Creativity has driven Sarah Frizzell’s career. During her studies, before graduating with a first-class B.A. with Honours in Visual Communication from Edinburgh College of Art, Frizzell worked at the respected advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and went on to work at various other ad agencies including Leith in Edinburgh, The Bridge in Glasgow, DDB Auckland and Colenso BBDO.
It was advertising, in fact, that brought Sarah to New Zealand in 2008, when she was headhunted to work at DDB Auckland by then DDB CEO, now business partner, Paul Catmur. She met her partner, Otis Frizzell in 2009 and fell in love.
The idea for The Lucky Taco was conceived by Sarah and Otis, soon after their honeymoon to Mexico and the US in 2012 - where glittering taco trucks inspired the couple to chase their dream.
“Tacos are my inspiration!”
One year later, the pair were back in Mexico, researching their new gig on a six-week crusade to find out all they could about tacos. Mentored by Lesley Tellez and Ruth Alegria from Mexico Soul & Essence, Sarah and Otis were generously taught cooking secrets and shown all the best taco joints. Through hiccups, setbacks and delays - and Otis putting his art career on hold for a time - on May 14, 2013 The Lucky Taco food truck was opened for its first day of business at 230 Ponsonby Road, Auckland. Alegria remains a mentor to this day and has been dubbed ‘Patron Saint’ of the taco food truck.
Sarah stands by Alegria’s advice that anything can be put in a taco. Though there are true, tried and tested traditional tacos, she finds it fun to experiment and play around in the kitchen.
“There are rules. Sometimes you can break them.”
Sarah’s three staple pantry items are Terry’s Chocolate Orange, The Lucky Taco Habañero Hot Sauce, and fresh citrus fruits. When cooking and creating, Sarah is in her zone and this is perhaps why The Lucky Taco is New Zealand’s longest running and most awarded taco truck - voted one of the best food trucks in the world by Expedia.
The Lucky Taco has also taken home Winner for Outstanding Street Food 2016, 2018 and 2021 at Auckland’s Lewisham Hospitality Awards; Gold, Silver and Bronze for Lucky Taco Hot Sauce at the NYC Screaming Mi Mi Awards and World Hot Sauce Awards; and Gold, Silver and Bronze awards here at home in Aotearoa New Zealand for their range of retail products including Lucky Taco Chipotle Chicken & Sizzlin’ Steak Fiesta Meal Kits, Taco Kits, Habanero, Chipotle, Jalapeño hot sauce, and Chilli Salt & Pink Pickle.
The Lucky Taco Meal Kits allow customers to re-create their favourite tacos at home, and can be delivered from taco-truck-to-door or picked up from a local supermarket. As home delivery meal kits are classified as an essential service, the business was lucky to be able to continue operating through Covid-19 restrictions, while keeping customers' cravings satisfied. With an established online infrastructure, The Lucky Taco managed to pivot to boost online growth and offerings during a time when many food truck businesses were out of operation. Taco kits also kept the Frizzell’s busy behind the scenes, and after two years of ironing out kinks, testing, waiting, designing, tasting and… waiting… two new Lucky Taco Kits are now on the way.
“There’s a lot of patience required when getting food products ready for market - especially when proving they can be shelf stable for a period of six months.”
Working tirelessly with some good people was worth it and the new kits are finally ready to go. Vegan/Vegetarian friendly, preservative-free, sugar-free, and 100 percent gluten free (The Lucky Taco uses GF soy), the TLT Verde Taco Kit and the TLT Roja Taco Kit are certainly not free of flavour.
Within the past few years, Sarah and Otis have spent more time in California, conducting more research and a Lucky Taco tour in LA in a partnership project with Jaguar. During this time, the pair met a good friend of mentor Alegria, Bill Esparza who would describe himself as the ‘World’s First Tacorazza’ and is the founder of Street Gourmet LA. Esparza kindly let the Frizzell’s tag along with him to his favourite taco haunts, and on that blessed day hooked the pair up with ‘Raul’, owner of LA’s famous taco truck brand Mariscos Jalisco. A total of four taco lunches were consumed in the gastronomical highlight of Sarah’s life so far.
“Food, friends, and memories I will cherish forever.”
Find out more, find stockists and browse The Lucky Taco meal kits and sauces at theluckytaco.co.nz
