There's something very "Downunder" about the service in Queenstown. Waiters, bartenders, receptionists and shopkeepers take that relaxed, "she'll be right", Kiwi attitude to a new high.

We came here because we'd never been to Browns Bay - quelle horreur - but had heard it was the place to brunch beachside.

Magnus Nilsson, the 28-year-old chef from Sweden, has been dubbed the new Rene Redzepi of the food world.

Boom. I'm excited. At last Auckland has its own Basque-style tapas bar complete with a counter laden with just-prepared, ready to eat pintxos, the name given to traditional tapas in northern Spain.

Salty, succulent and totally addictive - all Kiwi oyster-lovers look forward to the start of March when "Bluffies", the creme de la creme of the shellfish world, come into season.

Apart from being home to New Zealand's entire hop production, the Nelson region is also home to a dazzling group of breweries and craft beer bars.

Not often are you tempted to order only cold courses throughout a restaurant dinner. But such has been this summer that the procession of dishes delivered by Tribeca at the lower end of the temperature range seemed just right.

It's a worldwide trend - top chefs moving into gourmet fast food and now chef Sean Marshall (Roxy) is the latest restaurant chef to bring us fabulous food on the go.

In the gastro bar world, we are talking about tapas and sharing plates drawn from international cuisine. That's Libertine.

If I could live that lifestyle where I buy a block of land in the country, set up a restaurant and grow my own food with my family, that would be fantastic.

A decade after public holiday surcharges were introduced in restaurants, several eateries have "given up" trying to enforce the added costs.

We came here because we're enjoying the vibe and Melburnian intent of this new Ponsonby development and have been slowly ticking off its eateries.

The increasing Asian ownership of restaurants and cafes in Auckland is giving Asians an advantage over English-speaking European job seekers, a Massey University sociologist says.

If you haven't done so already, I suggest this year you make peace with a more casual style of eating out.

A new book features stalls and holes in walls alongside three Michelin-starred restaurants that are among famous chef's favourite eateries.

When it comes to preparing meat for barbecue no one does it better than the Koreans, believes chef Yeon Yi Go.

Almost 18 years after Payao Chomkhunthod opened her first Thai restaurant in Auckland, the chef who now owns a chain of restaurants says Thai has been the "most successful cuisine" to be introduced here.

Laksa is one of the hottest-selling items on the menu of Mamak Malaysian Cafe, and is popular with Asians and non-Asians alike, says chef and cafe co-owner Charlotte Ng.

It may be a better guide to eating out than how busy the restaurant is - where do our top chefs choose to go for a meal?

What do the hard-working people who run some of our city's busiest and best kitchens do when their restaurant kitchen is given a final scrub-down for the year? Do they put their feet up and let others wait on them hand and foot?