It’s a long weekend, which means plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying some of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories from our talented and award-winning journalists. Here are our top picks for Easter weekend. You can find more to read at our Lifestyle, Entertainment and Viva hubs.
3000 oysters and 4800 eggs: Behind the scenes at an epic Auckland hotel buffet
‘Sometimes, the eyes are bigger than the stomach,’ says Volker Marecek, the executive chef in charge of Eight, the buffet restaurant at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel. Kim Knight and photographer Michael Craig document 24 hours behind the scenes.
Chefs prep for breakfast while the guests eat dinner. Lunch was largely organised yesterday. On Friday morning, 80kg of bacon will be delivered to the back dock. By Tuesday morning, every rasher will have been cooked and eaten.
Start this story anywhere, because a hotel buffet never sleeps. There are no windows in the kitchen but time is meaningless when you are blowtorching a creme brulee at 11.28am and browning sausages at 4.42am.
On any given weekday, Eight, the buffet restaurant at Auckland’s five-star Cordis Hotel, feeds about 600 diners. At the weekends that number easily tops 700. And over the three days of Auckland Anniversary weekend, it hit 2576.
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What it’s like when your child has cancer: A Kiwi mother’s story
Hamilton mother Isobel Willison shares her story of daughter Fleur, 4, and her fight against leukaemia, plus the ripple effect on the rest of the family.
Being told your child has cancer is hard, real hard. The ‘can’t breathe, might throw up, can’t eat, heart aching’ kind of hard. The hard that I was certain would break me apart, yet I would wake up whole and wonder how it would be possible to hold it together and do it all again that day. But perhaps the hardest part of going through all of this as a parent is not being able to take it away. And there are so many times you wish you could. When you hold back their hair as they vomit, as they cry to you about the weird tingling feeling inside their bodies, when you hold them down for more pokes and plaster changes, while you try to reassure them as they drift off to sleep for yet another anaesthetic.
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Political provocation or poetic? David Seymour’s World Poetry Day video ode
Diana Wichtel reviews the Act leader’s latest attempt at verse.
David Seymour’s fluoro-clad twerking, in the manner of one in the throes of gastric distress, on Dancing with the Stars in 2018 revealed a man with an impressively high embarrassment threshold. It’s an increasingly useful quality if you want a career in politics in these frankly excruciating times.
Now he’s a poet. “We all know Crate Day is a great day,” he rhymed happily in 2021, declaring the day dedicated to drinking a whole crate of beer would, under Act, be a national holiday. Cin cin.
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Ask the Beauty Editor: How do I fix the crepey skin on my chest?
This week’s Ask the Beauty Editor sees one reader write in with a decolletage dilemma.
While we fully acknowledge the beauty and wisdom that comes with age, often the passing of time can be marked by fine lines, wrinkles and crepey skin. Neck & Dec S.O.S, it sounds like the latter is troubling you, but there are a few things you can try to restore the skin’s appearance.
The skin on your decolletage décolleté, or the area that spans from under your chin, down your neck and chest, is delicate, it has fewer oil glands than other regions of the body, which leaves it susceptible to issues like dehydration or dryness.
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‘Motherhood is a trap. Marriage is a bad deal’
The French feminist provocateur’s ‘indecent’ insistence that women should prioritise themselves is jubilantly liberating.
It’s never too late to learn how to be selfish,” says Corinne Maier, grave-faced behind her heavy-rimmed spectacles.
“Sadly, women aren’t born that way, so it does have to be learnt. But if we can forget about the ‘superwoman’ we’ve been bullied into thinking we have to be – at home, with the husband, the kids – and release our inner ‘slackerwoman’…”
We would be happier? “Exactly. Happiness cannot be achieved without selfishness. But that is achievable for every woman. You too can be selfish,” says Maier.
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Will the real Karen Walker please stand up? What’s next for the leading fashion doyenne?
Fashion designer Karen Walker has found success outside the traditional framework of the industry.
She’s the household name who created New Zealand’s ultimate fashion lifestyle brand. Her distinctive design handwriting has extended past a well-rounded wardrobe into homewares, paints and even accessories for your pets. But do we really know who Karen Walker is? Jessica Beresford unpacks the life of a designer adept at the art of reinvention, all while staying true to her aesthetic and, more importantly, the needs of her customers.
“I think change is at the heart of it, and you can’t survive without change,” says Karen. “But I think a good brand will always retain something at its heart. My test of what separates a brand from a business is that you can put your hand over the name and still know who it is.”
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After James Wallace: What next for Pah Homestead and a $50m art collection?
Anita Totha, director of the new trust that’s taken ownership of 2500 artists’ work, gives her first interview to Kim Knight.
There’s fresh paint on the Pah Homestead walls. Mustard in the morning room. Blood red and bright blue in the ballroom.
The art gallery championed by James Wallace - philanthropist, businessman and convicted sex offender stripped of his knighthood - is being remade.
“You can’t erase the past,” says Anita Totha. “But how do you move forward so that we can make sure that artists and visual culture in Aotearoa is supported?”
She answers her own question: “A word . . . a word that comes to mind, is empathy. Empathy in leadership.”
This is the trickiest of interviews.
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Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
As Whakaata Māori marks its 20th anniversary, Karl Puschmann looks back at how the broadcaster changed the Aotearoa television landscape for the better.
Twenty years ago, or to be more culturally appropriate to this story, rua tekau years ago, Whakaata Māori began broadcasting in Aotearoa.
It had been a decade-long battle to get the station off the ground and on the air, decades-long if you trace the roots of the fight to get te reo officially recognised in New Zealand. In 1986, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled that yes, te reo Māori was a taonga (treasure) and five years later, in 1991, the Crown accepted its contractual obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi to preserve te reo.
Not only did the channel normalise the every day use of te reo, it also restored its mana. For the first time, Māori could see their culture, aspirations, concerns and humour reflected on screen, no matter what time of day; morning, noon, after school, and, crucially, during prime time.
Māori could finally see themselves.
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How to keep the kids busy this April
Including weekends, children across the country will enjoy 18 days off this month, a huge win for school kids and a nightmare for parents.
With Easter, Anzac Day and two weeks of school holidays keeping them out of school, children will only be in the classroom for 11 days in April.
However, while the number seems small, it’s an improvement on previous years. Last year, children were only in school for eight days in April, and 10 days in 2022.
As the weather cools down and boredom starts to rear its ugly head, you may be running out of ideas on how to keep the family happy and entertained.
Three stress-busting foods to help you feel calmer
The pressures of modern life can get to us all – but ‘natural beta-blockers’ may help to alleviate those feelings of anxiety.
Foods that contain vitamins and minerals that help to regulate our heart rate, blood pressure and blood flow are being celebrated on social media as “natural beta-blockers” - so called because of the potential calming effect they have on our bodies.
While none of them can ever substitute beta-blocker drugs that block the release of stress hormones, studies show these foods can aid heart health and so may help to alleviate physical symptoms of stress.
Gen X, Y, Z and Boomers share their favourite skincare products
When it comes to skincare essentials, it’s not surprising each generation has a different array of products in their shopping rotation. But what are they using? And are there any rights and wrongs in the epidermal game?
While skincare has surged in popularity in recent years, the category isn’t new. Different generations have grown up with different products, and beauty standards can impact their choices.
Technology shifts impact everything in life, including the beauty sphere. From product formulations to appearance ideals, the test of time has certainly seen our go-tos and goals shift and morph over the years.
