Hayden Donnell is in Sydney for Aria Week, the Australian Recording Industry Association awards being held on Sunday and at which Lorde is performing.

Hayden Donnell is in Sydney for Aria Week, the Australian Recording Industry Association awards being held on Sunday and at which Lorde is performing. He's filing daily updates for nzherald.co.nz.

McDonald's says it will be open and transparent with anyone wanting to know its kitchen secrets with a new initiative Our Food, Your Questions, which launches today.

Chefs back survey finding desire to eat fresh and keep food miles down is guiding menu choices.

There is no real formula for these. I think you need to think about bite-sized pieces if people are standing to eat, with a plate in one hand and a glass in the other.

Central Otago is the world's most successful southern wine region.

A night of total blackout must be a restaurant owner's nightmare. But to be visited by a Herald reviewer on the evening the power went off at 7pm (and didn't come on again until the next morning) must be even worse luck.

Ben Gusto is way down the end of Browns Bay and accessible either from the main shopping street, Clyde Rd or Beachfront Lane.

Monica Galetti speaks of her favourite spots in Auckland and what she loves about the city.

Rice crackers are great to keep in the cupboard on standby when friends pop in for a drink and you need a snack.

Taco Bell is back on the menu for New Zealand fast food operator Restaurant Brands.

We are acknowledged internationally as leading the world in the popular white variety, sauvignon blanc, which accounts for some 80 per cent of our export volume.

New fees as part of the Govt's alcohol sale reforms have prominent wine retailer Kingsley Wood gargling at a 400% hike in licensing fee costs from December 18.

A crop of fruit and vegetable markets and retailers were pulled up after failing to correctly label irradiated tomatoes and capsicums imported from Australia.

Stir-it-up Sunday starts off the countdown to Christmas in the kitchen. Grant Allen organises a trio of wooden spoons.

"Potential plus" is what real estate agents say when what they mean is "tumbledown shack in need of demolition".

From resident ghosts to kegs hidden in mud, Danielle Wright finds intriguing history at our historic hotels.

Recently released industry statistics show the country's pubs and bars have an average 100 per cent mark-up across food and drink.

Are you gorging yourself on asparagus, strawberries and avocados? We are. They're in season and what's more, at their most flavoursome for the year.