There’s a bar serving cocktails and DJ sessions at sundown, a new bread haven with brick walls and cabinets full of pastries, and for those partial to a good chip, a dill-infused take on salt and vinegar with a smattering of pickling herbs.
Enjoy cocktails and good tunes at Sunset
If, like us, you’re holding onto the last of daylight savings, then Sunset bar’s Whispering Angel Sunset Sessions are for you. The rooftop bar welcomes DJs General Lee (March 23) and Frank Booker (March 30) to spin some tunes from 5-8pm as the sun goes down, while you enjoy the view and a cocktail, or a Whispering Angel rosé. The snacks at Sunset are good too, with a menu of Mumbai-inspired street food like masala waffle fries and crispy poppadoms. Book your spot here. Find Sunset on the top floor of Sudima Auckland, 63-67 Nelson St, Auckland CBD.
Give us our Daily Bread
We’re told Daily Bread has big plans for a Britomart flagship with a bakery, kitchen and room for 140 indoor and outdoor seats, due for completion in July. In the meantime, Daily Bread has moved from the rather windswept Quay St side of kingi restaurant into a sleek new space in the heritage Hayman Kronfeld building on Galway St, opposite Britomart Station. With brick walls and brick floors and an impressive high ceiling, the Britomart space is a haven for baked goods, with a cabinet full of pastries, cheese buns and loaves of bread. Managing director Josh Helm says the history of the building, built by Gustav Kronfeld, has nice synergy with Daily Bread co-owner Patrick Welzenbach’s 27 generations’ worth of bread-making history. “After seeing the effects of Covid on Auckland City we thought it would be great timing to be a part of the rejuvenation of the best city in the world, Auckland,” says Josh. 15 Galway St, Britomart.
Enjoy a Perrier-Jouët tasting at a rooftop bar
There’s something brewing for Champagne lovers at QT Hotel’s rooftop bar from now until April 20. Located on the sixth floor and with views of the Viaduct, city and Wynyard Quarter, Rooftop by QT is an ideal place to soak in the last of the autumn sun. It’s also the place to try Fizz & Flora, a Champagne pop-up offering two Perrier-Jouët tasting experiences. Enjoy a tasting flight of five pours of fizz, including Perrier-Jouët’s special Belle Epoque and Belle Epoque Rosé for $105 per person. There is also ‘The Taste of Nature’ flight of three Champagnes from Perrier-Jouët’s Blason collection, including blanc de blancs, brut and rosé for $49 per person. QT Auckland’s creative director of food and beverage Sean Connolly has created a special canape menu to pair with each tasting experience, such as scampi crudo with chilli and lime, crayfish rolls and Mt Cook salmon caviar cannoli with ricotta. Visitors will also find the full range of Perrier-Jouët Champagnes by the glass, bottle, and magnums, as well as specially crafted Champagne cocktails. Find more information here.
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Advertise with NZME.Easter eggs are here
We’re quite partial to a choccie Easter egg at Viva (stay tuned for our round-up of favourite eggs later this month). Catching our attention is Sabato’s range of specialty Italian treats from Venchi, a chocolate house with a storied history. Started in 1879 by founder Silvano Venchi in Torino, the artisanal chocolates he set out to create back then are still on shelves today. At Sabato, you’ll find the Venchi white chocolate egg with salted roasted nuts, the very cute milk chocolate bunny, a dark chocolate hen and more. Firm favourite Tony’s Chocoloney has a new Easter treat — a chocolate egg-meets-chocolate bar block Tony’s Chocolonely Milk Chocolate Lemon Meringue Bar, filled with crunchy meringue pieces and zesty lemon, $10, from Cook & Nelson.
