Samoan cuisine proving a hit

DONNA WALSH/Waikato Times

FEAST: Logan Lalovaea has opened a Samoan takeaway in Melville. He holds a plate of Samoan food including boiled taro, corned beef and cabbage boil-up, pork bun and curries.

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When Logan Lalovaea was made redundant from his job last year he was determined to get back on his feet.

A Samoan, whose family run a restaurant in Apia, he says he is a firm believer in the idea that if you think you can do something you have to go for it.

"I decided to do a little bit of research and I found the Pacific Island population is growing fast in this area."

His idea was to open a Samoan takeaway in Melville's Bader St and since opening one month ago the locals haven't stopped streaming in.

"Ninety per cent of them have been travelling to Auckland to get their island food."

Taro, Samoan banana pancakes, chop suey, pork buns, raw fish, cabbage and corned beef are all cooked up daily following his family recipes.

Every Sunday he and his partner Louise Dunlop prepare umu in a portable cooker at the back of the takeaway shop, a traditional Samoan cooking style similar to hangi.

"Sunday is a special day, the families will go to church then have a big lunch," says Mr Lalovaea.

He completed a business course through Opportunity Hamilton before opening the takeaway and while he had access to start-up funding through a Government enterprise allowance, he says he decided to do it with the help of his family.

After being made redundant from Architectural Profiles Ltd, he completed six weeks of course before going out on his own. His tasks included having to interview 1000 people to determine whether there was a market for his business idea.

Now he is working for himself he says it would be hard to go back to working for someone else and the feedback from his customers has been impressive.

The takeaway opens from 10am until 8.30pm Tuesday to Saturday and people are at the door first thing for banana pancakes. He opens from 10am until 4pm on Sundays and takes Mondays off.

"It's pretty hard work," he says. "You don't have staff to help – it's just family ... Last month we had people waiting out the door, that was unusual. "This is the next step forward, we're not going back, I like running my own business."

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