The dish: An Italian dining experience

Otello's will be hosting their first event at the Langhams's Barolo on Wednesday August 3. Photo / Getty Images

Throughout the coming months, Otello's, the makers of fabulous authentic Italian sausage and salamis, are offering a Giro D'Italia (Tour of Italy) in our city. They'll be working with different Italian restaurants and chefs to offer an Italian culinary experience and showing us the different ways of eating Italian food. Start your journey into the Italian way of cooking at their first event at the Langhams's Barolo on Wednesday August 3. Tickets $90 including four courses with matching wines as well as a goodie bag of Otello product samples. For your ticket email otellos@otellos.co.nz

Hello New York

We are blessed to have an inner-city full of so many fabulous restaurants - no matter your palate or your budget, there's always plenty to choose from. To celebrate, tomorrow sees the launch of the inaugural Auckland Restaurant Month with over 60 restaurants tempting you with the very best of cuisine, surprise bottles of champagne for lucky diners and the chance to go in the draw to win a trip to New York's Winter Restaurant Month in 2012. If you ever needed an excuse to eat out, this is it! To find out more click here.

Armchair foodie

Starting tonight at 7.30pm on FoodTV, is the French Food Safari which sees presenters Maeve O'Meara and Guillaume Brahimi visit some of France's top kitchens and food producers and share their favourite recipes such as coq au vin, croquembouche, terrine and more.

Meanwhile, wintry Sundays are more bearable with an hour of TV that sure gets the taste buds tingling. New food show Cafe Secrets (5pm, TV3) is hosted by cafe queen Julie Le Clerc who visits some of NZ's best cafes to discover the secrets to their success and help out with community projects before sharing her own favourite cafe recipes and kitchen tricks with us. This is then followed by the new series of World Kitchen (5.30pm, TV3) where our own cheeky and cheerful Nici Wickes travels the world finding great recipes that will inspire us all to cook and eat fabulous food from far-off places.

Great preserves

A trip north is always made better by stocking up on favourite sauces and vinegars from boutique producers Due North. Good news, they're now available online. They produce some of the best local preserves we know of. The hot pepper chilli jam is divine and a splash of strawberry vinegar to salads adds a welcome reminder of summer at this time of year. We love these handcrafted, innovative condiments.

Menu picks

Our favourite dishes around town at the moment.

* O'Connell St Bistro
Aah, pappardelle of braised wild rabbit. We don't care how many years it's been on the menu we have only one thing to say - don't ever take it off! Wide, tender ribbons of pappardelle tossed with rich, dark braised rabbit meat. Bacon gives the dish even more depth and a watercress and walnut pesto adds a sweet, peppered lift. Dusted with parmigiano reggiano, it's the perfect bistro dish. $36. 3 O'Connell St, City, ph (09)377 1884.

* Ken Yakitori
While we've likely as not put the barbecue away for the colder months, Ken Yakitori are still stoking the coals on K Rd, producing a wonderful array of skewered delights at their yakitori bar. We like the prawns wrapped in bacon and the skewered chicken thighs - deliciously smoky and succulent. A plate of the squid tentacles is also a must - marinated in soy and fried, they're a tangle of the tastiest, tender morsels in town. 89 K Rd, City, ph (09) 303 3366.

* Hubcap cafe
The food Hubcap Cafe produces continues to impress us. The cabinet food is lovingly prepared off-site (by the wonderful folk previously of Savour & Devour) and the selection is brilliant, including lots of gluten-free options. What's more, they do a mean mince on toast and surely that's the ultimate start to any winter's day. 130 Ponsonby Rd, (upstairs at Mini Garage), Ponsonby, ph (09) 360 2568.

Top pot

There's a fair bit of controversy around the chemicals used to create non-stick surface cookware, that's why here at Viva were interested to discover the range of Neoflam cookware. Free of PFOA and PTFE chemicals, the range has an eco-friendly ceramic coating made of natural materials and it comes in a range of bright stylish colours. We like this funky green casserole dish which can go straight from the oven to the table. $136. Ph (09) 522 4895 for your nearest stockist.

Watch this space

White restaurant at Auckland's Hilton is currently closed for refurbishment. Situated at the end of Princes Wharf it has a prime location overlooking the harbour and will re-open in August with a new name and a whole new look.

Hot shot

If hunting and shooting is your kind of thing, then treat yourself to this weekend's Pheasant and Patridge Shoot at the luxury Huka Lodge near Taupo. Arrive on Friday afternoon in time for some practice clay shooting, and then on Saturday join the small shoot at Harekeke with a maximum of 8-9 guns and beaters. That evening you will be treated to a five-course gourmet game dinner created by executive chef Michel Louws.

Add it to the list

* If you like a highly mineralised sparkling water, then you will like the Vichy Catalan 1881 limited edition water from Spain which comes with a unique screen printed design on the bottle. Available here.

* Fancy a little winter comfort food? Nothing beats sausage and mash and if those sausages are the handmade, award-winning Black Rock merguez variety you're in for a treat. Look out for them at the Food Show this week or find them at Nosh Stores, $14.99/kg.

* Add a little flavour to your next meal with Pacific Harvest's karengo & tamarillo chutney. A innovative mix of wild seaweed from the South Island and classic tamarillo chutney is scrummy with cold meats or cheeses. $8.99 from Farro Fresh.

* Try a splash of champagne vinegar added at the last minute to pan-fried pork chops. Or how about roasted potatoes dabbed with Loire Valley sweet chardonnay mustard? Full Loire Valley range available at Sabato.

Oops

Last week we told you about the new Smart Mouth Eats Auckland iPhone app guide to the best cafes around the city, but we gave you the wrong website link. Oops. It should be http://www.smartmouthonline.com