The Feed | The New Zealand Food News You Need To Know

It's that time of the week again. Get ready to feast your eyes on all the hottest food news from around Aotearoa. We’ve got the inside scoop on all the latest and greatest openings, collabs, events, products and more so you can spend less time researching and more time munching (because priorities, people).

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Sam Low Is Teaming Up With Michael Meredith At Mr Morris For One Night Only

Image Credit: Sam Low | Instagram

Aotearoa fell in love with Sam Low in 2022 when he first graced our screens and went on to win Masterchef. Since then, he has written a cookbook, started a podcast, and really help shape the modern Chinese food scene in NZ. This dinner at Mr Morris will see him stepping foot into the Mr Morris kitchen alongside legendary chef Michael Meredith to create a special menu that travels through the different facets of Chinese food and Sam’s journey to fully understand it. From dishes inspired by the classic Kiwi Chinese takeaway, to regional Chinese dishes and a full journey following Sam’s understanding of progressive, modern Chinese food. Expect lots of caviar, incredible food, and an educational experience. The shared menu costs $165 per person and includes four snacks, two entrees, a main course, two side dishes and dessert, with an additional wine pairing available at $50 per person.

Queens Rooftop Are Warming Things Up For Winter

Image Credit: Queens Rooftop | Supplied

While Queens is one of our go-tos on a sunny summer afternoon, this rooftop with some of the best views in town is equally as wonderful in the winter time. With the roof closed and the heaters on, you get the same incredible outlook without being exposed to the elements. And, in case you need any more excuse to head up to the 21st floor, they’ve adapted their menu for winter, adding in a few warmers to keep you cosy and some seasonal dishes to boot. Favourites from a recent visit included the beef collar with mushroom XO and chilli crunch, the chicken schnitzel with chicken gravy and green salad, and, in lieu of dessert, the hokey pokey cocktail which takes everyone’s favourite ice cream and reimagines it in boozy form with Woodford Reserve, St Remy XO, honeycomb and toffee.

Josh Emett Is Opening A New Restaurant In Central Auckland In September

Image Credit: Josh Emett | Supplied 

Not content with the restaurant triple threat that is Onslow, Gilt, and The Oyster Inn, Josh Emett is adding another string to Tāmaki Makaurau's dining bow with Lottie's which is set to open inside the Faradays department store on Queen Street in September. Named after Charlotte Milne, one of the founding sisters behind Auckland's iconic Milne & Choyce department store, the restaurant will pay homage to the building's history, while creating an all-day dining space that serves the needs of the present day diner. Lottie's will pull inspiration from restaurants in iconic global department stores like Selfridges, and Zach Meads will head the kitchen, joining off the back of four years at Onslow. More info is coming soon, but for now we know there will be afternoon tea and legend-level lunches. 

Sundays Have A Little More La Dolce Vita At Newmarket's Mama

Image credit: Mama | Instagram

The ritual of a Sunday feast is semi-biblical. It either cures the hangovers, or boots away the Sunday scaries. It's a true testament to the nourishing power of food. But, sometimes the Sunday roast isn't for everyone. Sometimes you want something a little more zesty, with a little more Europeam flair. Enter: Mama's Sunday Gravy, a $45 set menu that gets you garlic bread for the table, your choice of mains incuding eggplant parm and the nominal Sunday gravy—lamb ragu with pappardelle—plus chopped salad and french fries on the side and tiramisu to finish. And, of course, there's a series of great drinks to wash it all down. You'll leave ready to attack the week (once your food coma has worn off).  

Brewd Hawt Chicken Co Is Taking Off At Auckland Domestic Airport 

Image credit: Brewd Hawt Chicken Co| Supplied 

Got a trip to Queenstown coming up? Perhaps you're heading down to Wellington? Well, you're in luck: your pre-flight feed just got a whole lot better. Brewd Hawt Chicken Co has officially arrived at Auckland Domestic Airport. Roll up, grab your fave bits, and save them to feast on the plane. You can thank us later. 

