Proving that great things come in small packages, these micro bags are every bit as chic as their full-sized counterparts — and have us leaving the kitchen sink at home.
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Wanting to capitalise on the beautiful bones of a post-war penthouse in Melbourne’s South Yarra, a busy young professional turned to renowned interior designer Tamsin Johnson to conceive and execute a full renovation.
Johnson was effectively given a creative carte blanche — the client putting crucial decisions in her expert hands — and a relationship of mutual respect was established, which infused the finished home with a sense of calm cohesion.
Adopting a modern, monochromatic palette throughout the apartment, Johnson cleverly laid down foundations on which she added surprising detail, intriguing touches and moments that transformed the residence into a place the client could come home to and entirely relax.
From the sculptural furnishings to the custom-made pieces that Johnson commissioned, including a bronze framed mirror, the bedheads, most of the wall lighting and the entry console. Here, boldness is evoked with strong, steel-framed windows and doors (original features), stoic black chairs and artwork and mirrors made to stand out from the white walls via their darker frames.
At the same time, a light, airy feeling defines the overall vibe of the penthouse, achieved (on the surface) through a liberal use of white tones and natural textures, but inherently down to the way Johnson reconfigured the floorplan, entirely redoing the bathroom and the kitchen. The latter space, according to Johnson, is her favourite in the home.
Dramatic in a subtle, textural way, the kitchen is almost theatrical in its proportions and finishes. Wanting to create something special, Johnson commissioned a local metal worker-cum-artist to create the matte, brushed-metal cabinets and benchtops that make up the shell of the space, and chose to render one corner entirely in Calacatta viola marble — creating a moment that demands a double-take.
Like the rest of the apartment, the kitchen embodies that balance of high design and homely-ness that Johnson does so well — resulting in a residence that is as pretty as it is practical — a crucial combination for a busy client who wanted something low-maintenance and luxurious.
Inspired by the sparkle and stories of classic Hollywood cinema, Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele presents Gucci Love Parade, his second collection in the centenary year of the House. Live from the streets of Los Angeles, stream the full show below.
With the New Zealand government advising masks will be mandatory in alert levels 4 and 3 when visiting essential services (such as supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations) as well as public areas, retail businesses, and takeaways, at level 2, a purchase of a cloth face mask seems mandatory too.
Reusable and washable, these face masks will keep medical-grade masks in stock for those who need them, and will help prevent you from unwittingly spreading anything.
There are myriad stylish options available, so why not look good and protect yourself (and others) at the same time? Please be sure to check the shipping policies on the websites listed below.
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Available from Moda Operandi
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Available from Florence and Fortitude
Available from Adrienne Winkelmann
Available from Superette
Lunches these days are a little lacklustre, as we rack our brains — and reach to the back of the pantry — to find something to make. Trouble yourself no more, as Síso’s Mediterranean-inspired lunch takeaways and moreish picnic packs are here to break up the mid-day monotony.
The elevated and experimental Remuera restaurant is offering a new Síso-to-go menu this week. Depending on what you are in the mood for, the appetising small plates and salads include a spinach pie with goat feta, filo, toasted walnuts and brown butter, a mac ‘n’ cheese with bacon, chilli and fontina cheese and a grilled free-range chicken, fregola and herb salad with olives, pomegranate and feta.
For a pizza pick-me-up, there’s a can’t-go-wrong classic margherita or one delicious dish with Serrano ham, rocket and parmesan. For something more substantial, the large plates offer the likes of lamb ‘kleftiko’ shoulder cut on the bone, with preserved lemon and baby garlic potatoes. The cannelloni with beef cheek ragu, provolone and fontina cheese is the ultimate comfort food. For a special occasion, the speckled Park Beef scotch fillet with confit portobello mushrooms, roasted onion and jus is unsurpassable.
The picnic pack, for four to six people, is a stylish way to graze all day. Among the usual premium platter trimmings, it includes freshly baked sourdough flatbreads, roasted carrot hummus, pistachio dukkah, whipped forest mushrooms, truffle, chicken liver pate, a selection of cured meats and a San Pellegrino Limonata to sip.
To order any of these delights, simply show up to Síso or order over the phone (09 522 6688). The restaurant also offers contactless delivery options for the surrounding suburbs of Remuera, Newmarket and Parnell — for the most effortless meal experience. Keep an eye on its Instagram page for further updates.
