Today we’d like to introduce you to Cobi Marsh.
Hi Cobi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in Melbourne, Australia and spent a large part of my childhood living on the island of Bali in Indonesia. Early adulthood, I spent some years living in London, New York City and I’ve now settled in Los Angeles! I moved to LA three years ago with my partner, New Zealand native / Chef, Lance Mueller with a suitcase each and not much else. I moved here in pursuit of a challenge and opportunity. I’m constantly searching for ways to push myself and be put out of my comfort zone. My professional background is in Retail and Interior Design and I’m also a Botanical perfumer. I realized around six years ago my passion was for creating things and combining my background in Design to create elevated and special products. More recently, I’ve moved into the Hospitality industry and opened a new business with my partner, Cobi’s Curries. Whilst living in Indonesia, I developed a massive obsession with Curry, I’m a self-proclaimed Curry connoisseur. I met Lance in 2015 and discovered we had a mutual passion for curries and making them from scratch, it became a bit of an obsession. Since then, we have traveled the world in search of some of best curries and would make them at every opportunity we had. We are now excited to offer our food in Los Angeles! I’m very much the creative type, if I’m not cooking a curry, I’ll be making perfume or music.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I guess the biggest challenge here would be opening a business during lockdown… When the pandemic hit, we both lost our jobs which was the push we needed to pursue our dreams of owning our own business and doing what we are both passionate about. I think one of the silver linings of the pandemic was forcing everyone to realize how precious time can be, Cobi’s Curries to us is a manifestation of that belief that life is meant to be lived passionately and that with hard work, you can achieve your vision. We were lucky enough to have two friends in the hospitality industry who believed in us and this business and have really helped drive this dream into a reality. Realistically it’s probably not the best time to be taking such risks, however we felt it was a rare opportunity we would both be able to commit 100% and focus on our own business. There wasn’t really a back-up plan, which makes you work and focus 10x’s harder. We started as a pre-order model back in September and decided to take the next step in December to open a storefront and offer on-demand food delivery through the apps and takeout. So far, we’re incredibly happy with our growth and are starting to see a rise of Cobi’s Curries super-fans!
As you know, we’re big fans of Cobi’s Curries. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Cobi’s Curries is a new ‘not so typical’ curry house that specializes in curries from various regions all over the world. We offer a small-bespoke menu designed by my partner, New Zealand born Chef Lance Mueller and myself, a self-proclaimed curry addict and connoisseur!
Having spent a large part of my childhood living in Bali, I developed a love for traditional curry recipes, made with time and care as well as locally sourced organic produce. This passion has led us to travel the world in source of new curry inspirations, from Thailand to India, Japan to South Africa, forever excited by the idea that cultures from all over the world have developed their own take on our favorite meal. Our six-item curry menu reflects our adventures and consists of a revolving list of classic curries you are sure to recognize as well as an introduction to some of the lesser known, more curious curries from pockets around the globe. We offer our customers an ever-changing interactive menu, where they can follow us monthly to new regions and be introduced to the best curries they’ve experienced. We are the Carmen Sandiego of curry and delight in sharing the global nature of curry with the people around us.
At Cobi’s Curries, we like to think of curry as ingesting a natural medicine cabinet filled with the most enriching herbs & spices. Each spice has its own benefits and combining them can make for a powerful health boost. A parallel of the health benefits in curry can be drawn to Ayurvedic medicine, one of the oldest holistic healing systems, aka natural medicine, that was developed in India 3,000 years ago. All of our curries are created with a healthy & mindful intention. Our goal is to change misconceptions surrounding curry and introduce you to some of the best food you can get your paws on. This dedication to health and wellness is reflected in our culinary approach which relies on sourcing the freshest ingredients and dedicating time to the cooking process, we believe that patience and dedication is reflected in the taste and will have customers craving their daily curry fix.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I’m expecting to see a lot of restaurants / chefs move into retailing their products. I think COVID made a lot of restaurateurs start thinking about other avenues other than brick and mortar.
We plan on opening a dining room in Los Angeles very soon and also hoping to open up a space on the East Coast. This year we are working towards retailing our products and getting them into supermarkets! There’s a lot happening.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.cobiscurries.com
- Instagram: @CobisCurries
