Koala Kitchen food business moved from a van at Newark Market Place to running the kitchen at the Rutland Arms, Barnbygate, Newark

A business where food meets love takes its venture from a market van to a pub kitchen to bring authentic and traditional flavours to the table.

Andrew Scott and Cherry Cheng opened Koala Kitchen last February, starting with a small van at Newark Market Place, and are now running the kitchen from The Rutland Arms, on Barnbygate.

Andrew, of Norfolk, and Cherry of Taiwan, met while working on a raspberry farm in Tasmania, Australia in 2010, and stayed in Australia for over 10 years.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic they were forced to leave and as Taiwan wasn’t accepting any foreign nationals at the time, they moved to Lincoln where Andrew’s sister lived.

As a former pastry chef and baker in Taiwan, Cherry started working at Bakkavor Desserts in Newark, where she started considering selling her homemade food in a market.

With no business background, they took a shot in the dark and bought an old ice cream van to get Koala Kitchen started, with the name of their venture inspired by their years in Australia.

Andrew said: “We started with desserts at the beginning but it was the wrong time, it was so quiet in the market, it was cold and rainy and it even snowed a few times and we were the only trailer there.

“We were making our own ice cream at the beginning as well, with flavours like Yorkshire Tea and eucalyptus and a lot of different strange nuts, but we quickly realised that desserts at that time of the year were not the best, no one wants ice cream in February.”

Andrew recalled their first day of trading in the market, on February 1, and they sold one cake and made 50p, but then had to pay for parking.

But it was a chance comment by a passer-by that prompted their change in direction:

“One day we were eating our lunch on the trailer and the other market traders came to us asking what we were eating and if they could have one, and that’s how our business direction started,” Andrew said.

Three days after opening, they started selling Asian street food in the van, such as egg and bacon rolls and dumplings.

The couple attended the market every day at the beginning, with Andrew was still working part-time as a mechanic to ensure they could continue to afford their rent.

Andrew said: “It is hard when you start because nobody knows you and for us, it was quite difficult because we couldn’t even give the food away because it’s very different and people wouldn’t want to try it.

“But we had to adapt and change to be more inclusive of the different generations and tastes.”

Cherry added: “I love cooking but it also reminds me of home because I get homesick sometimes, and here it is very difficult to get that flavour but my food is more traditional, I really wanted people to try the real Asian flavour.

“We are more authentic and traditional, but we are also happy to adapt to our customers and they even help us create new dishes, from gluten-free- to vegan.”

The cuisine has a lot of Taiwanese influence, however, some of the dishes are traditionally from Australia and Japan, giving every customer the chance to travel after one bite.

David Potter, a regular customer at the food van and the landlord of The Rutland Arms, said he had an empty commercial kitchen and how well the business would fit in.

Andrew and Cherry were looking into setting up indoor restaurant in a few years, but when the opportunity to have the space to cook and serve customers came up at The Rutland Arms, they couldn’t resist.

Andrew said: “The big difference is that we can do deliveries from here with Just Eat and Deliveroo and I feel that the weather is also a big difference.

“If you are in the market and the weather sucks, no one comes but here it’s indoor and people can sit inside, come for a pint and also have some food.”

Over a year in the food business, Andrew said to enjoy the freedom that owning a business gives them to create and change the menu as much as they like.

“For myself, it’s the confidence,” said Cherry, “I never know if people will like my style of food, but every time people try it they come back to appreciate the food and say ‘Oh my god that is awesome’.

“They start to build up my confidence with the food because before I could just give it to people close to me to try. But then people kept coming back and bringing their families and family and it is really good to see.”

At the moment they are working at the pub on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.

On Saturdays, Koala Kitchen often attends events such as the artisan market in Newark or festivals around the country.

In the future, the couple is looking at starting some cooking lessons to allow their customers the opportunity to learn how to do some of their favourite Koala Kitchen dishes.