Two Hawke’s Bay restaurant owners have combined forces to take the handbrake off Napier’s hospitality scene, though hopefully not too literally.
Food Buzz is a bright red double-decker bus renovated for customer dining, with food trucks surrounding it.
It has been parked up in a lot on Carlyle St and officially opened on Wednesday.
Marine Parade restauraters Dugin Teddy (Drift Cafe) and Riza Ambadaar (former owner of The Barong Restaurant Indonesia) both have businesses that rely heavily on visitors to the nearby seaside hotels.
Teddy said it had been a quiet time for all, and the cost of living wasn’t helping.
“If the hotels are getting busier, we are getting busier, and if not, we are not getting much support.”
He and Ambadaar would constantly communicate about the state of hospitality in the city, and noted they were getting less and less foot traffic into the eateries.
“We used to have constant chats regarding how the business was panning out and how the footfalls are getting lesser day by day, just because Hawke’s Bay is not pulling the crowd in.”
Instead of letting it get them down, the men got together, with the support of their families, and came up with the double-decker bus dining idea.
“Instead of competing against each other, we thought of collaborating.”
They wanted to create an affordable eating space with a variety of meal options and a place to sit – similar to the style of a food court.
“We grouped together and thought okay ... let’s try and do something different.”
With that in mind, they bought the former Paddy’s Irish Pub bus and worked to strip, repaint and design the new dining area – and called it Food Buzz.
Teddy said Ambadaar used his prior experience with manufacturing wooden toys in Indonesia to design the bus interior with wood.
Teddy, who also owned a food truck, said he had noted that people are now choosing food trucks over sit-down restaurant meals, so it worked as the perfect way to provide different options for customers.
He said the street food concept would not “break the bank” and they had put a lot of effort into making sure the prices were kept at a minimum.
“With a food truck, they know it is going to be way cheaper ... so that way, I think we have hit the right chord.”
To attract customers, Teddy said they planned to have both permanent and interchangeable food truck offerings.
“That is the main thing we are focusing on is to create that buzz.”
Both floors are operational, with Teddy suggesting the top floor is best for eating a meal.
The bottom floor, he said, would be great for a quick ice cream break.
“The second floor we have got nearly nine to 10 tables, and the first floor we have got three tables.”
Teddy said they hoped to provide food options such as Indonesian, South African, Greek and Indian, along with many more styles, to suit everyone who visited.
During its opening foray, Food Buzz is open seven days a week from 11am to about 8pm to 9pm.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.