After 18 years of curly fries, ribs and slow-cooked beef, Stu Wiggins has decided to call it quits.
The Hog's Breath Cafe in Woden will close its doors for the final time after Saturday night's dinner trade, marking the end to a Canberra institution which has served its bespoke burgers, fries and steaks to thousands, feeding Raiders and Brumbies alike and supporting many local charities along the way.
Mr Wiggins was saddened by having to take such a drastic step but aimed to bow out before financial pressures meant he couldn't meet obligations to his staff, suppliers and his landlord.
"This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision; I've been looking hard at the books for the past six months or so and this latest Omicron outbreak, I guess you could say it's been the final straw," Mr Wiggins said.
"This latest outbreak, coming after two lockdowns, and staff having to quarantine at short notice - not their fault at all, but that's just how it is - and all the stress and uncertainty that brings; it just feels like the right time."
Old fashioned business values run deep in Mr Wiggins. He decided if the business should close, he'd do it the correct way.
"I've been burned in business before where people have just shut the door and left debts and ill feelings behind, but that's not me," he said.
"I want to go out with my head held high and with my staff's entitlements all paid out in full.
"They [the staff] deserve that respect. They have been really good to me. I've had the same chef for 16 years. They are like my family."
The former multiple premiership-winning Canberra jockey who switched to hospitality when he struggled to make weight "to ride the really good racehorses", said the first COVID outbreak and national lockdown, now just over two years ago, was a "bit of a shock" but the financial support was in place.
"But then the second one [lockdown] hit and we went to takeaway only," he said.
"All the financial support disappeared and it got really tough. After you paid the home delivery fee services, there was just no money in it.
"Then just when we thought we were out of the woods, it turns out we weren't."
While his post-Hogs life will assume a degree of normality that people working in hospitality rarely get to experience, he will miss the interaction with his staff and customers, many of whom have been coming to the restaurant since he first opened.
"I like people, chatting to people who come in. That's just me. I will miss that," he said.
"The cafe has been around the community a long time; Mal [Meninga] is a good mate, we would often have the [Raiders] players coming here for a feed; I would give work to the young Raiders coming in from the country trying to break into the team," he said.
"We used to have the Hog [mascot] out at Canberra Stadium and we sponsored the Raiderettes, so I've had a lot of fun running the business over the years.
"But it is the right time to go."
