This weekend try Cibo's fry-pan brownie, yum cha dishes from Culprit or pop in to Cornwall Park Bistro in One Tree Hill.
From foodie events to the best restaurants, recipes and healthy living tips, here are the best bites of food news this week.
• Cibo fry-pan brownie with cherries and berries
Jeremy Turner and Kate Fay of Cibo know how to get right in to the Christmas spirit with their festive meals and treats on offer this year.
Their fry-pan chocolate brownie would make for a decadent Christmas day dessert, a welcome alternative to the usual pavlova or trifle.
See the recipe over on bite.co.nz.
• The best pavlova recipes for Christmas
Practise your pavlova making in the lead up to Christmas. We've picked ten of our favourite recipes from the bite.co.nz website to try our hand at this week.
See the list here.
• Viva's top-rated restaurants of 2016
From the latest openings of the year to long-standing classics, rediscover Jesse Mulligan's top-rated restaurants of the year over on Viva.co.nz.
See the list at viva.co.nz.
• Cornwall Park Bistro, One Tree Hill
Viva eating out editor Jesse Mulligan visits Cornwall Park Bistro on a sunny Auckland afternoon and is delighted by what's on offer at the restaurant hidden among the trees of Cornwall Park.
"You can be deep in Cornwall Park five minutes after browsing through a rug sale at the Logan Campbell Centre, and yet it still feels as though you've travelled hundreds of kilometres, and then back in time into a Wordsworth poem.
"Somebody in the kitchen here really knows what they're doing. The food was delicious, and hearty - the way a bistro should be. I started with house-made potato gnocchi, singed in the pan then tossed with brown butter, manchego cheese and plenty of seasoning."
See Jesse Mulligan's review at viva.co.nz.
• Lee-Anne Wann: How to avoid blowing out your waistline at Christmas
It's the time of year where portion control goes out the window, exercise is ditched in favour of afternoon naps and reigning in your alcohol consumption just sounds silly.
But come January, will you be berating yourself at the gym as you struggle to regain some semblance of that hard earned healthy body you let go of over the Christmas period?
Lee-Anne Wann shares her top 10 tips to avoid a health and fitness blow out this Christmas.
Read more in her column.
• 12 foods that give you glowing, clear skin
We are what we eat, so the saying goes - and according to experts, it's absolutely true.
The Daily Mail has revealed how you can eat your way to glowing clear and blemish-free skin by eating the right foods.
Check out the list of 12 foods we should all be eating if we want perfect skin.
Read all about it here.
• Why Diet Coke is bad for weight loss
Diet drinks such as Diet Coke and Sprite Zero do not help with weight loss, a study has found, because they encourage people to eat more to compensate.
Read the story here.
• Andrew Taylor eats nothing but potatoes for a year to cure his food addiction
It was an extreme diet that was initially criticised. Some said it was an unhealthy approach to weight loss, others believed there was no way he'd last 12 months. Almost one year on, he has proved you can survive on nothing but potatoes.
He vowed on January 1 he would touch nothing but the starchy vegetable. Taylor has lost more than 50kg and says he is a completely changed man.
Read the full story here.
• The original Glenfiddich club pop up bar
The Original Glenfiddich Club is an exclusive club for whisky lovers. Held at The Northern Club in Auckland, the pop-up brings fathers, father figures and mentors together to thank them for all they have done over the years, while enjoying a tipple and a slice of Glenfiddich's history.
Your ticket treats you and your guest to a guided whisky tasting, mini facial, blackjack, billiards, portrait photography and 1960's themed canapés and drinks.
This exclusive event runs for two nights only with the final night tonight, Friday December 16, 3pm - 9pm.
See the event details here.
• Ben & Jerry's Takapuna pop up truck
Get ready for summer ice cream fans! Ben & Jerry's are parking up their Takapuna Scoop Truck on the corner of Channel View Rd in Takapuna.
The pop-up Scoop Truck is officially open from Saturday December 17 and is offering free scoops for those who visit between 11am - 2pm. For the rest of summer it will be open from 11am - 9pm.
For more information check out their Facebook page.
- nzherald.co.nz
The new free open-air saltwater pool is already proving popular.