Jul 16, 2021 Metro Eats
Hello,
As it’s winter and cold outside (which I seem to mention in every newsletter, as if this is just another medium for tedious small talk), my flatmate has decided to, of course, make ice cream. It is, I have discovered, a long process full of potential errors: you need to make the base (usually vanilla, I’ve surmised), then decide on a flavour, then make all the stuff that needs to go into the ice cream, and then churn it for, like, an hour. I witnessed them make banana bread, cut them all up in small little cubes; gently rub walnuts till the skin came off so they could use it for praline; and use a million teaspoons to gauge the level of banana which needed to mix into the ice cream.
Once they told me that during lockdown they’d actually planned to sell it and had come up with a (very good) Instagram handle and brand name to do it all under, I have insufferably been trying to convince them to press go on the idea. At the moment we’re in brainstorm stage for flavours: I’d been jokingly suggesting we do a natural wine ice cream, in that gimmicky way that I’m sure people would lap up, and then less-jokingly suggesting we do a burnt basque cheesecake ice cream, which I’m also sure people would lap up.
If you’d like to suggest a flavour for us to try, genuinely email me at jean@metromagazine.co.nz and let me know. If we end up doing it we’ll credit you and probably send you a free tub. And I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
— Jean
P.S: BREAKING NEWS: Absolute Auckland icon No.1 Pancake is closing down, and the last time to get its hot, delicious, $6 pancakes are 30 July, so you only have three weeks. This was my go-to when I went to university, waiting amongst the queues for what seemed like ages just to get my hands on the thing I was constantly craving. Run by a family in a tight-knit space, I’d often peer in as they danced around each other’s elbows washing dishes and flipping dough. I remember being quietly cheered when they finally decided to shut at least one day a week for some much-needed time off.
You know what, if you have any No.1 Pancake memories, I wanna hear ‘em (and maybe collate them for a future newsletter). Send through!
What’s happening
Drop by at Star Superette’s Wine Club tonight (16 July) to eat some food by chef Elie Assaf (of Williams Eatery ) and drink some wine, of which they have plenty. $20 corkage.
Grey Lynn cafe Neighbour are celebrating their first birthday, slinging $4 coffees with free oat milk (courtesy of All Good) all day.
Pici is throwing a party (Vibrations) on Saturday 17 July, from 8pm-1am, pouring some special magnums, cocktails and late-night toasties.
It’s your last chance to see the Open Homes exhibition at All Goods in Avondale, where they will be throwing a closing party/seed swap complete with lechon and desserts. Feel free to bring a plate of kai to share. Saturday 17 July, 2-4pm.
If you’re feeling flush, there’s a winemaker dinner at Hugo’s Bistro, with a feast-style menu by head chef Alfie Ingham with seven matching wines from the single vineyard sites of Clayvin and Ridge Rock. $135pp, hosted by Duncan Shouler.
Round 3 of Hero Sandwich House ’s Saturdays (on every second Saturday) will see Lucky Gs pop up, with all profits going to I Am Hope. Saturday 24 July.
A reminder that the Elemental AKL festival has just begun a few days ago, and there’s plenty of food-related events to hit up. If you’re looking to splash out, this New York Brunch event with food by Josh Emett at Onslow , hosted by contemporary artist Martin Basher and his producer/director partner Martha Jeffries looks great, or just hold out for Street Eats down at Shed 10 for some more affordable deliciousness.
Speaking of affordable, hit up the new bar at Cordis (Our Land is Alive) for $7 gin and tonics, $10 martinis and $12 cocktails every Tuesday from 6pm to late.
What’s good
A rare drink endorsement from me (and a double whammy this week!). I went to Omni for dinner and finally got to try one of the Saison Vermouths. I had a glass of the blackcurrant leaf variety, served to me over ice, and it’s bloody delish: sweet, citrussy, fragrant, earthy. I have a feeling all of these bottles are sold out, but you can still find them at selected restaurants.
I also got sent a bottle of the new Peddler’s Gin (#ad, #gifted), which leans into the “Made in China” narrative and uses lots of Chinese-specific aromatics like Sichuan pepper, Chinese Cassia and Buddha’s Hand. You can get a lot of that from sniffing it, and it’s got a nice peppery kick. In case you were wondering, part of the founding team seems to be from and based in New Zealand.
Simon enjoyed Maya BBQ , the Dominion Rd Chinese skewers place that has the “Open Till Die” neon sign out front, particularly the pork belly skewers and the cucumber salad.
Henry wants to share this with you: “When the Metro offices were nearby, I used to be a loyal adherent of Hobson Indian Takeaway’s samosa chaat. I once wrote that it was one of the best $6 you could spend on food in this fine city. Now our offices are on Karangahape Rd, the walk down to that weird strip mall off Hobson St (behind the Dennys) feels a little too far for me to bring back a meal best eaten hot (or at least warm). So, as a closer alternative, I now frequent Mithaiwala on Karangahape Rd for my weekly chaat (I ate it twice this week). I am yet to compare the two directly, but from what it lacks in generous sprinklings of fresh coriander and red onion, it makes up for with its more delicious yogurt and slightly spicier tamarind chutney. And at $7, it is still one of the best value lunches out.”**
**Note from me: I have personally witnessed Henry eat this many times and each time he seems to enjoy it more than the last.
Could I also recommend our whole back archive of Metro Recommends? When Metro was still with Bauer Media and we had a Digital Editor, we used to run a weekly feature highlighting something yum in our city. A lot of it is still relevant and still yum, even to this day!
My favourite one was probably this recommendation I wrote of Tsujiri’s Houjicha soft-serve ice cream, which someone commented on Facebook, “looks like shit. Literally.”
Fantastic
Snack watch
Inspired by the delicious Herr’s Jalapeno Poppers which disappeared into the bellies of the three people working in our office by the speed of light, I’m instating a snack watch section into the newsletter for whenever I happen across something yum and/or different.
This week, I want to direct your attention to these Salted Egg Fish Skins, particularly the spicy “Hot Boom” variety, which we haul back every time we step foot in a country where they’re available. They are deep-fried fish skins (yes, actual fish skin) tossed in salted egg, chilli powder, and various other things that are bad for you. Extremely salty, moreish, and bad for you (each serving contains 93% of your daily cholesterol intake).
As for their availability in New Zealand, it seems like this distributor, Foody, gets them into the country, though they’re all sold out at the moment. I have a feeling you can also sometimes find it (to great expense) in Auckland’s Asian supermarkets, though not always the Irvins brand.
What’s new
There’s a new little espresso cafe in Grey Lynn called Better Me, at 333 Great North Rd.
Looks like a new cafe is about to drop soon in Albany, called Fifty-Five.
New gourmet sandwich shop in Ponsonby! Fat Belly Deli.
