Eatery owners bring travels to the table to hook locals
A seaside eatery is serving up a popular Asian dish while also catering to Kiwis who can’t go past the classic favourites.
Eggs benne, hamburgers and pizzas are stock standard on this Christchurch cafe’s menu, but it’s a healthy dish less common in New Zealand that one of the owners is hoping to get people hooked on.
Donna and Scot Toon bought the Beach Cafe and Wine Bar in North New Brighton in July, after returning to New Zealand, and renamed it Brighton Beach House.
The couple had been living and working in hospitality overseas for more than 20 years, spending most of their time in Asia.
Donna said she had dreams of bringing the food they experienced to New Zealand and reflecting this on their menu, and though this hadn’t quite worked out, ‘‘we’ll get people one poke bowl at a time’’. The healthy meal includes vegetables, rice and Japanese flavours. It had restaurants dedicated to it in Phuket, she said.
It’s Donna’s first time living in her old hood after leaving in 1999. She said her parents still lived in the home she grew up in while attending Aranui High School.
‘‘Covid made us rethink what we were doing and why,’’ she said.
The Toons had barely touched down in Christchurch when they took on the business, going in with their combined experience – Scot a chef by trade, and Donna experienced in consulting and opening restaurants.
They may have been away from Aotearoa for decades, but they haven’t lost their love for local businesses. ‘‘A big part of who we are is support local.’’
Dogs were still welcome, Donna said, with local producers of dogfriendly fare on the menu, including Wigram Brewing Company and Cocomutt ice cream. ‘‘We sell out of the ice cream all the time.’’
Another sellout every month is the quiz night, hosted and created by Donna, monthly on the last Thursday, while the Collective Series is an additional monthly celebration of local fare, pairing five courses with locally made beverages. The first evening featured a collaboration with Juniper Collective, a Christchurch gin supplier, and Sawmill Brewery’s beers was showcased in April.