Rotorua café owner Paula Collier says the future is looking a lot brighter now that she’s been able to open Kai Caff Aye today under Alert Level 3 restrictions.
“It was a good feeling to be able to walk into the place and have our team come in and start doing their thing and just the laughing, the banter amongst us. It’s been awesome,” says Collier.
The café has a system in place where people can pre-order and pick up their orders or have them delivered.
“It’s actually been really good. The one thing with this and the pre-ordering were all preparing so there’s not a huge wait for everybody. It’s a learning curb and it’s an experience but we adapt well, as Māori we adapt well.”
The most popular meals sold today were their cream pāua, pāua pockets and fresh fish meals. Collier arrived to work to start preparing the kai at 5.30am today, and was soon after joined by her kaimahi.
“It’s about living in the now, taking each day as it comes, not looking too far ahead because you know, the anxiety and everything else kicks in. So today was a great start and awesome beginning to where we are going forward, says Collier.
“The sun is shining it’s looking brighter so stay positive, stay optimistic, and things are going to be great.”
She says her and her staff are grateful for the support of whānau outside of Kai Caff Aye.