This competition is now closed.
We love a micro food trend. When a mouth-watering morsel starts popping up in various guises all over town, it becomes a delicious challenge to try all the different interpretations. Case in point, jam and cream doughnuts. The nostalgic treat has been brought to the fore by some of Auckland’s best bakeries, and you bet we’ll be sampling the selection. Here’s where to find some of the best jam and cream doughnuts in town.
Bacio
We wouldn’t expect anything less from this Jervois Road cafe where nostalgic delights are the name of the game. Among Southland cheese rolls, handmade pies and Neenish tarts, Bacio’s decadent cream doughnuts are hand-stuffed with a generous helping of cream and berry coulis. 212 Jervois Road, Herne Bay
Amano
Auckland’s favourite bakery, as voted by Denizen’s Everyday Heroes, has put its hand to the old school classic, sticking to the cheery long doughnut shape. Available only on Fridays, you’d best be quick to secure your share.
Daily Bread
If you were feeling particularly sedentary, and are based centrally, you could even get Daily Bread’s decadent doughnuts delivered. The bustling bakery’s cream-filled bomboloni is a gently-fried, sugar-dusted, cream-filled oasis — the flavours change seasonally to include a fruit compote or a dulce de leche. We’ll have one of each, thanks.
Mustard Kitchen
Located in Morningside, Mustard Kitchen does a roaring trade in tasty sweets and savouries. Its jam and cream doughnuts are available in round or long iterations, but each tastes just as delicious as the other. 5 Morningside Drive, Sandringham
Baker’s Cottage
Humble yet heavenly, the traditional cream doughnuts from Kingsland’s Baker’s Cottage come as both round and long buns, with the obligatory dollop of joyful jam on top. You can’t beat a classic. 2 New Bond Street, Kingsland
Little & Friday
A sure crowd-pleaser, Little & Friday’s round jam and cream doughnuts are generously sized with an equally generous dusting of icing sugar on the outside. While not the tidiest to eat, that’s half the fun.
With Covid restrictions (enviously!) relaxed enough in Europe to herald the return of the much-loved parade of pomp and circumstance that is the International Fashion Week circuit, the luxury brand designers staged a series of mesmerising ‘welcome-back-from-exile’ shows.
An unmistakable desire to banish the sartorial restrictions that the lockdowns necessarily imposed was clear, replaced with a sense of fun and frivolity. Designers heralded a new era of glamour that celebrates both positivity and inclusivity, and we here in New Zealand are more than ready for it.
With the plethora of new international luxury brands opening in New Zealand in the coming months, we have all this and more to look forward to in the seasons that lie ahead.
Alexander McQueen
Chanel
Burberry
Alexander Vauthier
Balmain
Balenciaga
Dior
Saint Laurent
Fendi
Isabel Marant
This humble slice from Liv Glazebrook of Kitchen of Treats is proof that cooking needn’t be complex to be absolutely delicious. All you need is a handful of ingredients like dried apricots, old-school super wine biscuits and heavenly Whittaker’s Hazelnut Chocolate to create a crowd-pleasing sweet treat. The best part? There’s no oven involved, simply pop it in the fridge.
Hazelnut chocolate and apricot slice recipe
Ingredients
1 packet of superwine biscuits (or plain vanilla biscuits)
½ tin condensed milk
2 tbsp golden syrup
100g butter
½ cup chopped dried apricots
1x block Whittaker’s 250g Hazelnut Chocolate
Method
1. Crush biscuits in a food processor (if you don’t have a food processor crush them by placing them in a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin.)
2. Melt together in a large saucepan condensed milk, golden syrup and butter.
3. Add biscuits and dried apricots to melted mixture, mix well and press into large sponge roll tin.
4. Melt in the microwave Whittaker’s hazelnut chocolate (heat in increments to avoid burning. Spread evenly over the biscuit base.
5. Chill then cut into pieces.
As the warmer season gets in full swing, it’s high time you arm yourself with a plethora of products suited to the seasonal change — out with the old and in with the new, we say. From face masks and hydrating hair oils to beauty powders and body scrubs, these products are sure to have you looking and feeling your best.
