Sponsored: Raise a latte to toast Unfiltered Cafe’s birthday
Unfiltered Cafe celebrated their 1st birthday last month. Photo: Supplied.
Happy accidents sometimes lead to happy landings. Such is the case with Krystal Kingsford, Matt Nofoasaefa and the Blenheim Central eatery that became Unfiltered Cafe.
Evan Tuchinsky
Last spring, the partners in life and now in business, as well, popped into Karaka Kitchen Central for coffee. They saw a paper noting the eatery was for sale; Krystal left her name and number. She already knew co-owner Huia Crosby from their sons’ basketball playing.
Karaka, reinvented as Kaiaka Catering, relocated to Westwood Business Park. Krystal and Matt took about a month to put their touches on Karaka’s space at 2A Park Terrace, then opened their doors.
Monday, 17 October, marked the first birthday of Unfiltered Cafe. The staff of six and legion of loyal customers are celebrating the milestone all week, including a gathering Thursday night with a “big dessert thing” that Krystal and Matt are keeping under wraps.
During a brief lull in a busy lunch time, Krystal marveled at the whirlwind year. Unfiltered Cafe is the partners’ first foray into hospitality; she worked in store management and human resources, while Matt was a butchery manager.
“My parents have owned businesses, and my brother owns a business, so business has always been in our family,” Krystal explained. “I love retail and I love people. This kind of work is fun, it’s interesting; it’s hard.”
The name Unfiltered Cafe has equally spontaneous origins. “We were looking at random names,” Krystal recalled, “and we wanted something different, something that was not just plain Jane. Unfiltered, we just came up with it, no reason behind behind it – we were saying the word, and we were like, ‘That’s it!’”
Signature offerings stem from Matt and Krystal’s kitchen. She grew up making cheese rolls. Matt brought his recipe for chicken and leek pie, which placed top-10 in the 2025 New Zealand Bakels Supreme Pie Awards for cafe boutique. A holiday trip inspired Krystal to create “stookies” – stuffed cookies – she saw in Australia.
The business is “still growing,” Krystal said, yet already has recurring customers who come in multiple times a week if not daily.
“I didn’t really have any expectations – I didn’t know whether it was going to take off super-fast or super-slow,” she added. “I knew that it would take a couple years to build clientele, and with any business, it takes trust when you’re new. But we have have so many regulars that are amazing; I couldn’t ask for better regulars!”
Unfiltered Cafe, 2A Park Terrace Open: 7am-3pm weekdays | 8am-3pm Saturdays P. 03 929 3567 | e. [email protected] | SQUARE-FACEBOOK theunfilteredcafe