Food news: Auckland's secret winter garden, adult pizzas and free chocolate

A secret garden, how to make "grown-up" pizza and a chocolate-sharing initiative coming to your town. Photos / Supplied

Whether you've booked in a long weekend away or are planning on staying put, we've rounded up some of the best dishes to try your hand at making, from "grown-up" pizzas to boozy desserts.

Plus, there are some special eateries we think are worth braving the winter chill for, including a revamped Clooney's Jesse Mulligan is raving about and a secret winter garden in the city serving up delicious kombucha-infused cocktails.

You'd also do well to get clued up on a free chocolate venture making its way around the country too.

Here are our favourite foodie picks for the weekend:

Dining in

• Citrus cream pots with caramelised orange slices

Angela Casley's citrus cream pots. Photo / Babiche Martens

If you're looking for a boozy, zesty dessert for your after-dinner treat, then this is one you'll want to try your hand at.

These little citrus cream pots, with a dash of Cointreau added in, are a great twist on an old-fashioned dessert.

See Angela Casely's recipe over at viva.co.nz.

• Allyson Gofton's grown-up pizza

Moroccan-spiced pumpkin and goat's cheese pizza. Photo / Allyson Gofton

Chef Allyson Gofton says the days of eating greasy, deep-pan pizzas on the couch are over. Well, at least in her house they are. Grown-up pizzas, for our evolved tastes, are in - think toppings such as fresh goat's cheese, pomegranate, aubergine and pumpkin.

This week Gofton has shared two pizza recipes that she says are "stylish anytime, anywhere": Moroccan-spiced pumpkin and goat's cheese pizza and a buffalo mozzarella, bacon and fennel pizza.

Read her pizza feature and get her recipes over on bite.co.nz.

Dining out

• Restaurant review: Clooney, Freeman's Bay

The carrot and macadamia entree at Clooney's. Photo / Rebecca Zephyr Thomas

Viva's Eating Out Editor Jesse Mulligan says Clooney's dining experience is one you should "shout from the rooftops" or, at the least, share with your friends on social media.

With a new chef on board, Mulligan raved about the visual artistry of the meals as well as the service, with "unusually scripted banter", that he praised as "very, very good".

He writes: "Incredible new chef, same amazing room, and a legendary restaurant we are lucky to have for special occasions, overseas dignitaries and hopefully, the occasional spontaneous dinner enjoyed by normal people who want to see how good the world can taste."

Read Mulligan's full review over at viva.co.nz.

• Brunch review: Black Frog Cafe, Kingsland

The Mediterranean galette at Black Frog Cafe. Photo / Getty Images

Though this naturally light-filled space boasts a charming view out its windows, its interiors seem to have stayed put from former tapas restaurant Barcelona.

The Spanish-style interior is an odd fit for the "Kiwi kitchen with a French accent" but writer Tess Nichol says Black Frog's crepes - both sweet and savoury - are "lovely" and "decadent".

See Tess Nichol's full review online here.

Health news

• These five healthy foods can do more harm than good

Even though these foods are very nutritious, you can get too much of a good thing.

Foods high in nutrients can also be high in unwelcome amounts of chemicals, and sometimes too much in your diet can wreak havoc on your health.

Here are some nutritious foods you should definitely be eating, as long as you don't overdo it.

Read the full article here.

• Do you always crave something sweet after a meal? Experts reveal why

"There's always room for dessert."

Heard that saying or know someone who uses it often? For some of us, no matter how full we are, there's always that craving for something sweet at the end of a meal.

But what causes that insatiable – and for the millions of us watching our weight – frustrating post-dinner urge? Is it just habit or is there something more going on?

A clinical psychologist specialising in eating behaviour and a nutritionist have revealed the truth about those sweet cravings and how to get them under control for good.

Read the full article here.

Foodie events

• Pop-up event: The secret winter garden

One of the cocktails on offer at The Secret Winter Garden. Photo / Anna Williams Photography

Every day throughout the month of June The Secret Winter Garden will be offering drinks, nibbles and music at a hidden rooftop bar at The Glass Goose on Auckland's Federal St.

The inner-city bar has collaborated with Good Buzz Kombucha to create a health-infused selection of cocktails and mocktails and will host a rotating pop up of food truck favourites such as Judge Bao and Melt. All of which you can enjoy in a pretty setting of wintry floral installations while taking in live saxophone performances and DJs.

For all the details, see the Facebook event here.

• Ardbeg Day

A key date in a whisky connoisseur's diary, Ardbeg Day is back for the seventh year running. Whisky fans will be able to get a taste of this year's newest limited edition release, Ardbeg Grooves, a 1969-style peat and wood smoked drop, combining flavours of apple and smoked pear.

Kiwi whisky fanatics will be the first in the world to try Ardbeg Grooves and can do so at Ardbeg's four embassies stationed across the country on June 2, the official release day of the limited edition Ardbeg Grooves for purchase.

Find an Ardberg embassy near you:

• House of Whiskey, 38 Courthouse Lane, Auckland Central, 1010 – 11am – 5pm
• Regional Wines, Beers & Spirits, 15 Ellice Street, Mt Victoria, Wellington, 6001 – 10am – 3pm
• Whisky Galore, 834 Colombo Street, Christchurch Central, 8013 – 10.30am until close
• The Jefferson, 7 Fort Lane, Auckland, 1010 – 12am until close and then again from 4pm


• Cadbury chocolate tour

The Share The Taste tour kicks off in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Calling all chocolate lovers: Cadbury is heading on a nationwide tour and will be giving away blocks of chocolate along the way.

For six weeks (May 31 - July 7) Cadbury will visit 28 locations throughout the country.

Kicking off in Auckland the company hopes to create moments of connection by encouraging Kiwis to "share the taste" of Cadbury with friends, family and colleagues.

To find out when Cadbury will be stopping in your town, see here.