Chef Elisangela Oliveira Pont grew up around the kitchen and learned how to cook from her father and grandmothers.
"I started to bake when I was 7 years old and cake has always been my passion and favourite thing to do.
"I always loved when people came to my house so I could set up a table with a lot of delicacies for the visitors," Mrs Pont said.
When she lived in Brazil, she used to bake and cook in her spare time while studying an engineering degree at university.
But when she moved to New Zealand 18 years ago, she decided to follow her passion and chase a career in the hospitality industry.
For the past decade, Mrs Pont has worked as a chef in various restaurants around the city and she is the head chef of Level One at the Kelvin Hotel.
During this time, she also started her own business, Cake by Eli, which offered cupcakes or cakes by order as well as supplying them at local craft markets.
"I started to notice that I was getting a real clientele with many people saying to me they were coming to those events just to buy my cupcakes."
The customer loyalty, along with her dream to open the business, led her to take a step further.
Next Tuesday, she will be opening her shop, Piece of Cake, in the former SIT arcade.
"I am so excited — it is a life-long dream coming true.
"I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but now with that CBD revitalisation, I think it is the right time to invest in my own shop."
The business will merge her traditional Kiwi recipes with her Brazilian background.
Mrs Pont will offer at least 10 flavours of cupcake each day, as well cake pops, giant cookies and some traditional Brazilian sweets.
There will also be barista coffee available with, of course, Brazilian beans which will also be for sale.
"It will not be a Brazilian cafe but some of the treats will have a bit of Brazilian flavour.
"I wanted to bring my personality and create an infusion of my Brazilian background with my New Zealand expertise."
She was excited with the challenge and hoped people would like her venture.
"Cooking for me is really sharing the love. I bake and do everything with my own hands so all of your emotions and feelings are translated in the food you are serving.
"I’m really happy and hope I can share this passion I have with the community which embraced me."