Detox the skin
During warmer months, the skin requires treatments that soak up excess oil and unclog pores. Codage’s Purifying Mask, available from Spring Store, is the ideal rescue remedy. Combining a green and white clay emulsion with anti-blemish zinc and clarifying copper, this mask is designed to leave your skin deeply cleansed, shine-free and gently exfoliated.
Dull hair repair
Have your locks looking their shiny, silky best this sunny season with an all-in-one oil that offers real results and easy styling. Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil is a first-of-its-kind hair oil, highly-concentrated and designed to repair and strengthen all types of hair. It also promises to dramatically increase shine, softness, and colour vibrancy, as well as providing UV/heat protection of up to 450°F/232°C.
Switch it up
Replace winter’s full coverage foundation with a softer, lighter tinted cream; it will allow the skin to breathe while still offering sheer coverage and a natural, dewy glow. Bare Minerals’ Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream offers just that, with a three-pronged approach of hydration, natural-looking coverage and broad-spectrum SPF. Plus, it’s available in 20 shades.
Stay sun smart
In between the wintery weather and weeks locked down indoors, it’s easy for daily sunscreen application to have slipped off your radar. Reset your routine and reacquaint yourself with the most essential skincare product in your kit. We recommend Emma Lewisham’s Skin Shield Daily Face Antioxidant, which provides broad-spectrum SPF 30 protection. It goes easily under makeup for everyday lightweight, non-greasy coverage that also replenishes and restores moisture levels.
Exfoliate
Spring marks the return of bare legs and to get those pins primed and ready a rejuvenating, exfoliating body scrub is key. Sothys’ Lemon & Petitgrain Escape Invigorating Body Scrub leaves skin feeling soft and invigorated, with pieces of lemon peel adding a refreshing, exfoliating citrus burst.
Healthy insides
As the saying goes, beauty starts from the inside out. Adding a primo beauty powder to your daily routine now will ensure that an enviable glow is simply effortless come summertime. Try The Beauty Chef’s cult Glow Inner Beauty Powder, available from Inès Store. This vegan-friendly powder promotes radiant skin and good gut health, with 18 certified organic ingredients including collagen-promoting vitamin C, zinc and bio-fermented maqui berries.
Iconic New Zealand winery, Villa Maria, has lent its golden touch to a new release of its range of Single Vineyard wines. Spanning the finest vineyards across four of New Zealand’s key wine-growing regions – from Marlborough to Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne to Auckland, these sensationally sippable wines embody the distinctive qualities and characteristics unique to each terroir.
Terroir, in wine, is a vital aspect of individuality — referring to the climates, soils and terrains that are captured from vine to glass, it is what allows us to enjoy a wholly unique set of flavours, full of nuance and distinction. And this range has that in spades.
From the berry-rich, savoury Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Pinot Noir 2019, hand-harvested from the Awatere Valley in Marlborough, to the seamlessly textured Villa Maria Single Vineyard McDiarmid Hill Chardonnay produced from the 2020 vintage in Gisbourne, this exquisite selection of twelve wines showcases the best of New Zealand’s most highly regarded vineyard sites, taking wine lovers on a journey exploring the individual nuances and the impact of season that shines through in these elegant wines. This combination contributes to their inimitable nature, and with such small quantities produced, they are perfect for marking a special occasion, or as the ideal gift.
A particularly radiant wine from the range is the Villa Maria Single Vineyard Attorney Rosé, harvested in 2020 during a near-perfect growing season. Having received its first BioGro certification in 2012, The Attorney Vineyard is situated in the Southern Valleys sub-region of Marlborough, on a northern-facing block on the dry foothills of the Wairau Valley. This organic Pinot Noir Rosé has aromas of bright red cherries intermingled with delicate rose petals and fresh culinary herbs, and a palate that bursts with ripe strawberries and a creamy texture on the finish.
Another sensational sip as we move steadily towards summer is the Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc — also a 2020 vintage. The perfect accompaniment for warmer weather with vibrant aromatics of fresh garden peas and blackcurrants, a palate of jalapeño and lemongrass adds a fragrant punchiness alongside lime zest and a hint of gunflint. It’s an incredibly dynamic and interesting wine.
Whether you prefer rich and textural or precise and restrained, there really is a flavour profile to suit every proclivity within Villa Maria’s Single Vineyard range, a testament to this beloved winery’s commitment to quality from grape to glass.
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