In Auckland's insane property market, Te Atatu North, reinvented as Te Atatu Peninsula, is the new front line of upward mobility. But eating out options are only gradually moving to match the community's aspirations. Thai and takeaways predominate.
Open more than a year, Et Tu, which styles itself a bistro, is looking to raise the bar, but to judge by our trio's experience on a recent Friday night, it has some way to go.
The Professor and I took along a mate of hers from Melbourne, who has had some god-awful meals at our invitation over the years. At the time of writing, I still owe her a good one.
Our nervous young waiter, whose charming sweetness compensated for his evident inexperience, recited a list of specials that seemed longer than the Gettysburg address and left us to look through a menu on which several of the aforementioned specials appeared, which was slightly confusing.