Charlotte bakes buns from Taiwan at Hill Street Hatch

Charlotte, who was born in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, has brought authentic Asian custard buns to Northern Ireland and is serving them to local people from the popular Hill Street Hatch until 7 th November. She’s the latest food entrepreneur to set up in the modern kitchen with a hatch on Hill Street, the last thoroughfare with historic square sets in the city.

A marketing consultant by profession, Charlotte is now focusing her energies on developing the Bun Stop, the artisan food enterprise she launched earlier in the year.

“I’ve always loved cooking and baking especially the Asian food I experienced as a young child in Taipei,” she explains.

Charlotte’s father was originally from Belfast and her mother is from Taiwan.

“I am passionate about Taiwanese food and especially Asian custard buns, also known as wheel cakes,” Charlotte continues. “They are a really delicious treat and are an integral part of a rich tea break culture in Asia. Everybody there enjoys the tasty buns. The buns are super comforting and fluffy when freshly-made and eaten hot. I thought if I couldn’t get out to Taipei from Belfast, I would bring a bit of that special Taiwan-style tea break culture here for locals to share the joy.”

The family came to Northern Ireland when Charlotte was aged five and ready for primary school. She subsequently gained a marketing degree and started a career in the profession. Her interest in food had also been stimulated by working in cafes and restaurants during her teens.

Her interest in food led Charlotte eventually to start baking the custard buns commercially from her home in Holywood. The Bun Stop was the first on the island of Ireland. Initial customers were developed by Charlotte in parts of East Belfast and Holywood.

The custard buns being served by Charlotte at the Hatch are baked freshly every day on an authentic Asian open griddle.

“The buns are a fluffy cake casing filled with crème patissiere - a thick, rich custard. They feature classic ingredients such as milk, local free-range eggs and sugar, making an extremely tasty hand held snack, an example of the delicious ‘street food’ particularly in Taipei. The buns are also best when served slightly warm,” adds Charlotte whose regular visits to family and friends in the country have been inhibited by the coronavirus pandemic.

“I am looking forward to being able to visit Taiwan again in the near future. It’s such a great place for delicious food from street stalls and in some excellent restaurants, a number of which have won Michelin stars.”

Charlotte’s ambition is “to find a tiny place to set up shop ourselves, and until then keeping our eyes peeled for fun pop-up spaces in Belfast like The Hatch”.

She describes The Hatch as a “wonderfully innovative opportunity for smaller food ventures like the Bun Stop”.

The Bun Stop follows authentic Kamayan Kit foods from the Philippines introduced over a two-week stint by Filiipino chef Nallaine Calvo at the Hatch. Other chefs have launched innovative sausage rolls, premium gelato and luxury mac and cheese sandwiches. The sandwiches were marketed under the distinctive Toast Office brand which recently gained a major UK design award for originality.

The Hatch is a unique development in the local food industry created by experienced designer Ryan Crown and partner Ema O’Kane. The objective of this important initiative is to provide opportunities to local chefs to create original flavours and foods not readily available in Belfast. The couple are keen to support creative foodies with a safe space to test out new concepts.

The couple returned last year from a five-year stint in New York, where they worked in hospitality and marketing. The Hill Street space includes a purpose-built kitchen behind the sizeable hatch onto the street and on the edge of St Anne’s Square, now a busy food hub. The Hatch is on the ground floor on Hill Street beneath Ryan’s stylish design studio. Ryan and his team of designers also provide help and advice on brand strategy, web design and social media to those occupying the Hatch on a short-term basis.

Ryan says: “The Hatch enables and supports hospitality entrepreneurs by offering them a space, community and opportunity to test their ideas and to have early-days face-to-face interactions with customers which is a quintessential element of the hospitality sector. We’ve been immensely encouraged by the interest shown in the space by start-ups and established smaller catering ventures.”

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