Foodies of Auckland, listen up. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can skip supermarket queues and treat yourself to the creme-de-la-creme of lockdown cuisine. Forget loading up a trolley, the only lifting required of you is of your fingertips to your keyboard and placing an order with our country’s fabulous local gourmet food retailers.
From cheeses to chocolate, coffee to all things carbs, we’ve rounded up the gourmet outlets that are delivering premium goodies across the country during Level 3 and beyond. Prepare to get hit with a serious amount of #isolationcreation inspiration, fellow food-lovers, here are the best gourmet delivery services running in the country.
Mount Somers Chocolate Honey
Looking for a little something-something for a mid afternoon snack? How about some chocolate honey to spread on your toast from those legends at Mount Somers. Yes, we can't believe it hasn't been invented before now either. Not content with just one iteration of the dreamy new combo, there are six, count 'em, six delectable flavours to choose from. Will you plump for chocolate and mint honey, chocolate and hazelnut, chocolate and caramel or maybe even chocolate orange? Find the full range here and get ready for a taste sensation.
House Of Chocolate
Lockdown brings endless opportunities for ‘me-time’ and movie marathons—so we sure are stoked that our snack of choice, chocolate, is a legal essential for the occasion. Who are we kidding? We’re ecstatic that chocolate is an essential full stop. What makes us even more over the moon, is that House of Chocolate’s beeeaaautiful bars, truffles and novelty choccies can be delivered straight to our door, no matter where we are in the nation.
Maison Vauron
Maison Vauron may be known for its otherworldly wine cellar, but during lockdown they’ve parked their bottles and are focusing on delivering cheese and dry goodies to foodies. Make a beeline for their website’s gourmet corner and picture yourself in a french market as you add luscious crackers, spreads, biscuits, sweets, caviar and foie gras to your basket, all to be delivered for you to enjoy a picturesque at home picnic. To ensure only the best arrives at your doorstep, cheese is only being delivered to the North Island, non-rural, addresses for now.
Safka
Had to hold fire on your grand Euro adventure? We’ve got the next best thing to tide you and your tastebuds over until it’s safe to jump on a plane and head up north: an online shopping spree at Safka. This boutique specialises in the most delicious goodies from Europe, with a special leaning towards the Nordic and Central European foods you’d expect to see in local pantries. Here you’ll find all the sweet treats, drinks, baking ingredients, crackers, breads and toppings needed to take your senses on a snacking journey, from the top of Finland down to Bavaria.
Sabato
Speaking of delicious at-home European food journeys, let’s take you to Spain and Italy. Or rather, let Sabato take you there. Specialising in all things gourmet and related to the Mediteranian cuisine style, Sabato is delivering charcuterie, cheese, condiments, grains and pasta, snacks ang prepared meals (to name a mere few) through level 4 lockdown. Vegans and gluten free pals, they’ve got your backs too and have special sections dedicated to your requirements on their site. While delivery is do-able nationwide (even to Great Barrier) no-contact pickups are also available: just rock up to their Mt Eden store, open your car boot, give the team a ring, and stay in your car while they load the goodies in. A trunk full of gourmet groceries is livin’ la dolce lockdown vita, if you ask us.
Pic’s Peanut Butter
Cue the mouth watering, Pic’s Peanut Butter is also able to make its way to you during lockdown. For the peanut butter nutters out there, a 2.3kg tub of crunchy or smooth is all yours to dig in to, as well as more pantry-friendly sized jars. You’ll also find boysenberry jelly, almond and cashew butter too—talk about choices galore.
Paneton
Fresh breads, fluffy pastries—what more could you ask for your isolation breakfasts in bed? Paneton has covered all carb bases, and are still offering a selection of our favourite baked goods during lockdown. There’s soft rolls plus fresh barley, sourdough, mixed grain loafs to sink your teeth straight into (after delivery of course) or all kinds of read-to-bake breads. We’re talking doughy dinner rolls, ciabatta and pizza bases to rival any topping that goes on it. Let’s not forget the sweet things: hot cross buns, croissants and pain au chocolats are also available in oh-so-delicious ready-to-eat packs. Better yet there’s free shipping to North Island addresses when you spend over $30.
Harney And Sons
Tea, glorious tea. It’s the immediate way to warm the soul and perk up your system with a splash of caffeine—which we can all agree, can be needed now and then. Christchurch based Harney & Sons, being the legends that they are, are accepting and dispatching tea orders around the country luring lockdown. While it’s still warm-ish in our part of the world, make sure to have a look at their iced-tea range. Trust us when we say that they’re as pretty in the boxes as they are in your teapot and on your tastebuds.
Allpress Espresso
While we’re talking about caffeine, let us bring your attention to the fact that coffee mavens Allpress Espresso have kindly put together coffee care packs for Level 4. There are three types of ‘Home Brew Bundles’ for all levels of caffeination: there’s #1 with everything you need to set yourself up (like a filter cone and papers, ground or whole beans and a canister), #2 fittingly caters for two, and then #3, takes it up a notch and includes a 1.25 litre Technivorm Moccamaster Glass Carafe machine. Oh, and enter the code ‘FREESHIPPING’ for, you guessed it, free delivery on orders over $60. No-one’s missing out on their morning coffee with Allpress being this on to it.
Devonport Chocolates
Contrary to the name, Devonport Chocolates are delivering their chocolates far beyond their namesake town. In fact, they’re blessing us Kiwis with the gift of all things chocolatey, sugary and delicious by delivering to our door. From chocolate truffles and bars to their liquid counterparts, hot chocolate mixes, rest assured that every drop of Devonport Chocolates is utterly divine. Shipping is free for orders over $100 otherwise varies depending on your location.
Pete’s Natural
For some of the tastiest, and—you know it—most natural, craft drinks in the country, take yourself over to Pete’s Natural and order a case of their delish lemonades. There’s nine flavourful varieties in total, which vary from a classic lemonade to lemon chilli, raspberry cola to feijoa lemonade. Buy a pack of 12 or mix your own box of 12 or 20 and get it delivered to your door, no matter where you are in the land.
Cocktail Collective
What’s a list of gourmet services available for lockdown delivery without mentioning the most gourmet liquid of all, cocktails? Bring happy hour to your home in the form of an espresso martini, margherita, Moscow mule or daiquiri (to name a mere few) with the help of Cocktail Collective. They pack each cocktail kit with the creme-de-la-creme of all ingredients, from their very own bottles of spirits, garnishes and syrups to premium tonics, so you can be sure that everything at your door—and later in your glass—is nothing short of premium. Delivery is available to anywhere in the country, so bottoms up cocktail loving Kiwis.
Artisan Choccy From Foundry Chocolate
We're down with chocolate any day of the year—lockdown or not—especially if it's of the award-winning artisan variety. Luckily, Foundry Chocolate have our back with their tasty brand of handcrafted goodness, which is made from just two ingredients (organic sugar and cacao beans sourced from the likes of Peru, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea) for peak deliciousness.
Coffee Pods From Nespresso
If you're anything like us right now, a lack of decent coffee is probably sending you a lil (or a lot) insane. Sadly, it's going to be quite some time before you can sip on your fave barista-made brew again, so drown your sorrows with a cuppa (or ten) from your Nespresso coffee machine instead. Nespresso continue to stock all the capsules you know and love, as well as two new additions—the Italian-inspired Ispirazione Napoli, and Ispirazione Venezia. And if you don't have a machine, well hey, you can order one of those too (George Clooney not included).
Now you've filled your belly, fill your boots with these 7 cool things you can get delivered that aren't groceries.
Image credit: Simone van der Koelen