The story of the Vietnamese-inspired SaPa Kitchen at Street Feast is a remarkable tale of determination and grit from a small-business owner wanting to succees.
Te Atatu’s Andrew van Lent is an accomplished chef who has worked in some of New Zealand and Australia’s leading restaurants. He started in his foodie career at the age of 14 as an apprentice chef at Sky City Hotel, and went on to work at well-known restaurants and wineries in Queenstown and Sydney.
But life got pretty hard for a while, as it often does, and after some years out of the kitchen Andrew’s business SaPa Kitchen was formed out of a desire to start fresh and find his position in the world.
He worked hard to build his clientele, focusing on fresh, seasonal food that is organic and free-range whenever possible, working out of food trucks initially and launching his first bricks and mortar business at Street Feast two years ago.
Today, SaPa Kitchen hires three full time chefs, three Front of House specialists, and gives work opportunities to ten more people in the food truck.
And we can tell you, the food is good. It’s fresh, healthy and it looks great. Next time you visit we recommend trying Andrew’s personal favourite on the menu: the mushroom cashew rice bowl.
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