Lucinda Caldwell with a batch of her scones. Photo / David Haxton
The first thing Lucinda Caldwell did when setting up her successful deli and catering kitchen was create a good-tasting cheese scone.
She remembered going to a cafe with a girlfriend and having “a very bad cheese scone”.
“If you have a bad cheese scone, you never forget it, and you never go back.”
So Caldwell started making lots of cheese scones with her sister Sharne acting as the official taste-tester.
Before long, she had refined the recipe and was creating super-tasty cheese scones.
Caldwell’s business Seriously Pickled opened in Seaview Rd, Paraparaumu Beach, a few years ago, and her cheese scones quickly became a customer favourite.
Earlier this year WellingtonNZ conducted a poll to find the best cheese scone in the Wellington region.
A large amount of cheese scones from around the region were nominated before being narrowed down to the top 20 and then the top 10.
“We came second to Pravda [in Customhouse Quay, Central Wellington] which was quite exciting.
“The interesting thing is that when I had my corporate life, 20 odd years ago, I used to go to Pravda and eat their cheese scones.
“Coming second to Pravda, after only three-and-a-half years in business, was nice.”
Seriously Pickled has seen an upsurge in people seeking a cheese scone including those keen to “see which one is better”.
“I’ve never made so many cheese scones in my life.
“A few weeks ago we were probably only making about 60 cheese scones, on a Saturday, but the number is now over 100.”
She described the cheese scone as “crunchy, super light, cheesy, buttery, with a kick of pepper”.
The second-place award was good timing from a foot traffic point of view as the business was undergoing a renovation at the time.
It now has a new 80sqm space which has doubled in size from the previous shop footprint.
Customers can see her working in the kitchen and preparing food, offering a more behind-the-scenes view of the business.
Caldwell said she comes from “a family of foodies”.
Her grandparents owned corner stores in Petone, and her mother Barbara co-owned a cafe, called The Good Life, in nearby Maclean St, in the 1980s, which Caldwell worked at on Saturdays when she was a youngster.
Caldwell’s career was in recruitment and organising events, each with a hospitality focus.
When living overseas with her husband she enjoyed going to cooking classes with ex-pat friends, and dinner parties, which became known as The Supper Club, featuring recipes from books and magazines.
Back home in New Zealand, people knew Caldwell could cook, so she started selling food from a car boot at Raumati Beach School.
“It got so big I had to register it with the council.”
After operating from her home, Caldwell created Seriously Pickled, which is a play on words — her love of pickling, and a nod to Friday night dinner parties.
“I think I always wanted my own shop.”
She is thankful for an inheritance from her late mother that has helped her business.
“The bigger deli space gives me the ability to showcase more artisan producers and deliver quality and wholesome products to the community.
“I feel right at home in a larger kitchen space that also allows me to chat with customers who pop in the store.”
Caldwell has passionate staff, and her daughter, nearly 17, works for her on Saturdays.
“I feel like everything has come full circle.”
