Shaun (Chook) Johnson has been in hospitality for over 30yrs in restaurants mainly throughout the north but mostly around Ngunguru/Tutukaka coast where he was born and raised and where he now lives with his children.
Johnson got into the food truck business pretty much out of desperation to get out of the daily grind of long hours and stress from the relentless restaurant game.
“I wanted to have more control over my lifestyle and be able to still cook but also be there for my two children that I raise. I also wanted to be based around my local community while keeping my surfing beach lifestyle.”
Coastal Kitchen describes itself as the little pink food truck. Outdoor dining with funky vibes.
“The food we serve is just good, unpretentious, fast, yummy grub, but something more than most people expect from a little pink food truck at the beach. For example, we do things like Toffee creme brulés, pulled pork bao buns, Moroccan chicken salads, raw fish tacos, and much more.”
Coastal Kitchen is facing the same challenges the entire Kiwi hospitality sector is facing - massive costs increases of everything from food to petrol, along with shortages of products and produce.
Johnson’s advice for someone starting in this trade is to do your research and talk to people who have done it before and get their thoughts.
“It's not always a glamorous sort of a job, in fact it's bloody tough, more so than they might expect.”
Coastal Kitchen currently operates Wednesday to Saturday for dinners from 4pm-7pm and daytime coffee/food from Thursday to Saturday from 6am-11am All year, every year.
Situated looking over the Beautiful Ngunguru Estuary on the Tutukaka coast, see @coastalkitchennz on Facebook for daily menu changes and updates.
