The original and the best, Karen and Dave opened their first restaurant back in 1983. Rosie’s Vineyard was born from a culmination of passion, hard work and sheer determination to bring something new to the 80’s dining scene in Southsea. Serving only wine, accompanied by French Bistro inspired food and live jazz, Rosie’s became the hot ticket for your Friday night.

After 25 years, Rosie’s was sold and abarbistro in Old Portsmouth was born. An existing pub was transformed into a seafood focused bistro, with the same signature excellent service and great food & drink combined with a buzzing atmosphere.

Not keen to rest on their laurels, (and a sucker for a new project) they soon after embarked on creating a secondary business under abar’s umbrella – Camber Wines. A wine wholesaler and retail outlet, Camber offered the scope for customers dining downstairs to taste their wines upstairs pre-dinner. It has remained a firm favourite of local shoppers, and with a delivery service direct to your door, they really have serviced a need for the quaffers of Portsmouth.

More recently Mum and Dad have become adoring grandparents to Oscar, Maggie, Molly and Margot, and are enjoying taking a less active role in the business, preferring to catch up on the latest goings on of Peppa Pig and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Having met at Rosie’s back in the day, we followed our respective careers in fundraising and banking to The Big Smoke. Soon becoming disillusioned by the rat race, we were tempted back to our seaside roots by the opportunity to take over the running of the already hugely popular Tenth Hole Tearooms. It turns out running your own business isn’t all lie-ins and delegation hey!? After a steep learning curve and 5 years of graft, we won the tender for what is now The Canteen. Another steep learning curve ensued, but we’ve enjoyed every high and low so far.

We stumbled across the site for The Briny whilst house hunting on Rightmove, and despite becoming new parents to the precious Oscar & Molly in addition to everything else, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snap up this incredible spot on the Southsea coastline. Joining forces with the rest of the family to bring together all of our expertise, is a wonderful experience and we are so proud of everything our wider team has achieved thus far.

Steve has roots at the Uni of Plymouth where he completed a degree in Hospitality Management. He brings an undeniable passion for excellent food and a wealth of wine knowledge to the table. After nabbing the bosses daughter during his time at Abarbistro, Steve has definitely made his mark on the family business.

Katie has followed her own successful career in teaching and they are now the proud parents of the beautiful Maggie & Margot.

If you’re looking for a wine pairing or inspiration to try out something new – he’s your man. Steve now leads the team at Abarbistro with his trusty GM Emma, and enjoys all things menu development, wine tasting and cost-cutting at The Briny!