Where good food and good people come together

We couldn’t believe our luck when we tasted Aula Abo Saada’s food and heard she was ready to not just produce it for friends and family, but also as a vendor at 269.

We feel very lucky to have chef Alfredo Romero and his team serving up their tacos and other Mexican delights at 269.

If you ask Regi Gallina about where his love of food began, he will fondly recall long lunches with his extended family in Sorocaba just outside São Paulo, his uncles cooking brisket, short rib and pork belly over charcoal for hours on end.

Armando Campana’s first memories of cooking are from when his family used to go to his grandmother’s house in the Andes in Peru, where he grew up. “I remember the smell of food from her kitchen so clearly – hot bread from the clay oven and freshly ground spices. And the smells outside in her courtyard too – fresh figs, peaches and mangos. It was amazing.”

Paula Cubillos was born in Colombia but came to New Zealand in 2019, where she’s worked in hospitality ever since. (most recently for Peter Gordon at Homeland)