Hospo Hints with Dani & Brendan

Dani and Brendan have spent years in hospitality, starting with their popular food truck, Crate Kitchen, and now opening their café in Devonport. In this catch up, they reflect on their journey, sharing how their time in the food truck business shaped their vision for a café. We also take time to dive into the importance of investing in thoughtful design and how it shapes the customer experience. From creating a welcoming atmosphere to ensuring functionality, they share how design choices can make or break a hospitality business. Some of the final hints they share are the biggest challenges they’ve faced throughout their journey and the one piece of advice they’d give if they could only offer one.

For anyone considering their next move in hospo, this is a must-hear story of growth and evolution.

Getting Started

Hi Dani & Brendan! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves?

Hi, we’re Dani and Brendan, the new custodians of the Stone Oven, located in the historic Devonport automatic telephone exchange building, right in the heart of Devonport. Together, we’ve spent much of our careers working in restaurants across New Zealand, France, and London. Brendan spent five years as head chef at Cazador, while Dani worked in management roles at Paris Butter, The Engine Room, and Cazador as well. We initially thought running a little food truck would be a fun and easy way to learn the ropes of owning our own business. After a few years of trucking—and starting a family—we decided it was time to plant roots with a more permanent space. A café seemed like the obvious choice—after all, late nights and babies don’t mix! When we found out the Stone Oven building was available for lease, it felt like fate. Dani grew up in Devonport, and Brendan visited often, so we were both familiar with the Stone Oven’s legacy.

How did running a food truck prepare you for opening a brick-and-mortar café? Were there any skills or lessons that carried over?

Running the food truck was a crash course in entrepreneurship. It taught us the nuts and bolts of running a hospitality business in Auckland on a tight budget. The biggest takeaway has been learning to run a business as lean and efficient as possible. In these challenging times, every dollar counts, and keeping a close eye on expenses has been essential.

What was the most surprising challenge you faced in the first few months of opening your spot? And did your experience as hospitality workers shape the way you approached running your business?

Surprisingly, one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced since opening has been winning over the locals. The Stone Oven holds a special place in the hearts of many in Devonport, and meeting those expectations has been a constant challenge. We’ve worked hard to show the community that their beloved café is in capable hands.

Our background is in high-end restaurants, so we’ve always had a passion for quality and attention to detail. While we wanted to keep the classic café staples, we also aimed to elevate them with a thoughtful and considered approach. We believe a neighborhood café can deliver the same level of hospitality and care as a fine dining restaurant, and that’s what we’re striving for here. The food truck was always meant to be a stepping stone to something bigger and more permanent. While we poured our heart and soul into it, it was a temporary venture.

Designing the Space with Millé

What was your vision for the space when you first started and did it change throughout the design process? Were there any non-negotiables for the design?

Opening the Stone Oven has allowed us to build something rooted in heritage and nostalgia. For the design of the space, we partnered with Mille to create something that feels both old and new—familiar yet fresh. Mille and CMP Builders worked wonders within our tight budget, optimizing every corner of the café to create a space that’s functional and welcoming. Watching them tweak, bend, and squeeze in as many tables and seats as possible was amazing. Every seat was carefully considered, ensuring we can host plenty of guests without the space feeling cramped or uncomfortable.

We were initially nervous about hiring an interior designer due to budget constraints, but working with Mille proved to be a valuable investment. Looking back, we’re so glad we didn’t “wing it” as we originally planned!

Lessons Learned

Looking back, what do you wish you had known before starting your own business?

Starting a hospitality business has been a constant learning curve, with plenty of lessons learned the hard way. We’ve realized that mistakes are normal—and often necessary—steps in the process. Every hurdle has taught us something, and we take time to reflect on challenges so we can better prepare for the next one.

How do you balance the creative side of running a business (design, menus, branding) with the operational side?

Balancing the creative and operational sides of running a business is an ongoing battle, and we’re not sure anyone ever truly masters it.

Advice for Aspiring Owners

If you had to choose one thing to focus on when opening a hospitality business, what would it be?

If there’s one lesson that stands out above all, it’s this: focus on the numbers. If the numbers don’t work, nothing works.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone thinking of opening their own hospitality venue?

One piece of advice we’d give to anyone starting out in hospitality is to connect with your neighbors. While they might feel like competitors, the truth is: the better we all do, the better we all do. We first learned this in the supportive food truck community and were happy to see the same spirit alive in Devonport’s café community. The advice and insights we’ve gained from others have been invaluable.

What does success look like to you as a business owner in the hospitality industry?

That said, for us, success isn’t solely about profit. It’s about creating a sustainable business that our employees enjoy, the community loves, and that gives us a balanced lifestyle. For us, success means taking things one day at a time while always moving the business forward.