New Jersey Teen Opens Guyanese restaurant

One of New Jersey’s newest restaurants is owned by 17-year-old Ryan Kundan. He and his mom, Shavana, launched "Everything Nice with Spice" to bring Guyanese flavors to East Orange, New Jersey. Kundan said his greatest inspiration in his entrepreneurship journey is his mother, who has previously owned a fried chicken restaurant.

“I feel like I got my entrepreneurship from her, seeing how much she works and tries to make a business for herself and for her family,” he said. While his mother heads the kitchen, Ryan said his role at the new restaurant has mainly entailed managing the front of the store, running the juice bar and leading advertising efforts.

Ryan was one of 27 teen entrepreneurs to kick-start their own business at the culmination of the most recent “Boss Up” program offered at Essex County Community College. The 10-week course teaches teens the fundamentals of entrepreneurship — and provides students with a $500 stipend at the end to develop and launch their own business.

As the first student to launch a brick-and-mortar store at the end of the program, Kundan serves as an inspiration to other students.

As the program director Jamila Davis shared, “What’s most rewarding is to just see my students who come in, sometimes with low self-esteem or they don’t know what’s possible, and then to see them in the end be full of esteem and full of hope and possibility...It’s a game changer for students.”

Everything Nice with Spice opened in Summer 2024 and is located at 13-23 N Harrison St. Big up Ryan and Shavana!