Dec 9, 2024 Metro Eats
Kia ora,
Earlier this year, after wrapping up my first issue at Metro, I remember (naively) mentioning in one of these newsletters how calm everything seemed as the deadline approached. Fast-forward to our print deadline for our Summer 2025 issue last week, and I’m eating my words. The lead-up was chaos – made worse by me being stuck at home with Covid.
That said, I think that just maybe, that frenzied final run worked in our favour – it sounds a little woo-woo, but this issue has a very good energy to it. Anyway, you’ll find it on shelves in the next couple of weeks – supermarkets, dairies, bookshops – or waiting in your letterbox if you’re a subscriber. The focus of this issue leans toward the daytime, with features like our Top 50 Wines and Top 50 Cafes, Christmas gift guides, profiles of interesting people, and reviews of places, books, and films. We even tried something new, a logistically ambitious (see: complicated) project where we set out to capture a single day in the life of the city through the eyes of a bunch of Aucklanders – I think we pulled it off, and in the process learnt so much more about Tāmaki Makaurau and the threads that tie us all together.
Hei konā mai,
Charlotte
Comings and goings.
MEDITASTE, a grocer selling products imported from Italy, Greece, France, Spain, and the Middle East, has just opened in the former Huckleberry Farms site in Grey Lynn. It’s the second location for Donald Montes and Emily Tsaliagkou, who moved from Athens to Auckland 14 years ago and who own the Little Greece store in Browns Bay. I ducked in last week and carted away a block of manchego, frozen pastéis de nata, and a couple of kourabiedes (my favourite biscuits in the entire world), which they import from Greece. They’ve got a lot of interesting, difficult-to-find stuff in there, but the cheese section alone is worth the visit.
STONE OVEN CAFÉ, which has been a Devonport favourite for 20 years, has been given a new lease of life by new owners Dani Donovan and Brendan Kyle, who have taken over the reigns. They’ve given the 100-year-old building a facelift with lots of autumnal hues, and the menu a zhush with breakfast staples (pancakes, eggs, mince on toast) plus a few more offbeat dishes, like the especially delicious sounding salmon nicoise.
A new-ish Detroit-style pizza spot called SQUARE PIZZA has recently opened in Panmure. Detroit-style pizza typically has a thick, crisp, chewy crust thanks to the high-sided rectangular pans they’re baked in – hence the “square”. In Panmure, you’ll find a bunch of traditional cheese and tomato iterations, but also some Indian-inspired toppings. It looks like there are outposts planned for Takanini, Manukau and Botany Downs, too – keep an eye out.
A subsidiary of Jason Lee’s ( Waku Waku , Katsu Katsu ) udon and onigiri shop TSURU TSURU has opened in Westfield Albany. The offering looks much the same as the Newmarket store which opened earlier this year, serving six variations of udon, from the more paired back kake and kitsune varieties, to the more unique, like nikujiru udon which comes with a dipping dashi broth and thinly sliced beef. And almost all between $9-$11, which seems like a very decent price.
269, the very audacious food complex which has been years in the making, opens this Saturday in Parnell. If you’ve driven past you’ll have probably noticed by the Disneyland-esque yellow facades of the expansive site, which is the brainchild of Parnell landlord/ developer Kevin Harvey, son of Les Harvey (who helped reinvent Parnell Rise as Parnell Village in the later half of the 20th century). The idea is that seven permanent spaces will be open all week and a bustling market with a European, Mediterranean and Latin American theme will pop up during the weekend. We popped in for Middle Eastern bites, Brazilian barbecue and beers on a sunny afternoon earlier this week and had a lovely time.
The Viaduct Harbour has a new cocktail bar called BAR MEA, from the team behind Parasol & Swing. The pint-sized space (just 14 seats) opened at the end of November with rare spirits and bespoke cocktails (one of which costs $105) and is open Thursday to Sunday, 4pm till late.
There are a couple of summer reshuffles along Karangahape Rd that feel worth a mention. APERO has brought back their superette with take home options. Yes, you can get the sausage by the metre to take away. And, ROSES has slightly earlier opening hours, from 3pm through December, which means you can bathe in the sun at one of their streetside tables with a nice glass of wine and something to nibble on even earlier.
Fair Food, a West Auckland-based food rescue and redistribution charity, are doing a 12 days of CHRISTMAS AUCTION with a whole lot of cool food and non-food things up for grabs in order to raise pūtea for the work they do. There’s a ONE OF A KIND ISLAND GELATO CAKE that sounds especially fun.
Hot.
Irani cafe at V.T. Station (Every Sunday Morning 8am-2pm)
Stargazy pie
The return of cold dinners. (E.g. cold soba noodles or gazpacho.)
Slow Koi in Strand Arcade. (The coffee and matcha are excellent – but this place urgently needs better chairs.)
Kesar pista ice cream at Subi’s Desserts
Long cakes
This very interesting piece on the political history of the fork
Not.
Restaurant reviews that include comments about what staff look like.
Bringing back livestock exports.
Worse still, bringing back livestock exports without the promised public consultation process.
The return of needles in food.