Cassia has a new home
Viva Top 50 Auckland Restaurant Cassia has announced a new home in the SkyCity precinct. Sid Sahrawat’s award-winning Indian restaurant has flooded twice in recent weather events, most recently in January, and has been operating as a Cassia Kitchen pop-up out of The French Kitchen space at the Sid at the French Cafe on Symonds St. Now, it will open with the same team and menu in the site formerly occupied by The Grill on Federal St — marking a new permanent home and a new chapter for the SkyCity’s exciting food precinct when it opens in May. “It was really important to us to find a location where we could get up and running again quickly, but where there would be absolutely no change to the Cassia experience. It was also just as important to partner with people who are serious about great food, so we can’t wait to share SkyCity Federal Street with some of New Zealand’s best dining outlets,” says Sid. “We want to recreate the look, feel and warmth of the old Cassia but add a few new features to mark our new beginning.” Cassia opens at SkCity in May. Find it at 90 Federal St, Auckland central.
Learn how to grow your own food
Ever wanted to learn to grow your own food? There’s never been a better time. Permaculture experts Trish Allen and Guenther Andraschko’s internationally recognised Permaculture Design Certificate at the Matakana Hall and Community Garden offers a range of practical workshops from May to November, including organic gardening, composting and soil; gardening and seed saving; fermentation, mushroom growing and more. This is a chance to immerse yourself in food-growing knowledge, as well as the importance of healthy soil and compost. “Permaculture is not only about looking after water, soil and eco-systems, but also growing food and other flora in a sustainable way,” says Trish, a Matakana pioneer and a zero-waste icon. Guenther is a well-known local earth builder and landscaper with more than 25 years’ experience creating unique outdoor environments. The full Permaculture Design Certificate, priced at $1495, consists of nine theory days and three practical workshops, held over seven months. There are eight practical workshops to choose from, which are open to the public after PDC students have their pick. Individual theory or practical workshops can be attended by anyone at $155 each or $130 for three or more. Here is the schedule of theory topics and workshops, and the enrolment form is here.
Wine and dine for a good cause
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Advertise with NZME.Foley Wines and Nourish Group are teaming up for a night of good food and wine to provide funds to Cyclone Gabrielle-affected areas by donating proceeds from a la carte and wine purchases at three participating restaurants on Tuesday, March 28. Foley Wines’ portfolio includes wineries Martinborough Vineyard, Te Kairanga, Vavasour and Mt Difficulty, some of which will be available on a special wine list on the night. On Tuesday, March 28, at Andiamo, Jervois Steak House and Shed 5, 50 per cent of purchases off the a la carte menu, and 100 per cent of all Foley wines at these restaurants will be donated to a cyclone relief fund supporting KidsCan and the SPCA. Bookings can be made on restaurants’ websites. We have compiled some other ways to donate directly in this handy round-up.
Book in for Wellington On a Plate
Visa Wellington On a Plate is a well-loved food festival celebrating the best of the region’s hospitality and food producers, running from May 5-12 with a series of events, chef collaborations, pop-ups and special dishes to try. We like the sound of the Next Gen Cook-Off at Everybody Eats, which is a pay-as-you-feel three-course dinner (made from food that would otherwise go to waste, as is the food-saving ethos of Everybody Eats) cooked by some of Wellington’s most promising up-and-coming chefs over five nights. If you’ve always wanted to forage, Hillside Kitchen is hosting its autumn forage as part of the festival, which sees participants spend an hour foraging in a secret outdoor location, and then enjoying what they’ve foraged as part of a dinner at the low-waste restaurant a week later. How good! Check out the full programme here.
Proper Crisps go thick
Team Viva is partial to a potato chip, so it was a treat to sample Nelson-based Proper Crisps’ new thick-cut range. The Proper Crisps team is calling the new chips Big Cut because they’re cut thicker, making them ideal for pairing with dips. We were impressed by the perfect golden hue and pleasing amount of crunch. Head cultivator Duncan Kerr says: “Big Cut is a unique texture compared to other chips. We cook each batch of Big Cut for nearly twice and long, low and slow, to give the crips bigger crunch with a hint of a fluffy middle, like a thrice-cooked restaurant chip.” The chips come in four flavours: Marlborough Seat Salt; Purple and Gold Cracked Pepper; Smoked Parika; and our favourite, the Dill Pickle & Cider Vinegar, which is a dill-infused take on salt and vinegar with a smattering of pickling herbs. Available now from all supermarkets and specialty food stores, $5 a bag.
