The Noodle Box Story
The Noodle Box Story
Jodi Mann and Nick Crooks story reads like something from a novel, a story started and continued by a mutual appreciation and sheer passion for food.
In the mid 1990s, Jodi left her home in Campbell River, British Columbia to backpack across South East Asia. After spending some time exploring the land and soaking up the culture, she made her way to Australia to experience something different. She only had enough money for a one-way ticket, but wasnít going to let that minor detail derail her plans. It turned out to be a life-changing decision.
Enter Nick Crooks. He was working as a Sous Chef at the Argo Hotel in Melbourne where Jodi landed a job as a Kitchen Hand. Jodi found Australia refreshing; the type of food and cuisine available amazed her, unlike anything found elsewhere in the world. The scope and diversity of fare found within the country was tantalizing, and inspiring.
Nick and Jodi discovered a similar passion for life, and it wasnít long before she convinced him to travel back to South East Asia with her. It was on this trip (Jodís third and Nickís first) that their gusto for food was further ignited; they spent countless hours analyzing the elements of South East Asian cuisine. As they ate their way across villages and cities, they wondered how they could improve on the dishes they sampled. They never jotted down one recipe, and there is no notebook filled with their findings.
Their South East Asian journey was a gustatory odyssey, one they still talk about with great enthusiasm.
It wasn’t until Nick had been in Canada for a few months and was still unemployed, did Jodi and Nickís unspoken idea crystallize into a full-fledged plan. They were going to fill the market gap and introduce Victoria to the delicious and varied food offerings that they themselves had eaten while in South East Asia, but with a Canadian spin.
The Noodle Box was born.
The Noodle Box opened in June 2001; Jodi and Nick ran the business from a refurbished hot dog cart they had purchased with the last of their savings. The Noodle Box Cart was located at the corner of Fisgard and Store in Victoria; it’s where they spent the next two years dishing out fresh, mouth-watering stir-fry noodles and soups. But the health department made their existence more than difficult to bear. Though Nick put up a stalwart fight and won numerous battles with the heavies at city hall, they nonetheless decided to call it quits in 2003 and began working on a plan to get themselves, and their fresh food idea, indoors.
Thanks to financial loans (and hard labour!) from family and friends, the first brick and mortar Noodle Box opened up in Chinatown, a block away (and literally down the street) from the old carts location. Loyal (and new) customers flocked to The Noodle Box and business has been thriving ever since. Two new stores were added to the now chain of restaurants, and Nick and Jodi are currently exploring how to bring their tasty fare to the rest of Canada, and possibly the world.
Even though they work together and have been married for over seven years, Nick and Jodi say they work in perfect harmony, carefully balancing roles and responsibilities of both home and the restaurants. They are so in sync, they both like to take credit for creating the same dishes on the menu.
And that original cart, you ask? Where is it?
The cart is safely housed in a storage unit. Jodi and Nick like to think of it as their insurance policy should things ever fall apart. But thousands of satisfied customers won’t soon let that happen.
Noodle Box Values
Mission Statement: The Noodle Box
Our goal is to maintain consistently high standards of quality South East Asian food served in a clean, vibrant and upbeat environment.
Our standards of service reflect a culture of excellence, calmness, professionalism and cheerfulness. We strive to achieve these goals while lessening our environmental footprint and while supporting our local communities.
Staff are our primary asset and are encouraged to develop their confidence, ability and skills. Above all, they will be provided the same trust, respect and positive attitude within the company that they are expected to share with each of our customers.
These principles have endeared The Noodle Box to each person that walks through our door and continue to be a great source of pride for us all at The Noodle Box.
Our Values in Action
The Noodle Box Recycling and Composting
Since 2004, The Noodle Box in Victoria has been working with ReFuse and BFI, and in Vancouver with Sea to Sky Organics and Smithrite Disposal, as part of our extensive in house recycling program. All of our paper and consumer products are either biodegradable or recyclable, making our front end service 100% biodegradable.
- Our Noodle Boxes, chopsticks* and napkins can be broken down and turned into compost enriched soil mixes.
- All food waste, including vegetable trim is turned into compost
- All cardboard, including waxed boxes, used paper, glass and tin cans are recycled or composted
- We have switched our paper products such as paper towels and napkins to an unbleached 100% post consumer product
Our efforts have resulted in a 50% reduction in waste that we would otherwise be sending to the landfill.
Many people are still learning about our in house recycling program. After finishing your Noodle Box, remove the metal handle from each side of the box and place in the "Organics" bin. Please make sure that there are no foreign objects contaminating the compost. Such contaminating objects would be plastic cutlery, or any other plastic material, metal handles, pop cans, etc...
In 2010 we started working with XLR8 Carbon neutral, a local, environmental sustainability initiative program. They recycle used cooking oil from over 300 local restaurants into Second Generation Biodiesel. By collecting and recycling our used cooking oil into biodiesel together we are keeping this highly valuable waste stream in our province to create the maximum number of local jobs and provide diesel drivers with a local fuel source that is carbon neutral.
The Noodle Box Charity & Donations
The Noodle Box believes in participating in our communities in a positive, ethical and responsible way. We do this in a variety of ways, from supporting local businesses, through to charity, and environmental stewardship. We do not participate in traditional forms of advertising and instead choose to take that advertising budget and put it back into the local and international communities of the world.
Locally we give both food and gift cards for various events, auctions and raffles. These kinds of donations are given to those who approach us with requests. Some of the local charities that we give to are, The Victoria Women's Transition House, The Victoria Film Festival, Weekend to End Women's Cancer Charity Run, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Rockin for Research Gala, Castaway Rugby Team, Childrun 2010, VGH, Hero Holiday, Victoria Boys and Girls Club, VI Fitness, Women in Need, Fringe Festival, the Memo Fund, The Chrones Colitis Foundation, World Food Program, The Land Conservancy, and support for students traveling to help in third world countries. These are just a few of the many societies and organizations that we donate too, and will continue to put forth efforts in supporting these organizations when our budgets allow for it. We feel that giving back helps to cultivate a conscious and supportive culture within our business and it enables us to develop positive relationships with the community who are our customers.
For the past three years each of our locations has taken part in Dining Out For Life. This is an event that raises money for Aids research. During this night between 5 and 9 p.m. each restaurant donates 25% of all food sold. We also promo Stella Artois bottles as Stella donates $1.00 for every bottle sold at all participating restaurants that night. This has been a special night and we get a lot of support and participation from our customers and staff. This helps to make it a successful night for a great cause and we will continue to participate in the years to follow.
Internationally we donate to disaster relief for things like the 2006 Tsunami, the 2007 earthquake in China, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and floods in Pakistan. We feel these are causes that deserve the attention of everyone on a global level and during these times we donate money but also put donation boxes on our front counters with a write up of what has occurred. This helps educate our customers and get them involved in giving back.
Kiva is another organization that we give to. Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining micro finance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending. Kiva alleviates poverty and promotes dignity and accountability. To join our group go to www.kiva.org/team/thenoodlebox