As one of New Zealand’s largest hospitality businesses with iconic venues across Auckland — including Amano, Ebisu, Azabu, and Non Solo Pizza — Savor Group knows how to create extraordinary culinary experiences for all.
Its newest offering — Savor Supplies — is here to provide provisions to an uncommonly high standard, hand-picked picked by their own chefs and then delivered to your door. Sourced to the same exacting requirements as its revered restaurants, the gourmet grocery packages include fresh fruit and vegetables from the same growers collective that its top kitchens use.
Think ‘So Sweet’ baby carrots from Invercargill, Nectarines from the family-run Orchard Strode Road in Clyde, and avocados picked from the Bay of Plenty and ripened to perfection under supervision at Savor’s stores.
Whether you’re placing an order weekly or daily, Savor Supplies will make sure you’re well looked after with add ons including restaurant-quality baked goods (including rising-high bread loafs), organic free-range eggs, housemade pasta, pizza, sauces and dips, and freshly squeezed juices.
In addition to bringing you fresh, seasonal produce each week, Savor Supplies will be launching a series of new products almost weekly. Watch this space for a selection of frozen meals, soups, meal kits and more. You may never have to cook from scratch again…
Allowing you to spend less of your time shopping and more of your time creating the food you love, for those you love, we’ve never been so excited to replenish our kitchen shelves with the (elevated) essentials. (Order online by 5pm Sunday for delivery on the following Wednesday, between 12 and 5pm.)
To celebrate Savor Supplies we are giving away 3 Savor Supply Boxes to 3 lucky winners. These boxes will include Savor Supplies’ weekly selection of chef selected fruit and vegetables, bread, juice, Amano pasta kit and pizza kit and more!
There is arguably nothing more worth of investing in that a new pair of shoes. This season’s hottest contenders from the likes of Dior, Balenciaga, Gucci and Chloé are designed to go the distance, taking you from work to the weekend and everywhere in between.
Clockwise from top left: Padded nappa leather sandals from Prada, Birkenstock 1774 Arizona Premium from Workshop, Gianvito Rossi Padded-strap leather slides from Matches, Platform slide sandal from Gucci, Christopher Esber Fontana Crystal Slide from Muse, Bottega Veneta Rubber Lido leather slides from Net-a-porter.
Clockwise from top left: Totême monogram sneakers from Net-a-porter, Anine Bing Dina sneakers from Muse, The Row Marie H Sneakers from Matches, Chloé Nama Mesh Sneakers from Workshop, Malibu Sneakers from Saint Laurent, Walk’n’Dior sneaker from Dior.
Clockwise from top left: Mach and Mach Double Bow Pumps from Matches, Nova Sandal from Louis Vuitton, Christian Louboutin Hot chick pump from Faradays, Square Knife BB Mule from Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo / Mugler Pump from Jimmy Choo, Neous Mago point-toe silk mules from Matches.
From left: Alexandre Vauthier Alex Flat Boots from Faradays, Chloé Edith boot from Workshop, Idole Boot from Dior.
This is one we’ve been wanting to tell you about for a while. From the exceptional experimental eatery that is Pasture, Alpha is an innovative test kitchen, bakery and bistro that is now serving dedicated, dine-in breakfast and lunch.
Since September, Alpha has won over the hearts of locals with an eclectic collection of epicurean breads, pastries and pizza slices to take away from its ‘neo-bakery’. From the salty, sour and sweet Kanelbullars (a Swedish cinnamon roll filled with flavours including black currant, fennel flowers and cacao nibs) to Wagyu or salmon on rye and pork fat pretzels — this first stage offered a taste of something new for Parnell Road.
Crushed peas and burrata on sourdough, Kanelbullars.
Now, the team has decided it is high time to add their dine-in breakfast and lunch menu, which will feed the soul into the afternoon. The first pop-up menu includes rustic and elegant classics, much like what the chefs would create for their partners when at home. Because it’s their kind of love letter, they’ve called it Sonnet.
We’ve set eyes on the hot-smoked salmon eggs benedict royale on a housemade English muffin (which comes with or without caviar) as well as the duck egg en cocotte with summer truffle, garlic cream and Gruyère with shokupan (milk bread) soldiers and pig liver parfait.
This next stage for Alpha is styled as a ‘neo-bistro’, and as such it also includes whole scampi, oysters with elderflower mignonette and a crudites and taramasalata dish made with yesterday’s leftover bread. For dessert, the half grapefruit crème brulée sees the top of a grapefruit bruléed with sugar and a blowtorch, then covered in finger lime, fresh herbs and flowers for a taste that is truly fresh.
Frank’s hot fish sando.
Already a favourite for the Alpha at Pasture set, the Nashville-style hot fish sando has found a permanent place on the new menu. We recommend getting your hands on this supremely light and fluffy sandwich, made with the housemade Japanese-style milk bread that is called shokupan.
And now for an insider tip — Pasture’s famed sourdough with aged butter can be spotted on the menu. With the butter aged for one whole year, and the plate usually saved for Pasture’s tasting menu, you can’t pass it up.
For the other brunch essential, Alpha has partnered with Kōkako on its batch-brew filter coffee, which pairs excellently with the aforementioned black currant kanellbular or a sorrel cream doughnut. Plus, we hear there is also a special Alpha blend on the morning horizon.
