In the daytime, The Larder’s plain decor and food cabinets suit its description as a diner or coffee shop, but after dark it has loftier ambitions. After all, few coffee shops start the meal with an amuse-bouche, but we were served demitasses of sweetcorn soup with parsley-infused olive oil. The emphasis was on ‘sweet’, though […]
The first passenger we put in the rear seats of the new BMW 2 Series Active Tourer promptly fell asleep before we cleared Ngauranga Gorge. “This is good,” I thought. “Peace and quiet all the way to Waikanae.” On the return journey, passenger 1 swapped places with passenger 2, meaning the 12-year-old could play with […]
To celebrate the international launch of the new M‑series, the BMW people gave me a choice between the new M3 — the four-door sedan version — or the M4, worth about $10k more but with two fewer doors. Knowing that at least some of the test kilometres would be done with two excited passengers demanding […]
Relative newcomers Maranui and Spruce Goose might get the views and the queues, but Elements is still quietly serving brunch and lunch to Lyall Bay locals. The menu is hearty yet sophisticated, offering goat’s‑cheese soufflé and a salad of balsamic roast pear, fig, baby spinach and smoked brinza cheese, as well as old-school breakfast standards […]
Many features of Poneke betray its Mojo heritage, but with some notable differences. For a start, the Martin Bosley influence means that there’s more emphasis on meals, not just coffee and snacks. Among the highlights are grilled sourdough bread with roasted feta and grapes, and a deliciously light and maritime take on pizza (smoked kahawai […]
And by casual, I really mean casual. Some critics consider a restaurant with $40 mains ‘casual’ if the sommelier isn’t French, but for the majority of us it means we’re in danger of ketchup stains, spilt BYO Shiraz and the occasional seagull attack. The biggest trend I noticed while selecting a new batch of cheap […]
Vera Brittain’s memoir Testament of Youth is a heart-rending lesson about the First World War and its effects. As you read, gobsmacked by the forces that swoop in and pluck off everything and everyone Brittain loved, her outrage — at injustice and preventable death — informs every step of her story. Aged 21 in 1914, […]
The past, we’re often reminded, is another country. It’s still inaccessible to even the worldliest of 21st-century travellers; good luck working out the status of forces agreement necessary to traverse that hostile terrain. You’ll make better headway from your sofa. Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the “End of History” back when CDs were new and the Gulf […]
Public criticisms of the established New Zealand music industry aside, Ian ‘Blink’ Jorgensen might be best known for organising the well-loved Camp A Low Hum music festival during the late 2000s/early 2010s, and running Wellington’s excellent Puppies music venue between late 2012 and early 2014. However, when I first met Ian 15 years ago, he […]
We’re told that Whitebait is not just a relocated White House; it’s part of the trend away from stilted ‘fine dining’ to a more casual experience, though still with high-end food and pricing. There are no certainly no white tablecloths, but there’s also no mistaking this for a rambunctious diner. The conversation was a polite, […]
