his neighbourhood restaurant’s simple ethos serves it well and ensures you’ll never leave hungry

St Heliers Cafe Bar & Bistro - owned by high-profile restaurateurs Scott Brown and Jackie Grant - has been lauded by food critics but has got offside with its neighbours.

Regulars of the Bridgeway cinema and others who frequent this once-sleepy Auckland suburb, just over the bridge, have known about the Stafford Road Wine Bar for a while.

Ivan Mitin is small, softly spoken and in possession of one of the best-combed handlebar moustaches in London.

Bosses at a London branch of McDonald's have been forced to apologise after a sign was put up attempting to ban teenagers from entering the premises during the evening.

The US$111.05 ($134) New York restaurant receipt includes a US$1000 tip and the words "god bless!" scrawled across it.

Ben Crawford turns green with jealousy as he describes this rooftop fan base.

Great menu offerings at summer festivals is music to the ears of foodies, writes Joanna Mathers.

Oddly enough, you never hear restaurants boasting "we source all our food from commercial catering packs and, frankly, we don't give a stuff if it's seasonal or where it comes from so long as it's cheap".

American billionaire Bill Foley has taken a quarter stake in the Nourish restaurant chain fronted by celebrity chef Simon Gault, giving him a vineyard-to-restaurant path for his wines.

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

Ben Crawford finds wise design in a flagship menswear store.

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.

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.

Ben Crawford gets some tips from an expert about what to expect when you ask a designer to turn your dreams for your home into a reality.

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

Lonely Planet may have gone several steps too far in naming Auckland in a top-10 world city list but in the category of eating out you could make a plausible case.

Here's a travel list to put a rumble into the tummy of the most demanding traveling gourmand.