WHEN A COUPLE ditched their jobs to fulfill their dream they had no idea how things would snowball.

Darryl Evans, from Ebbw Vale, was a construction project manager while his wife Michelle O'Donnell-Evans, from Limerick in Ireland, was working as a compliance officer.

The couple "always had a passion for food" and dreamed of opening their own bistro. This dream came to fruition in January 2018 when they opened a gastro-café at the site of the former Corn Exhange in Crickhowell. 

Fast forward to 2020 when the Covid pandemic hit - devastating the hospitality industry in Wales and further afield.

South Wales Argus: Darryl Evans dishing up foodThe husband-and-wife team were forced to close the doors of their gasto café in 2021, but adapted by offering home deliveries to their "wonderful" customers.

“We could see the turmoil the industry was headed for,” said Mr Evans.

“So we made the difficult decision not to reopen the gastrocafe and set about making plans to make the business fully mobile.

“We combined our passion for street food with our love of Mexican cuisine and Cosmo’s Mexicana was born.”

Cosmo's Mexicana - named after the couple's late "beautiful and crazy" boxer dog Cosmo - is a Mexican street food van which operates from "Doris" - a "one of a kind" 1953 Fisher Holivan that the duo "instantly" fell in love with.

South Wales Argus: Doris is a “one of a kind” 1953 Fisher Holivan“We did every bit of the conversion ourselves so she’s very special to us," explained Ms O'Donnell-Evans.

"As far as we know Doris is the only one of her kind in the world."

Cosmo’s Mexicana boasts an entirely plant-based menu as sustainability and the environment is “hugely important” to the entrepreneurs.

Although their aim "first and foremost" is to produce "great street food" the pair also think sustainability and protecting the environments are "hugely important" factors.

South Wales Argus: The menu is entirely plant-based"We just don’t want anyone or anything to be negatively affected by what we do," said Ms O'Donnell-Evans.

And clearly the menu has proven popular - with Cosmo's Mexicana awarded  the Spice Award at the European Street Food Awards 2023 (the biggest street food competition in the world).

South Wales Argus: Cosmo's Mexican has won at the European Street Food Awards 2023“It was a tremendous honour to compete against the very best 21 street food traders from 16 countries across Europe,” said the dynamic duo.

“We were so proud to represent Wales and to have won the Spice Award - which honours the chef who uses spices in a particularly interesting an innovative way -   was really the icing on the cake.

"To be awarded this accolade by the judging panel – which included Michelin starred chefs and industry experts – was a really special moment for us.”

The business also won at the Welsh Street Food Awards earlier this year, receiving an "amazing response and positive feeedback" from the head judge: Michelin star chef and Welsh culinary legend James Sommerin.

South Wales Argus: Mrs O'Donnell-Evans and Mr EvansThe couple admits that it’s been a “whirlwind two years” since opening Cosmo's Mexicana - with some “exciting” new projects in the pipeline.

“We absolutely love what we do,” said Mr Evans.

“While street food is a very tough industry we feel fortunate that – during a really difficult time for the hospitality sector – we’ve been able to pivot and take our business to another level.”

The duo thanked award-winning food journalist and founder of the (Welsh, British, European and USA) street food awards for “putting on such amazing events and recognising street food traders across the world” and creating a forum to “honour and celebrate” street food traders.

They also thanked their parents and “fabulous customers” for their support.

South Wales Argus: Food from Cosmo's Mexicana“They seem to keep loving what we’re doing,” added Ms O’Donnell-Evans.

“As long at they keep loving it, we’ll keep doing it!”

You can find the business online and on social media...