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Home / Northern Advocate / Business

A hunger for hard work drives owner

By Nick Unkovich
Northern Advocate·
1 Nov, 2016 11:43 PM3 mins to read

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Salt Cafe owner Nicole Grant is living the dream. Photo / John Stone

Salt Cafe owner Nicole Grant is living the dream. Photo / John Stone

Busy, busy, busy with a sprinkle of dedication and passion is how Nicole Grant describes the journey to get her new cafe up and running in Whangarei.

Mrs Grant opened Salt Cafe on October 8 at the site of the former Caffeine Espresso Cafe in Water St. The 25-year-old said it had been a long-term goal to have her own coffee shop.

"I have always dreamed about opening my cafe since I started eight years ago as a waitress at Essence. During my time there I learnt the trade. I did my apprenticeship as a chef which I became fully qualified in five years ago when I was 19.

"I worked my way up to the head chef role and also did a lot of barista work and training.

The next step was to open my own [cafe] and here we are," she said.

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To get to this point Mrs Grant has had to roll up the sleeves and get stuck in.

"Three sick days in eight years," she said. "It's all dedication and passion. I love food and cooking all the time. It's what I have always done. I'm also a keen baker (cakes and cup cakes). I did this a lot for friends and family birthdays in my spare time - that was when I had spare time."

Mrs Grant says she took over the building in late September and had 12 days to renovate and restore it ready for opening. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong so we had plenty of sleepless nights."

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But it had been worth it and business had been good so far. She has learnt that you never got time to sit down.

"We have been flat out most of the time, there isn't a spare seat. We pride ourselves on being locally owned and operated, even the way we purchase goods so, if the doors are open, I'm there.

"We keep everything fresh and vibrant to give our customers the best experience when they are here.

"We know we can't please everyone but we will try."

With patronage being so strong Mrs Grant said she would look at expanding in the next year.

When asked why she chose not to continue with the Caffeine brand, she said it had done its dash.

"As good as it used to be, we knew the name was too far gone to bring back to life so we went all out and started fresh.

"The location is a winner and it's such a great historical building that we wanted to bring it back to life," she said.

Salt offers a variety of gluten free foods and uses Allpress coffee. Its selection of "t leaf T" is frequently updated.

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