KEY POINTS:
On an island that's overflowing with vineyard restaurants, it's refreshing to discover the Skinny Sardine on Waiheke Island. Situated upstairs on the main street of Oneroa, it is a chic yet relaxed bar with a wonderful long verandah that has amazing views out past giant palms to the yachts moored in the bay. The drinks list includes a number of local wines plus a great selection of Spanish wines which are the perfect accompaniment to the scrummy tapas they serve.
Recommended: the squid salad, the paella and the salmon flatbread.
Fresh Eggs Don't Float
We're blessed to be bombarded with a never-ending array of inspiring new cookbooks - many full of challenging and quite often complicated recipes. Which is great, as the results can be impressive. But what about the basic, day-to-day things that keep the kitchen turning over? Like what are the different types of pastries available and what do you use them for? Or, how do you fillet a fish? Do you ever wonder how to tell exactly when a piece of steak is cooked without cutting into it? Or, what the best kind of saucepan to buy is? Well, Fresh Eggs Don't Float ($29.99, Piatkus) has all the answers, and more, to ensure you're more confident around the kitchen. Cute and useful.
Northland Gold
This presentation box of olive oils arrived on the Viva desk just before Christmas and we've spent the holidays lapping it up. The box contains four different oils from Olive & Spice - a consortium of five family-owned estates in the Far North. From Houhora to Doubtless Bay, they have between them over 3000 Greek, Italian and New Zealand olive trees. They cold-press the olives on site within 24 hours of picking to get a range of 100 per cent pure olive oils with a variety of subtle individual flavours. $105 (plus postage).
Ph: (09) 406 7103 or go to www.oliveandspice.co.nz
Moving On Up
One man to keep your eye on this year is Adrian Brett-Chinnery, who has just taken up the head chef role at Bracu restaurant which is set in the olive grove of the Simunovich Olive Estate in the Bombays. English-born Adrian worked in a number of hotels and clubs in the UK, before coming to New Zealand and working at Hotel du Vin in Mangatawhiri. More recently he has been making a name for himself creating the menus for the bistro Market Kitchen + Bar in Auckland. Adrian describes his style of food as "very clean; focusing on the ingredients and letting quality produce speak for itself". In the meantime, Bracu's previous head chef, Peter Thornley, has moved to Kermadec restaurant at the Viaduct.
Bracu, 49 Main Road, Bombay. Ph: (09) 236 1020.