There's A New Food Festival Coming To Papakura

Image credit: Plate Up Papakura | Supplied

It seems fitting given it's Auckland Restaurant Month to share the exciting news that Papakura is getting a brand new food festival: Plate Up Papakura. Kicking off on Wednesdsy 15 August and running for two weeks, the festival will span 14 eateries, including Broke Boy Taco, Viet Soul, The Beer Spot, and Red Earth. With an aim to showcase the diverse range of food options in the neighbourhood, the festival will feature one-off dishes and collabs across the fortnight. 

Enjoy A Slice Of The Aegean For The Night At Esther's Yia Yia's Dinner

Image credit: Esther's | Instagram

You can always rely on Auckland Restaurant Month to push the boat out and bring a whole range of special events and new concepts to the city. One that we have our eye on is the Yia Yia's dinner at Esther. Celebrating the nourishing home cooking that has come to define Greek cuisine and the matriarchs responsible for it, chef Sean Connolly has crafted a menu with a series of Yia Yias served as four family-style courses alongside matching Greek wines and genuine stories from the women in the room. And, if you can't make it to the feast, they're still serving a special Greek menu for the entire month of August. Come hungry. 

Bare Wine Have Officially Moved From Their Brown Street Cellar To Richmond Road

Image credit: Elsewhere | Instagram

Auckland fell in love with Bare Wine hard and fast. Their little subterranean nook hidden off a parking lot on Brown Street was a transportive cellar of good times, great food, and exceptional wine. It was the kind of place you'd come and find yourself leaving with a host of friends. Now, the team have packaged up that same spirit and transported it to Richmond Road. They may now be above ground, but the concept remains steadfast and true, with Kane from Elsewhere in the kitchen cooking his European and Japanese-inspired plates, alongside the OG Bare Wine classics (although, we have it on good authority that the accras will sadly be retired from the menu. We may have to host a funeral). 

The Wine Room Has Relaunched Their Epic Sunday Roasts

Image credit: The Wine Room | Instagram

There are few meals in life greater than a really good Sunday roast. The Wine Room are taking this delicious punctuation to the week and dialling it up by 100, with Cloudy Bay wine matches (including bottles from as far back as 2015), and a weekly rotating menu that is guaranteed to include all the trimmings (think bubbling, golden cauliflower cheese, and perfectly cripsy potatoes). This is one of those meals where you might start around The Wine Room’s convivial long table as strangers, but by dessert you’ll be firm friends with your neighbours. As the depths of winter draw in, this is the best possible way to cap off any week.

Bargain Box Is Celebrating 10 Years Of Making Weeknight Dinners Easier

There's something pretty satisfying about opening the fridge and already knowing what's for dinner. As Bargain Box celebrates its 10th birthday, it's marking a decade of helping Kiwi households take the guesswork out of weeknights with quality ingredients, family-friendly recipes and one less supermarket trip to think about. At a time when those sneaky top-up shops and last-minute takeaways can quietly send the weekly food budget off track, having dinner sorted ahead of time feels like a smarter move than ever. Here's to 10 years of making the 6pm scramble a little less chaotic. Find out more here.

Bear Gelato Are Collaborating With Dominion Road Friends On Four Unique New Gelato Flavours

Image credit: Bear Gelato | Supplied

As Aucklanders, we don’t always know how lucky we are to have Dominion Road. Stretching from the city fringe all the way out to Mount Roskill, it’s dotted with incredible eateries all the way down. One of those is Bear Gelato, easily one of the city’s best gelato shops (and this is a town where competition is high). This winter, in an effort to highlight the kitchen talent in the area, they’re pairing up with four of their neighbours at the city end of the street on special edition gelato flavours inspired by the signature dishes at those restaurants. The idea, they say, is to “discover somewhere new for dinner, then wander down the road for dessert.”

Announced today, those four collaborators will be Forest, Ralphs, Famous Eddies and Oohfa. From 7 July until 30 August, each fortnight there will be a new collab, kicking off with Forest (who are no strangers to unique ice cream) and a pairing of frozen treats—goats cheese gelato and pickled rock melon sorbet with a drizzle of fresh dill oil. It’s a good sign of what to expect from these collaborations—that is, the unexpected. We can't wait. 

Hungry for more? Check out the hottest new openings you need to know about here. 

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