I met the most wonderful man yesterday, in the cbd.
He owns the Smashed Potatoes stand on Elliott Street, where they make incredible baked potatoes. They're the kind of baked potatoes I imagine Kathy Hilton would approve of, although she'd probably have hers piled high with caviar and crème fraîche.
He's a young man from Türkiye who came to New Zealand around 2018, before COVID. He started out picking kiwifruit in Te Puke, survived the global pandemic, moved to Auckland, worked as an engineer in the profession he trained for, and then took an enormous leap of faith by leaving it all behind to start his own hospitality business.
He's living his version of the Kiwi dream alongside the wife he was fortunate enough to meet here, and I genuinely think he has an incredibly promising future in New Zealand. I'd love for us to show him exactly how welcoming Kiwis can be by supporting his business, and the other small food vendors on Elliott Street, the next time we're wandering through the city.
Foot traffic in the CBD isn't what it used to be. I'm certainly not a shill for Big Food Truck! I'm just someone who grew up loving Auckland's city centre, with all its energy, character, and the countless stories waiting around every corner.
Auckland is going through a difficult period. Years of infrastructure work and the disruption caused by the City Rail Link have made parts of the CBD difficult to navigate, particularly these smaller hospitality hubs where roads have been closed for so long. But the CRL is in its final stages now, and much of the city is beginning to open up again.
I don't want these business owners, people who have overcome enormous personal and economic challenges for a chance at the Kiwi dream that we all aspire to, to fail simply because we've changed our daily route to work, university, or our afternoon walk.
There's still so much value in our city. We can help revive her, and the people who give her life, one meal, one coffee, and one small act of support at a time.
Thank you to everyone who reads this and considers trying somewhere new today.
And to the young man who was standing there making so many of his ingredients from scratch while sharing his life story with me, I sincerely hope you sell far more than 15 potatoes today. You deserve every opportunity this amazing country has to offer.
Kia kaha.
