Graham McColl, 89, the man who brought luxurious dining to Cambridge for more than a decade, has died in Tauranga.
Graham McColl
In 1991, he opened the award-winning Souter House Restaurant and Guest House in Cambridge.
The house, now occupied by Herbert Morton Chartered Accountants, is a listed historic Category Two building.
Souter House was designed for brothers Joseph and Edwin Souter and built in 1900 using rimu and kauri. It features 13-foot studs, small-pane windows, and finials – a decorative element – on the roof.
Souter House. Photo: Heritage NZ
McColl, an old boy of Wellington High School, began his career in the hospitality industry. In 1965, he opened the Montana Restaurant in Hamilton, which he ran for 25 years. During that time, the restaurant won many awards, and several of his apprentices went on to win top chef honours.
He served as chairperson of the Waikato Restaurants Association and was vice president of the New Zealand Restaurants Association from 1966 to 1990. He was also an honorary member of the Wine and Food Society.
McColl played a key role in establishing the Department of Hospitality and Tourism at Waikato Technical Institute (now Wintec). He was a founding member of the Hospitality and Tourism Board in the early 1970s and served as chairperson until his retirement in 2001.
In 1998, he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his lifelong services to the hospitality industry.
After moving to Tauranga, McColl continued his community service as a Justice of the Peace. He ran the JP clinic at Mount Maunganui and served as JP for Tauranga Customs.
In 2014, McColl travelled to police headquarters to receive a long-lost World War I plaque discovered by Woodville senior constable Karl Williams.
The plaque commemorated the death of his uncle, Private Andrew McColl. It had been issued in 1921 along with medals and a scroll but had not been seen since 1933, until Williams found it at the back of a cupboard in the Woodville Police Station.
McColl died last Friday, August 8, and is survived by Trish, his wife of 68 years. A service will be held in Mt Maunganui today (Thursday).
Souter House 2018
