Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

How two ‘brothers’ from Stonehaven are taking the north-east street food scene by storm

Zee Ali, left, and Daniel Black.
Zee Ali, left, and Daniel Black.

Dan Black and Zee Ali, from Stonehaven, have been friends for a number of years.

“You could say we’re more like brothers,” says Dan, 30.

The pair are business-minded, creative and possess different skills that have helped them launch their own mobile catering brand, known as The Catering Collective.

Chicken biryani and chicken puri rolls.

Based in Stonehaven but able to provide services nationwide, The Catering Collective currently has six street food units under its name serving a range of different cuisines.

Three of these are operational and the other three are still being worked on. It is hoped they will launch in the coming months.

A one-stop-shop

“The idea of The Catering Collective is to eventually be a one-stop-shop for all people’s mobile catering needs,” Dan added.

“We will be able to offer a premium bespoke service to any event large or small.”

Dan and Zee were “just chatting” one day when they agreed there was a niche in the market for street food.

Wanting to add a street food culture to Stonehaven and beyond, they decided this could be best done by selling produce from a line-up of different units which were purchased on Facebook Marketplace.

Zee Ali.

The three street food units currently operational include:

  • Bombay Grillz. It offers naan rolls, puri rolls, pakoras, biryanis and chips. RJ ART engineered and fabricated Dan and Zee’s tandoori oven to the end of the food truck, fitting a bespoke chimney.
  • Al Burritos. This is a permanent fixture in the beer garden of Zees Nightclub in Stonehaven, which serves Mexican street food.
  • Whip ‘N’ Roll. This is the brand’s ice cream and desserts truck. Customers can order pan-n-ice rolls, Mr Whippy, waffle lollies, fresh doughnuts, cookie dough and candy floss.
Bombay Grillz.

Dan and Zee, 39, are aiming to open their second permanent fixture, The Greasy Spoon, in Stonehaven soon.

The entrepreneurs’ next work in progress is Sicilian Slice, a converted horsebox trailer serving up authentic Neapolitan pizzas in a wood fire oven.

They also have an 18-foot trailer yet to be refurbished. An announcement will be made regarding its name and menu in the coming months.

Calendar of events

Other than Dan and Zee, the pair have chefs in their permanent locations and a few helpers including Owen Brindley, who Dan says is “a great asset” to their team.

Dan, who has always loved cooking, was in the oil and gas industry before The Catering Collective, and also relocated to Ibiza for five years working mainly as a PR manager.

This is where his marketing and creative side comes from.

Zee, on the other hand, has been in the hospitality industry for more than 20 years having owned and run many successful restaurants and bars.

Dan at The Bike Yard in Aberdeen.

“You could say Zee is on the business side and I’m on the creative side, which works perfectly,” Dan said.

“So far in the last month, we’ve done events at The Butchers Arms, Aberdeen and Islamic Centre and Farm 2 Table.

“We’ve also done pop-ups at Zees Nightclub and The Bike Yard with many more bookings yet to happen such as Stonehaven Feein’ Market, Royal Deeside Motorshow and Stonehaven Harbour Fest.”

Chicken biryani.

For enquiries regarding bookings for events, The Catering Collective can be contacted via email – info@thecateringcollective.co.uk – or on Instagram or Facebook.

Dan added: “We feel like we are always learning every step of the way but all in all, it’s a very satisfying feeling seeing your visions come to reality in such a short space of time and the response it has received.”


For more street food content…

Conversation