Karen chose to stand up, and every choice since then has honoured her childhood self. Triggers remain, and she explains that recovery is a work in progress to this day. Moving forward with resilience is what she focuses on. “I choose to see something better. I choose to see the positive.”
Karen’s mind and her voice are her most powerful assets. “This story is painful,” yet she uses it to share the message of hope, healing, and understanding. Now, she’s on a mission to do more. At Manu, Karen produced products and initiatives such as drink caps to cover and protect a woman’s drink from being spiked, the ‘Angel Shot’ for women needing safety, and donating 50c from every cocktail to women who have suffered trauma.
“I’m shining light into dark places,” she says. Her trauma coupled with years of insight into the hospitality industry was impossible to ignore, and with a platform like Manu to stand on, she is. Date rape drugs have been around for long enough, with thousands of cases reported proving it is a huge concern. Yet, authorities and governing agencies are still doing little to fight this epidemic. Karen explains we need more awareness, conversation, and change because these occurrences are still prevalent.
“I know what it was like to be unsafe, and I don’t want another woman to know what that feels like,” she says. Karen’s drink caps stretch to cover wine and water glasses, hidden inside small gold sacks to be kept discreetly in a handbag. She has plans to speak to Christchurch Liquor Licensing to table proposals and protocols with the industry, to reduce drink spiking and safeguard women. Karen envisions an industry where women can go out with their girlfriends without watching over their shoulders, feeling preyed upon, or having to quickly finish their drinks before going to the bathroom. “It’s my duty,” she says.
Four months of 100-hour work weeks with her “wonderful grounding mechanism and incredible partner” John Nicholson brought the Cambridge Terrace restaurant to life, yet Manu is constantly evolving. “She’s still growing. We’re still feeling our way,” Karen says. “It’s a little bit like going to a new school. We’re making new friends.” The embrace from the Ōtautahi community has been vital. Christchurch felt like the right place for Manu, and the shared connection of a traumatic past is why Karen chose to settle here. She references an earlier discussion. “This city made a choice. It decided to survive. I truly resonate with that.”
Manu brings memories from Karen’s travels in vibrant Morroco, with influence from her Pasifika cousins and Māori heritage, and nature’s textures and colours. The space is a cultural homecoming. Rich to see and feel, it’s impossible not to elicit emotion. Curves represent coastlines and seashells, and each aspect ignites the senses. While she adores spaces with clean, minimalist interiors, Karen admits she doesn’t have the discipline, and built Manu to be warmer, soulful, and to celebrate her culture and diversity.
“My title is glorified cleaner,” she says, which is why her executive team – Marata Cooney, Jonathan Perrett, Mitch Ransley, Jeanine Lester, and partner John – deserve so much thanks. Humility is embedded. “We might look flash, but we’re down to earth.”
I prodded at what she does when her mind is not deep in new ideas or ways to revolutionise business. “That’s what I do,” she replies. “It’s not a job, it’s a passion.”
The experience between each guest and her wait team is described as a partnership, with the freedom to feel. Karen’s ethos in expressing each dish on the share-inspired menu is a simple list of main ingredients. The rest is up to you. She avoids long, gruelling paragraphs that tell you how each dish will taste and feel. “I want your eyes and your tastebuds to do some work.” That’s just one element that captures Karen’s restaurant, and who she is as a person. Comforting, inviting – like a whanau.
Manu brings a wonderfully fresh identity to Christchurch cuisine, and the community in general with a team as vibrant as the interiors. The young crew was handpicked on purpose, “because if we don’t train our young people, who’s coming up in the ranks to look after our tourism and hospitality industries?” Karen questions. “They are real, they make mistakes and learn. That’s all I can ask.”
“If I’m going to pass the baton on to somebody, I want to leave [the industry] in good, safe condition. Women’s safety is my priority.” She has plans to stick around for a while yet though. “They will probably have to wheel me out,” she laughs.
Image: Charlie Rose Photography
