KEY POINTS:
Step inside High St's newest store C'est Fromage (you'll smell it before you see it) and you could be forgiven for thinking you're in a Paris fromagerie. That's the effect owners Jean-Christophe Poizat and Scott Gray are going for. It's similar to their Newmarket shop Pyrenees - soon to be C'est Fromage also - where you can get a baguette or croque monsieur for lunch. The new store is a fromagerie, charcuterie and epicerie in one that offers an impressive line-up of imported French cheeses - aviateaur, bleu d'auvergne, camembert de normandie, chevre, comte, munster, st augur and on and on. It's the cheese equivalent of the Tour de France. Then, there are the croissants, palmiers, bonbons, snails, mushrooms, lentils, cassoulets, pates, jambons, sardines - you get the idea.
35 High St, City. Ph (09) 375 1517.
Let them eat cake
Rocket Kitchen has added more cakes to its menu including one made from the seasonal Kiwi favourite fruit - the feijoa. Feijoas are mixed with sultanas, walnuts and spices in a cake topped with feijoa mascarpone icing. Another cake with a homey feel is Winter Rhubarb & Orange. Also new on the menu, which coincides with a small price rise, is Caramel Nutt Cake, a Wheat-Free Chocolate Coffee Cake, and two tarts: Pineapple Creme Brulee and White Chocolate.
234 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby. Ph (09) 360 8834.
Winter warmers
For those nights when you don't have even half an hour to whip up a meal, Naked Organics has the answer with its new risotto range. Made - of course - with arborio rice, the risotto comes ready to heat in two flavours: fresh field mushroom and organic pea and lemon. With a price of $5.19 and the brand's full-bodied taste, it could be just the ticket for the time-pressed still wanting wholesome taste. At the same prices, there are also some new soup flavours in rich Tuscan tomato, Thai coconut curry, pumpkin and Moroccan chickpea. The Auckland-based company is supporting Oxfam to train organic farmers in the Pacific.
Visit: www.nakedorganics.co.nz and www.oxfam.org.nz
Fresh as
Deep Spring has been relaunched as a sparkling mineral water with a dry fruity taste. In flavours of lemon, lime and orange or orange and mango, it has no artificial flavours or colours and is widely available.
Chocoholics alert
Sabato has a new shipment of Valrhona, including two new bars. Araguani, made from a blend of Venezuelan beans (72 per cent cocoa) and the bittersweet Abinao from African beans (82 per cent cocoa), plus two new ballotin boxes of fresh chocolates with candied orange.
57 Normanby Rd, Mt Eden. Ph (09) 630-8751.
