How would you describe Create in three words?
Unique
Conscious
Vibe
Where were you right before Create/ what made you start Create?
I was a reception manager at Les Mills. I was very into fitness but food was more my calling. I had wanted to open a cafe for years years but was always unsure of the location and the right time. Then there was a beautiful quaint little cafe tucked down an alleyway in Howick, that served the kind of food I was into and was up for sale. I made the plunge, took it over and started up CRE.ATE all by myself.
This is your first food business! What's the most challenging moment in running Create and what's the most rewarding moment?
It would definitely be that we have such a small kitchen, work space and limited staff. It's a great problem to have but we have been much busier than expected from day one and can never quite provide the level of service we would like. Our kitchen facilities are so small we can only handle so many orders at once and with limited staff, we are sometimes trying to multi task many more things than people could comprehend. Sadly when we are running around doing fifty things at once, we cannot have the calm fun friendly vibe we would hope to.
Most rewarding:
100% the awesome customers we have. We are lucky to be in a very close knit community vibe with super supportive people. It's like catching up with really cool mates every day that love to come and be in our space.
Interesting fact:
I just got married and have decided to hyphenate my last name. My husbands last name starts with O, my first name starts with a M, my middle name with an E and my previous last name with a W. My initials now spell MEOW.
Why did you choose matcha and thea?
I knew I wanted matcha as I know about the amazing health benefits of it. I chose Thea Matcha because I watched my kitchen rules and got to know Enna and May from there. That's also where I got my raw desserts from, garden of Eden who competed with them on the show.
What else do people need to know about Create? :)
The name is about people being fussy with their orders, it's about creating the meal you want. Not being afraid or "annoying" to swap this for that or make it vegan, or GF etc.
Or get their matcha iced or as a tea or anything!
Check out their instagram for more here!