Travellers into Pukekohe might be forgiven for making a few false assumptions about this relaxed street side café. Firstly, if they were after some kind of greasy fry up, they wouldn’t be disappointed. Not because they’d get it, but because they’d get something much more interesting. Say, San Choy Bow: pork mince, hoisin, mala oil, peanut, mint, coriander, and mungbean lettuce cups. Buddha Bowls. The Franklin Soul toastie, with Korean braised beef, kimchi, mozzarella and sesame mayo.

The chef behind all the goodness is Holly Jansen. Born and raised in the town, she’s a long-term fixture in its food scene. She’s been at the stove for 24 years, starting at the nearby Monarch restaurant when she was 18. She later founded the successful Town Mouse café just up the street. She passed that on to new owners and tried her skilled hands for a stint in her own food truck. Then she spotted the new premises with her husband Simon, who now runs the boutique grocer that shares the space.

Holly Jansen
Co-Owner of The Daily Goods

Holly and Simon Jansen
Owners of The Daily Goods & The Urban Market

“Food is my life,” says Holly. “I’m extremely passionate about it. I always like to eat things that are a little bit interesting. General café food bores the bejeezus out of me. I think that cafes can blur the lines into restaurants. Café chefs are just as good as restaurant chefs.”

The proof is all over the café. There’s startlingly good coffee, and the aroma blends with lovely wafts of woodsmoke from out back. Hot smoked salmon production, fresh and on the premises. Mayos and relishes are also made on-site.

“It’s always been about creating food that’s a little bit out of the box,” Holly explains. “It’s quite heavily produce-based. We have amazing produce that comes from here.”

Meeting a range of dietary requirements increases the creativity, as does an emphasis on visual appeal.

“You’ve got to have something you’re going to look at and want to eat it,” says Holly. “Not: ‘How many days has that been in the cabinet?’ With all the food programmes on TV you do have to do something different that people can’t do at home.”

Although the café is also something of a home from home. Holly leads the team of six from the kitchen whenever they’re open, with regulars bustling in and out, some of whom she’s grown up with.

“It can be a 12-15 hours-a-day gig,” she explains. “But I have created some boundaries for myself. We’ve only just started opening Saturdays and I don’t want to do Sundays and cook every day. It’s a little bit more on my terms as a lifestyle thing.”

She’s untroubled with so many food establishments now springing up, saying they all have their own target markets and slice of the pie.

“There is something for everybody. It’s changed a lot. It’s a lot more diverse now. I go to an Asian supermarket for my Asian veggies. So many more cultures have come along.”

It all goes into the mix, along with huge helpings of hospitality.