I am a fan of milk and cookies so you can imagine how pleased I was to find that a new milk and cookie bar has recently opened close to my house. This isn't just like any cookie bar you have seen before. As you enter the shop you will be intrigued by the quirky décor, the vibrant colours and the chalk board that lists all the delicious cookies and drinks. The tea pots and old fashioned milk bottles harken back to an era long gone.
I wanted to learn more about this unique business located just by the Civic Theatre in Central Auckland so I interviewed the owner - Deanna Yang. Deanna is an energetic, passionate and highly driven 22 year old. The process of starting the business has been a long one; it has taken her years to get to where she is now. Whilst at University and studying full time Deanna worked three jobs to save enough money to start the business.
Q. What inspired you to open a milk and cookie bar?
A. "The inspiration behind the look of 'Moustache' and the feel of 'Moustache' is my whole childhood growing up in New Zealand. I think that's why the look of the shop is quite old school yet playful which is a reflection of my personality. For example we have a chalk board because I used to love writing with chalk. When I was a kid the only way I knew how to eat cookies was to dunk them in milk and it always baffled me that no one ever sold them together. We have been open for just over three months now. On my bucket list there are 17 things and opening a cookie shop is right at the top. I had written the list when I was a child and when I was a kid I used to sell a lot of cookies to my friends. At University I studied journalism and in my second year I realised it wasn't the career path suitable for me, so I started looking at other options and I looked at my bucket list and I thought why can't I do number three on my list? So I started to develop the concept of 'Moustache' - the milk and cookie bar, the branding, the design features and what I wanted the place to look like."
Q. What type of cookies do you sell?
A. "We have the regular cookies, such as choc chunk, white choc macadamia and cinnamon. But we have also got our unique take on cookies, so we have a 'Nutella' cookie and a peanut butter cookie. We pipe in the 'Nutella' or peanut butter and surround it with cookie dough, put hazel nuts on top and we use 'Whittakers' chocolate. It's quite special because normally when you buy a cookie you don't expect to get a layer of 'Nutella' on the inside, so it's a little bit different. Also we have a black forest cookie, which is dark chocolate and berries and a 'Snickers' cookie, which has 'Snickers' on the inside and outside which is also very popular. Each Monday we have what's called 'Moustache Mondays' where we make a new flavour every week, it's our new year's resolution and it forces us to be creative. This week we brought out a caramel cookie, so next Monday we will replace it with a different cookie."
Q. How do you make the cookies and what ingredients do you use?
A. "We have high standards as to what we put into our cookies, for example we only use premium Dutch cocoa and cage free eggs. We only use 'Whittakers' chocolate and we don't use any compound chocolate. 'Whittakers' has a really beautiful taste. We make everything on site and all the cookies are made from scratch. We have an open plan kitchen, so the customers can see the ingredients we use, there's transparency and customers can see the staff baking and hand crafting every cookie. Every cookie is made with so much love and we are always pushing ourselves to be creative and to make new flavours."
