New faces as old team ‘burger’ off

Burger lovers have no fear - the new owners of New Plymouth’s boutique burger joint Prohibition don’t plan to change a thing.

Andy Le and his wife Gabby Tran are the new owners of the Brougham St restaurant, which is their first business, and said they were going to keep things ‘‘the same, but better’’.

Originally from Vietnam, the couple have lived in Queenstown for the past five years but Le said they didn’t see their long-term future in the tourist-oriented town.

So they did their research on both New Plymouth and Prohibition, and decided this was where they wanted to settle and raise a family.

Both have experience in hospitality, with Le committed to his job as a chef at the Heritage Hotel in Queenstown for another few months before working at the restaurant full-time. Tran had worked in the food and beverage department for more than two years.

‘‘Queenstown is really nice but it gets busy. For the future maybe not something for us,’’ Tran said.

Prohibition was put on the market in January by owners Damian Gould and Russel Laird, who initially leased the building for three years but decided to move on after 20 months.

The restaurant serves specialty burgers accompanied by sides such as fries and onion rings, and has a wide range of craft beers.

Though no changes are planned for the menu, Le said they would consider hiring more staff so they could open longer hours and offer faster service. ‘‘People on Facebook asked me for lunch, so I think we’ll open for lunch soon.’’

Le said they are also considering opening on Mondays and Tuesdays, and possibly expanding the menu once he starts working there full-time. They are also looking at cheaper takeaway deals.

They were ‘‘really nervous’’ about moving cities to take over a business, he said.

‘‘We don’t know what’s going to happen.

‘‘It’s a challenge but I think we can manage well.’’

Taranaki Futures, a youth development organisation that partners young people up with business mentors to provide them with workplace experience, has been given a funding boost. Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced $30,000 of funding towards two youth mentoring initiatives, which included $15,000 for the Taranaki Futures Accelerator mentoring program.

Accelerator was piloted in 2016 by New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young and had an uptake of 52 students across 42 businesses. ’’Mentoring from a trusted advisor and confidant, who can share experiences and knowledge, can be hugely beneficial for young people to help put them on a path to success,’’ said Kaye.

The South Taranaki District Council is subsiding two evenings where people can go to the pictures for just $5 a person. Events co-ordinator Jody Bloor said Beauty and the Beast will screen at Everybody’s Theatre in Opunake on August 13. On August 27 there will be two movies, Beauty and the Beast (PG) and Spider-Man Homecoming (M) at The Hawera Cinemas. Tickets for the Opunake event are available from Opunake LibraryPlus and tickets for the Hawera event are on sale at the TSB Hub.