Natalie – “ My parents are from here and I grew up in South Lismore. At 17 I decided to go to Sydney to audition for drama school so over the years I’ve done a lot of theatre and worked in various jobs in Sydney. It’s pretty hard to break into that theatre scene in Sydney but I loved it. It wasn’t about fame and fortune for me, more about fine tuning my craft. I spent 17 years in Sydney. My last job there was working for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, giving tours through one of the pylons which was wonderful. School groups would come through and I was on the television show Totally Wild.
Ten years ago I decided I needed to come back here. One New Years Eve I met this guy and that was it. He became my husband within 4 months as we were having a baby. I had just moved up here and next thing I’m moving back to Sydney. He was originally from Lismore but visiting from Sydney so I moved back there for a year. We had our first daughter, Indigo and decided to come back up. We moved onto our family property at Corndale and we’ve been there ever since. We have another daughter Sari who is now eight. The name Indigo is from the Indigo plant from the Indus Valley in India and we were only told afterward, that is where the Sari originated. I get goosebumps. (laughs).
My husband is an Ecologist and found it hard to get work up here. We struggled for a while, me being a new mum and having another little one.
I’ve had a lot of jobs but I always had a love for cooking and I love spices. Coming from Lismore back then, living in Newtown going to the markets in Sydney there was this sensory overload. My friends were Greek and they owned one of the pubs in that area so I had a Greek culture around me. The grandmother taught me how to make Spanakopita using fresh dill, herbs and spices and Avgolemono. It was just beautiful. That’s where my love of spices came from and then coming back, my husband always said I would do something with cooking. I also joined a local theatre group here.
One day I looked at the back of a taco packet in the supermarket …Paprika, Cumin, Coriander so then I started experimenting at home. I had worked in a social collective store in Ballina previously and started selling my spice mix in there. From that and with a love of Mexican food I started making my own Tortillas. Last year I approached the Clunes Carols and did an experimental pop-up and we sold out, 150 tacos. This year I thought I would try the Corndale Hall. I was thinking we might get 60 or so people and it was overwhelming. Over 200 people turned up. We were smashed.
After the floods I proposed to the community organisation I worked for in Ballina that we open a pop-up store in Lismore to make a presence. No one got back to me. I just had this yearning to be back in Lismore. There was something in my heart calling me. I walked past this little shop and it was empty. I dared to dream and I dared to believe. I went home and my husband said ‘Let’s do this’. Within 6 weeks I had resigned from my job, painted and opened up a shop. I had already started sourcing my spices from Brisbane. I love cooking, I love spices and I love Mexican. I love local produce and local artists.
I’ve been invited back to do the Clunes Carols again this year and I’m doing an Indian catering gig on the weekend. My husband and I do up all the furniture in the shop as well. I am tucked away and that’s ok. It is The Fox’s Palace and my little theme is anything can come out of a fox’s palace.”