Orleans Bar in Stranges Lane is one of the new venues to emerge post-quakes.

Business is thriving for Christchurch restaurants and cafes with exciting changes over the past year encouraging customers to venture out and experience a "new" Christchurch dining culture, writes Marisa Bidois of the Restaurant Association.

As the number of restaurant and cafe businesses head towards a return to pre-quake levels, people dining in Christchurch restaurants and cafes are now spoiled for choice.

Our Restaurant Association's Canterbury branch president, Sam Crofskey, owner of C1 Espresso on High St, believes it would now take someone years to get around all the new places which have opened, and in fact it is difficult to find a bad cup of coffee.

Out of the tragedy of the earthquakes a unique opportunity has emerged for innovative operators to start with a clean vision of what they wanted to achieve. This foresight has been embraced by the entrepreneurs of the hospitality industry, who have been one of the fastest business groups to show resilience in getting their businesses back up and running.

``The earthquake allowed operators to look at different themes and rethink how they wanted to develop their concepts and basically run with it." Crofskey says.

The quality and vision of many of the new establishments is world class and this is a sentiment backed by local hospitality veteran, Michael Turner, who reopened his iconic restaurant Cafe Valentino on a new site in 2012.

``Hospitality done right is a tough unrelenting business but early evidence is that the hospitality on offer to the public post-quake is truly outstanding," Turner says.

Most of the central city is committed to being redeveloped and the projects aiming to bring life back to the Central City are already benefitting the hospitality trade.

The hospitality industry has been at the forefront of the re-emergence of the central city as a destination. Some moved early and staked out their piece of the action and there is a lot more to come. Virtually every building has a hospitality offer on the ground floor and for those searching for that special spot for their operation there is a "smorgasbord" of options available.

It is exciting to see clear hospitality precincts forming, like those on Victoria St, St Asaph St and Lincoln Rd. In these precincts we are seeing the emergence of a distinct "Christchurch" dining culture, which can't be compared to anything that is happening elsewhere in the country.

Businesses like Roots with its unique local food and foraging culture or New Regent St's small independent offerings like Shop Eight, Caffeine Lab, the Last Word and the Auricle offer a style of hospitality that wasn't seen here before 2011.

And the North Canterbury wine offering is also expanding with casual eateries like Black Estate adding to the small set of wine tourism hospitalty, includng the award winning Pegasus Bay restaurant. There are now many different dining out choices, catering to a wide selection of cuisine styles and tastes.

There has also been strong growth over the past five years in Christchurch's suburban centres and outer regions. The initial influx of consumers to the suburbs when the earthquakes severely damaged the central city allowed these businesses to develop their own identity in a way that would not have occurred otherwise, and many have continued to grow and flourish.

Astute operators are also not limiting themselves to one business but continue to expand their portfolios, opening up second or third sites as premises become available. For example Strange & Co's triple offering of Orleans, Lower Ninth burger bar and their late night bar, plus the newer Mexico down the road.

Baretta owners are about to expand with The Cuban and a Japanese nightclub also on the cards. And then of course, veterans Tony Astle and Jonny Schwass both have multiple offerings for the city.

The dining public appear to be embracing the new hospitality community. Industry sales for the Canterbury region continue to go from strength to strength, recording 6.1 per cent growth from 2014-2015.

This is on the back of a 10.8 per cent sales increase a year before that.

Canterbury hospitality now represents more than 13 per cent of the hospitality industry's total sales in New Zealand. The sales growth reflects the robust confidence of the wider Christchurch economy, as well as consumer confidence, which is drawing diners to spend more on entertainment and dining out.

The number of hospitality workers is also slowly on the increase, although finding staff, and retaining them, still represents one of the key challenges for local restaurant and cafe businesses.

The key ingredients for success are already present in Christchurch hospitality.

The recent Christchurch Hospitality Awards organised by the Restaurant Association – with the help of principal sponsors The Press, Crombie Lockwood, Trents, NZI Insurance and Spark – bring the industry together and create a platform for our people to celebrate their resilience and creativity.

The awards are an opportunity to highlight the best of the best and celebrate the up and coming stars of our industry.

The new Christchurch hospitality scene is edgy and funky and looking forward, it is looking like it will return even better than before – all part of this unprecedented opportunity to revitalise the city of Christchurch.

Marisa Bidois is chief executive of the Restaurant Association of New Zealand.