Lots of us dream of achieving bucket list goals before a milestone birthday and for Louise Brosnan, her ambition was to strike out on her own and start a business before turning 40.
Louise made her bucket list dream a reality when she opened her food truck - MexWest - in her hometown of Dingle in the summer of 2020.
Of course, starting a new business in the midst of a pandemic is no mean feat and Louise faced challenges from the very beginning when she was forced to push back her opening date from March to July due to public health restrictions.
Detailing her desire to start her own business, Louise said: "I was working for other people since the age of 18, and I was always working in restaurants and doing other people's menus. I just set a goal for myself before I turned 40 that I wanted to have my own thing."
She explained that while she wanted the opportunity to serve her own food to the public, she wanted to avoid the "financial burden" of a restaurant, and so, starting out with a food truck seemed the ideal solution.
The idea for MexWest, which serves up Mexican food in West Kerry style, was inspired by Louise’s love of the cuisine, as she explained: "I just really loved the food. The style of cooking is fresh and healthy and it’s really fun to play around with the flavours. It’s really tasty and simple at the same time."
A love of cooking was formed at a very early age for Louise, who spent her childhood helping her mother make breakfast at their family-run B&B.
As a teen, she started working as a waitress in a local pizzeria and first got an opportunity to shine by chance when they were short-staffed in the restaurant kitchen.
"They asked me to hop in the kitchen, and I never left," Louise joked. "I just really liked it - the pressure, the hustle and bustle - and I just love being around food."
A Kerrywoman through and through, Louise went on to work as a chef in many a local haunt - from Dingle Bay Hotel to Solas tapas bar - but after a time she always found herself looking for a new challenge.
She confessed: "I used to get a five-year itch. I think after working in a place for so long you just want to learn something new."
While starting a new venture in a pandemic may have been a huge risk, it has paid off for Louise following a huge amount of support from the people of Dingle.
She managed to strike up an arrangement with childhood friends who run Paddy Bawn Brosnan’s Bar, who found themselves in a bind last year after the Government announced the temporary closure of pubs that didn’t provide substantial meals to punters.
Louise set up shop in the pub car park and the partnership allowed both businesses to thrive in a very uncertain time.
She said: "It worked out well for both of us - they could open as a bar and we operated as their kitchen from out the back. In fairness it was a good year, despite what was happening worldwide obviously, it worked well for us."
Louise also found the local community really banded together to offer help and support where they could.
She revealed: "The support was brilliant. We had lots of local people coming around asking if we needed help, coming to eat and sharing things on social media and all of that. They were just brilliant."
The stream of punters has been steady all throughout the year for MexWest, as Louise revealed they are just as busy as they were.
The future is looking bright for Louise, who revealed her hopes to grow her food truck business by investing in a larger space.
She said: "The goal is to get a bigger truck eventually because my food truck is so small - I can only stay open so long [each day] and carry so much food."
"I hope [the business] will go from strength to strength and build on what we’ve started," she added.
For Louise, a huge benefit of running a food truck has been building a relationship with customers in a way you don’t experience in a restaurant kitchen.
She explained: "You get to really talk to your customers. You’re hidden in the kitchen in a restaurant and you don’t get that opportunity to talk to your customers and get that feedback on what they like and what they don’t like and build a rapport with them. It’s a big part of the food truck because you’re right there in front of them."
As for the future of the food truck scene in Ireland, Louise suggested it is one recent trend that is definitely here to stay: "I think I see it becoming bigger with food yards starting to pop up all around the country and stuff like that."
"It’s just a nicer way to eat. I don’t know if people want to do the whole sit-down restaurant thing as much anymore. Obviously, people still love that - I love it myself - but I think a more casual approach to dining is definitely starting to come about."
You can find Louise serving up fresh tacos, nachos and much more from MexWest in the car park of Paddy Bawn Brosnan’s Bar on Strand Street in Dingle.
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