A new food truck, specialising in ‘hole foods’, is quickly garnering a cult following in Queenstown.
All Good Bagels is the brainchild of chef Ben Davies and his business partner, local builder Michael Mathers, who’ve been mates for about 10 years and always talked about doing something together.
Davies, originally from Auckland, moved to Queenstown about 12 years ago — since then, he’s worked in, and run, some of the resort’s best kitchens, including Sherwood, QT Hotel, Arrowtown’s Fantan (now Little Aosta), Eichardt’s and The Grille and Botswana Butchery.
But the dream’s always been to have his own food truck.
‘‘I just wanted freedom — not being confined into one space.
‘‘It’s an affordable way for a chef to get into doing his own business, as well.’’
The only question was what his food truck would sell.
That was answered during a holiday in New York with his partner, Isabella Garland.
‘‘We tried all these different bagels … and at that moment I was like, ‘you know what? This is it. We’ll do a food truck back in Queenstown … bagels and coffee’.’’
Launched in October, Davies says his bagels are New York-style, but with Kiwi ingredients, such as the classic bacon, egg and cheese, pastrami, and cream cheese and salmon, while he flexes his creative muscle with daily specials which he teases on social media.
Based primarily at Frankton’s Bunnings Warehouse, and open, generally, from 7am till 2pm Wednesdays to Sundays, Davies says that’s helping to continually build their customer base, with regulars they see every day.
Additionally, he’s been loving the ability to pop up at events, such as the recent A&P shows and Rhythm & Alps.
‘‘It’s a really fun way of still being able to be a chef, but move everywhere.’’
