Bistro to complement newest Bucasia cafe
IT WAS love at first sight for Lisa Nicol when she first set eyes on her husband Jarad years ago.
The then-pie van owner used to cater to the hungry stomachs around the region; however, decided to stop working to invest in raising a family.
Six years on and the now mum of two little ones has rekindled her love for working in hospitality and opened a cafe, LJ's on the Beach, at Bucasia.
"Jarad has always encouraged me to go back and open up another shop after selling the van to have babies," Mrs Nicol said.
"It was a matter of time before I invested in another project, but it was always based around when and where."
After growing up at Bucasia, Mrs Nicol couldn't pass up the opportunity to invest in an area she loved.
"It holds memories," she said. "My dad used to live up here when we were kids, and we used to go fishing and do all sorts of things."
However, that was not the only reason behind opening a beach-front store.
Mrs Nicol said she aimed to expand the cafe within the next two weeks; open up a bistro next door and bring her husband home.
"He has been an underground miner for as long as I can remember," she said. "He works away quite a lot, and I was hoping that if we were to get the business really rolling, he would be able to get involved and stay at home with the kids more often."
So far, eight staff are employed at LJ's on the Beach. "We're looking to hire more staff members," Mrs Nicol said. "I'd love a great chef and bistro staff, who are really friendly local people."
"We live out here and we love it, and we want our business and staff to reflect who we are and what we are about... At the end of the day we want to make our customers feel welcome."
Mrs Nicol said her next goal in mind is to open an arts and crafts store around the corner, when the bistro has been successfully opened and running.
Source: Daily Mercury, Louise Starkey, 1st October 2015
Originally published as: Bistro to complement newest Bucasia cafe
