Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Migrants’ recipe for settling in
Four years after they migrated from India, Maninder (Mani) Kaur and Mickey Singh have achieved their dream of owning their own restaurant.
The couple took over The Next Door Cafe in Redwoodtown on November 1, serving a combination of Indian and Kiwi food to the public.
Mani Kaur said it had been partly the support from the Marlborough Multicultural Centre that encouraged them to go into business.
Marlborough Multicultural centre manager Margaret Western had encouraged them to have a food stall at the 2017 festival.
"We started from there, we started doing the butter chicken food stall at the Multicultural Festival,’’ she said.
‘‘First year it went really well, we ran out of everything. Next year we did the same thing but we made a little bit extra.
‘‘And from there we got that people were loving my husband’s cooking and the way we are doing it.
‘‘So we thought we could do something in the future, so here we are at Next Door Cafe and Restro Bar.’’
Kaur and Singh came to New Zealand in 2015, when Kaur completed a Level 8 post graduate diploma in business at NMIT.
She said they had not known much about New Zealand before they arrived, but heard that ‘‘it was the world’s most beautiful country’’.
The couple also wanted to acknowledge the support of the Multicultural Centre which was always available for support and advice.
Multicultural centre manager Margaret Western said the notfor-profit group played an important role in the wellbeing of new migrants.
‘‘Part of our strength of our entity is being able to navigate people not just towards their own but towards other communities that help that integration process,’’ Western said.
‘‘Mani and Mickey have contributed and are willing and want to contribute to the community that has supported them.’’
After four years in New Zealand, Kaur and Singh feel like it is their home. Singh had previously lived in Europe, but found laid back small town New Zealand more liveable.
Kaur said they had also travelled throughout New Zealand but had not found a better fit than Blenheim.
‘‘I lived in Tauranga but I couldn’t connect to it, but I’ve lived in Blenheim for the last four years and I really love the people here and how we know each other.
‘‘Everyone will just see you with a smile every time you walk in. It’s my home now.’’
The Next Door Cafe is open every day from 10am, serving ‘Kiwi’ food until 5.30pm and Indian cuisine at dinnertime.
Kaur and Singh work long hours and have a young daughter Mannat who is 3.
But they are helped by a second chef, with years of experience, and are prepared to ‘‘work hard to get somewhere.’’
‘‘It’s just the start, we still have a long journey,’’ Kaur said.
‘‘We look to provide best food and good service to the Marlborough people. And we are happy to take any challenges, we will try our best always.’’