We take a look back at the top ten food stories from 2014. Photos / NZ Herald, File
A New Zealand restaurant has been voted in the top five best fine-dining establishments in the world.
Auckland institution The French Cafe, run by husband and wife team Simon Wright and Creghan Molloy Wright, have placed fourth in the 2014 Travelers' Choice Restaurant Awards, based on reviews by millions of TripAdvisor users.
Smoked beef with lettuce hearts, caramelised onion, tarragon, crispy potatoes, charcoal. One of the main dishes at The French Cafe in Auckland. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Chocolate makers and fans of hazelnut-filled products including Nutella spread may need to brace themselves for price rises, after poor weather devastated hazelnut crops.
Around 70 per cent of the world's hazelnut crop is grown near Turkey's Black Sea coast, but this year's harvest was likely to be heavily hit after hail storms and frost in late March devastated hazel flowers at an important time in their growing cycle. The price of the nut has subsequently already skyrocketed by more than 60 per cent.
Nutella is a popular hazelnut spread. Photo / Creative Commons
A major grocery chain was unable to guarantee that bananas would be available on shelves earlier this year, during a nationwide shortage.
New Zealand has the highest rate of banana consumption in the world per capita, but that was expected to take a hit with supplies expected to be down 30 per cent.
McDonald's was served to food critics in The Netherlands. Photo / File
McDonald's myths are easy to come by and we all know that fresh, organic food is not only healthier but tastes much nicer, right?
Wrong - at least according to Life Hunters' YouTubers Sacha and Cedrique.
The pair visited the annual food convention in Houten in The Netherlands, where they asked unwitting gastronomic experts to taste samples of McDonald's food and offer their opinions on this "new, organic alternative to fast food".
Read the full story and watch the video here.
Simon Gault says he now feels a million dollars. Photo / Doug Sherring
Celebrity chef Simon Gault has found his diet for life.
The Kiwi restaurateur shed a "significant" amount of weight following his own new "deceptively healthy" menus.
The MasterChef New Zealand judge, 49, hoped the recipe for his new slimline look will mean being around a lot longer for his baby daughter Hazel.
The cost of a pint at the local tavern has become prohibitive, writes Don Kavanagh.
"Few things are more vexing to think about than the price of a pint. Ask anyone you like and they'll say the price is wrong. Drinkers complain it's too high, health busybodies scream that it's too low and find unlikely allies in the trade itself, where owners and brewers would have you believe that they are beggaring themselves at current rates.
"And, of course, everyone blames the Government for placing iniquitous taxes on the honest pleasure of downing a beer."
Auckland's annual Food Show is a delicious chance to get out and taste something new - but with so much to try it can get a little overwhelming. Rachel Bache looked at ten of the stands worth checking out at this year's show.
The Beverage Boy smoothie truck at The Food Show.
Fans of a new "artisan" chocolate milk have been waiting at supermarkets around the North Island to snap it up within minutes of its delivery from a northern Waikato farm.
Some who missed out were bidding on Trade Me for single 750ml bottles of Lewis Road Creamery's milk for up to $20.
Lewis Road Creamery fresh chocolate milk made with Whittaker's chocolate.
Some of New Zealand's favourite fine-dining restaurants have put the bite on customers taking away doggy bags. Auckland's plush Langham Hotel has introduced a no-takeaway policy for patrons at its popular eateries Palm Court and Eight.
It is also against etiquette to bag leftover food at the upmarket Clooney, on the outskirts of Auckland's CBD. There, a three-course meal costs about $95 a head and $150 for a tasting menu.
Simon Gault of Euro is happy to provide doggy bags. Photo / Doug Sherring
An Auckland restaurant serving duck eggs with developing embryo has been cleared by the SPCA for possible cruelty against unhatched ducklings but its suppliers are now being investigated.
The society said it received complaints following a Herald report that Island Joe's Hawaiian Barbecue in Onehunga had put balut on the menu, and an investigator was sent to the premises.
The dish, which sometimes comes with a duck embryo with feathers and beak, is considered a Filipino delicacy and believed to boost male fertility and libido.
An Auckland restaurant serving balut, pictured, has been cleared by the SPCA for possible cruelty. Photo / Greg Bowker
- nzherald.co.nz
She never told them the five-course meal was vegan. So a cousin decided to act.