Olinda’s The Cuckoo restaurant shuts after 62 years due to COVID

After welcoming countless tourists and celebrities for more than 60 years, an Olinda institution has shut its doors.

The Cuckoo has closed after 62 years.

COVID has killed off Olinda’s famous Cuckoo Restaurant after more than 60 years of operation.

The German-inspired tourist mecca, which pioneered the smorgasbord concept in Australia, traded successfully for 62 years until COVID hit.

Manager Andrei Koeppen, whose parents Karin and Willi Koeppen started the restaurant in 1958, said the loss of international tourists, combined with lockdowns and restrictions on buffet dining, made it too hard for the business to survive.

“Sadly the combined impact of extended prohibition of buffets, the preclusion of international tourists, and the limits on patron numbers were too overwhelming for The Cuckoo,” Mr Koeppen said.

“The restaurant is no longer a viable business.”

The Cuckoo closed in March 2020 when the first lockdown came into effect, and reopened briefly in June, before closing again.

“The feedback (when we reopened) wasn't that great because we couldn’t do a buffet, and we’re famous for buffets,” he said.

Mr Koeppen said he was “heartbroken” over the restaurant closure.

“We all grew up in the restaurant, my two sisters and I, and the people who worked there are family,” he said.

“Some people have been working there for 20, 30 years and we’ve built long-term relationships with them.

“It’s very sad.”

The Cuckoo has been a Melbourne institution for 62 years.

Mr Koeppen said when his parents opened The Cuckoo it was an instant success, and had remained popular right until COVID closed the doors in 2020.

“We estimate the Cuckoo has served around 10 million customers in its history,” he said.

“It is widely regarded as one of the oldest restaurants in Australia and possibly the most popular.

“In recent years we were seeing 14 coaches per day, of mostly overseas tourists, who regarded The Cuckoo as an essential experience alongside Puffing Billy, Healesville Sanctuary and Phillip Island’s penguins.”

Famous guests included former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, The Rolling Stones and Beatle George Harrison.

“Some of the celebrities that have been through there are quite amazing,” Mr Koeppen said.

“Kylie Minogue pulled up about three years ago when we were closed and said she just wanted to have a look because she used to play in the playground as a child.”

Until its closure, the Cuckoo employed about 100 people and supported many local suppliers.

The early days of The Cuckoo.

Mr Koeppen said he was disappointed not to receive more financial support from the State Government during the pandemic.

“It’s a real institution that has really been brought to its knees by this (COVID),” he said.

“We’ve had a very small amount of support from the State Government, a drop in the ocean really, compared to what we’ve lost, it’s really unfortunate.

“We’re an icon of Victoria’s tourism industry and really what we got in terms of support was pretty nominal.”

The Cuckoo was originally The Quamby, which started in 1904 as a small tea room on the road to Olinda before Karin and Willi purchased it in 1958.

Willi Koeppen’s disappearance remains unsolved.

At the time, Willi was Australia’s most famous ‘Masterchef’ with regular TV and radio shows. While executive chef at a five-star hotel in Melbourne, he met Karin, in a bar on the corner of Elizabeth St and Flinders St.

Karin had travelled to Australia from Germany to work at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.

Willi disappeared in 1976 and the case remains an open investigation with the Victoria Police Missing Persons division.

Karin continued to run the business, with her brother Horst, until 2020.

Today, Karin, now 84, is in a nursing home battling Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Mr Koeppen said as his mum no longer gets JobKeeper she has no income and doesn’t qualify for any government assistance because The Cuckoo is regarded as an asset.

“We had originally hoped the restaurant would continue to trade so that her needs would be supported,” Mr Koeppen said.

“Unfortunately COVID has put an end to that.

“The only way we can afford her nursing home is to sell the asset.”

Karin Koeppen with her daughter Daniela Koeppen-Rosenfeld in 2018.

The restaurant is up for sale and Mr Koeppen said he was hopeful a new buyer would take it on and reopen the doors.

“Our preference would be to see somebody buy it and reopen it as The Cuckoo; that would be our dream, to see the brand continue,” he said.

“Perhaps new investment and a new life.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said a buffet or smorgasbord-type restaurant can create a potential increased risk of transmission of COVID-19.

“We recommended that extra precautions are taken in this setting compared with a general restaurant setting,” they said.

These include discouraging the direct touching of any food, drinks or shared serving utensils – implements should be used for the serving of food and drinks.