A taste of Spain on Cuba Street
Wellington’s CubaDupa festival celebrates Cuba Street’s diverse and vibrant culture and this year has a range of activities and events centred around the theme Portal to a Place, encouraging us to “dive into another world”. Liberty restaurant has interpreted the theme with a Spanish tapas menu paired with rare Spanish sherries and Sangria and a series of one-off ‘unplugged’ sets from members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The NZSO will perform Latin-infused sets taking guests on a journey from Seville to Buenos Aires. “We are very excited to be partnering with Liberty in one of the most colourful and creative corners of the capital,” says Greq Squire, violinist for the NZSO. “The mix of Spanish and Latin American music we have chosen encapsulates all that Liberty’s menu represents.” Liberty’s tapas menu has been designed by chef Alex France and includes Gilda (olives with chilli peppers); Lomo Iberico de Bellota (dry-cured pork loin) with Manchego toast, citrus and olive oil; Ortez Anchovy with smoked tomato tostada and lots more. NZSO will perform at 5.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, March 25, and 2pm on Sunday, March 26.
When Duck Island met Coffee Supreme
Serial collaborators Duck Island and Coffee Supreme have teamed up on a new ice cream flavour. Coffee Chocolate Rubble highlights Supreme’s signature espresso blend (which the team describes as full-bodied, rich and crisp with a cocoa finish) with creamy ice cream infused with chocolate and biscuit pieces. Duck Island co-owner Cameron Farmilo says there were a few iterations of this coffee ice cream before they perfected the final product. “We sampled many different versions of this flavour. In the end, we landed on a really creamy coffee-infused sweet ice cream, rippled with fudgy dark chocolate ganache and chocolate cookie crumbles. We think it’s a classic elevated,” he says. Coffee Supreme’s Doug Johns says the team is chuffed to work with Duck Island. ”We see them as a brand with strong parallels to us. They have a focus on quality and being delicious, while making it available to the people. We can get behind that.” Coffee Chocolate Rubble is priced at $12 for 472ml. Find it at selected New World supermarkets nationwide, Farro, Moore Wilson’s, Duck Island Scoop Stores and speciality food stores from late March.
Spotlight on: Hauraki Salt Company
It’s likely you will have spotted Hauraki Salt Co’s distinctive coloured box on shelves at artisan food stores like Sabato, Daily Bread and Cazador. Launched in 2017, it’s quickly gained favour with foodies for its delicious full flavour and sustainable ethos. For Greg Beattie, a love of the ocean, the beach and good food planted the seed for his artisanal salt venture, the first commercially available artisan salt in New Zealand. His suburban salt farm in East Auckland’s Pakuranga sees water collected from the Maraetai/Clevedon coast filtered and solar-evaporated to create salt that “retains its natural and flavoursome minerals, has good-sized crystals/flakes and a smooth taste, with no bitter aftertaste. It’s perfect as a finishing salt, it really does bring out the flavour of any meal,” says Greg. Visit Haurakisalt.co.nz
Enjoy Easter-themed high tea at Cordis
It’s a hive of Easter activity at Cordis in Auckland, with a chocolate fountain and dessert station popping up at Eight Restaurant and an Easter egg hunt for guests, but we like the sound of high tea at the hotel’s Chandelier Lounge. This special Easter high tea, $99 for adults and $55 for children, is available from April 7-10 and includes a glass of Champagne. You’ll find a selection of savoury treats including hot smoked salmon on cauliflower rice and a cranberry, chicken and brie tart with walnut chutney (delightfully nineties). The high tea trolley also contains chocolate and hazelnut tart, apple caramel tatin and pear and vanilla éclair. Plus, children will enjoy the edible version of the Cordis hotel mascot — Cody the Red Panda. To book, call 09 300 2924 or email cdakl.eats@cordishotels.com
