Gardiner’s cafe’s planting theme

Leigha Gardiner has planted a new cafe in the centre of New Plymouth, one with a definite earthy theme.

‘‘The emphasis is on normalness,’’ Gardiner said of Cafe Garden. ‘‘Everyone around is a specialty place and I want to offer normality.’’

Located underneath a yoga studio at the corner of Egmont St and Devon St West, the new cafe offers healthy meals, ‘‘cook-your-own’’ jars and, of course, coffee.

Gardiner and her team spent Tuesday evening putting together the last bits while chef Corey Grindlay prepared the following day’s menu.

While she highlighted some of the top menu items as home-style potato roasties, cafe beef salad or an open-faced steak sandwich, Gardiner said the ticket item was a ‘‘cook-your-own’’ jar.

‘‘We’re going to have jars to make cakes and cookies with dried ingredients.’’

Large jars geared for adults would cost up to $25 and childsized jars would cost up to $15.

Gardiner first got her feet wet in the hospitality industry when, aged 14, she washed dishes at the Robert Harris Cafe.

At 16, she moved to Christchurch where she ran a cafe for four of the five years she lived in the South Island city.

When the 2011 earthquake struck, Gardiner took off across the ditch.

She lived around the Gold Coast and Brisbane before returning to New Plymouth in 2014.

It was a low point in her life and her granddad Wayne Gardiner fell ill, she said.

But in the last two years, Gardiner grew stronger and life seemed to be unfolding itself in her favour.

‘‘A lot of people talk about their New Year’s resolution but mine’s come true in the last seven days.’’

The process leading up to yesterday’s opening day had been hectic. The earth-theme sprang to mind two weeks ago when Gardiner found a fascination with plants.

‘‘We’ve got just about every plant that can live without the sun,’’ she said, pointing to the wall and corners around the space where mint, parsley, kale, spinach and rosemary grow.

And to top off the garden theme, Gardiner said edible flowers would be placed on meals. ‘‘There will be a variety of flowers picked from our barista’s garden, just to give it that final touch.’’