Alpha is a concept Pasture chef and owner Ed Verner has been planning since opening his original, six-seater restaurant in 2016. A central aspect was to provide better working hours for chefs who usually work at night for menus with fine-dining flourishes. Having a café to bring the same level of finesse during the day helps balance the scales.
The makers are quite literally front and centre at Alpha, rolling out bread right in front of the diners. The rest of the space is like an inner-city greenhouse with its various plants and produce displayed. With no bookings needed, and space to both dine-in and stop by to pick something up, Alpha is the most approachable offering at the site, while staying true to the same exacting standards of the ground-breaking restaurant that is Pasture, and the modern cocktail bar experience Boxer that meets them in the middle.
At night, Alpha closes to the public and its patrons to become a shrine of creativity and experimentation if Pasture’s talented chefs feel so inspired. The test kitchen is also open to functioning as a community space for classes and lectures, as well as a host of rolling pop-ups and dinner series by up-and-coming chefs. Being such a new concept, no idea is off the table.
To celebratethis innovate new dining experience at Alpha at Pasture, we are giving away brunch for four, including both food and drink and valued at $250.
If a more-sedentary-than-it-should-be lifestyle is leaving your muscles screaming, why not build that core strength to protect your lower back and get a good dose of endorphins while you’re at it? With these online Pilates classes, you don’t even have to leave the house to feel that good burn. From traditional approaches to cardiovascular conversions, these classes offer more results than sporadic stomach crunches in the morning. Booking in virtually with a great Pilates studio will ensure you support these hardworking teachers — as they in turn support you to keep that fitness and flexibility on track.
Wild Pilates Founded by instructor Laura Mohi, this extensive online studio has over 150 classes on offer, with at least one brand new session added every week. Spanning mat, HIIT, targeted and beginner Pilates workouts, there’s sure to be something for nearly every level and ability. If you’re new to Wild Pilates, you can try it out with a seven-day free trial, and start getting those muscles lean, long and strong. www.wildpilates.co.nz
Matworks Pilates Matworks’ physical studio may be located in Remuera, but there’s no need to leave your home thanks to the plethora of classes on offer on its website. Find plenty of free videos on its YouTube channel, (don’t forget to like and subscribe), or browse an even larger selection on FitFlix for a monthly access fee. Matworks also offers dedicated pre-and-post-natal workouts, specially designed for new mothers, and you can find the first week free online. www.matworkspilates.com
Centreline Pilates Although based in Mount Maunganui, Centreline Pilates offers a plethora of pre-recorded online mat classes, ready and waiting for you to rent for 48 hours any time you choose. Every Tuesday at 7am, teacher Maddie Lysaght presents one of these classes via Zoom, whereby you can join her live to get some physically distanced motivation. Contact [email protected] for the link to these Zoom classes and check out the existing library on the Centreline website. www.centrelinepilates.com
KB Pilates Expert Pilates instructor Kelsey Baker teaches at one of our favourite studios, Core Collective in City Works Depot, but she also takes private, in-home classes for her many loyal clients — and offers online classes, too. Carried out over Zoom, Baker will help keep your form on form, so to speak, even from home. www.kbpilates.co.nz
Fluidformat Home Across the ditch (but available online), Fluidform was founded in Australia by Kirsten King and now has a huge following across its three studios for its adaptive, specialised approach. Fluidform at Home launched in 2019 and is now available in New Zealand — members receive a complimentary equipment pack upon sign-up, and can take advantage of workouts designed for some of King’s best-known clients including Georgia Fowler and Lara Worthington. www.fluidformpilates.com.au
Embracing the roaring glamour of the 20s, albeit in a subtle, sophisticated way, the Spanish Queen House by Robson Rak exudes elegance. Taking a 1920’s Spanish mission house in Melbourne’s Southeast and treating it to a thorough renovation for a young family of six, the designers created a space that not only paid homage to its heady origins, but was practical enough to meet the demands of family life, and played into the gregarious, hospitable natures of its owners.
The Cloud pendant by Apparatus, from ECC, and Timothy Oulton’s propellor coffee table, from Coco Republic
Apparatus’ Cloud pendant, available from ECC, hangs in an airy entranceway
The Twig pendant by Apparatus, available from ECC, runs the length of the kitchen’s impressive marble countertop
Doing just that (and a little more) Robson Rak employed a bold palette and luxurious textures — a velvet sofa here, a marble island there — while also embracing subtle details that required more up-close attention. Via a mix of carefully-sourced antique and modern furniture, the authenticity of the home is retained, while a layering of materials — silver grey limestone floors, travertine bench tops, tarnished silver light fittings and veneers — evokes the magnificent lustre of the period in which the house was originally built, and injects the overall finish with a contemporary ‘cool.’
One of the most important features of this home is its archways — a direct link to the structure’s architectural beginnings and a shape that is repeated throughout. From the dramatic steel arched doorway to the curved sofas in the living area, this proliferation of the arch shape acts as a counterweight for the residence’s more robust moments. Circular and semicircular pendants also illuminate the main spaces and small sculptural additions sit atop the furniture.
From the moment one enters the front hall, and is immediately met with a travertine, speakeasy-inspired bar, the tone of the home is set. It speaks to the nature of the owners, who wanted a place to welcome friends, host parties and capture some of that same magic for which the roaring 20s was renowned. The Spanish Queen House is all these things, while still being inherently functional, making it the perfect setting in which adults and kids can co-exist under the same roof.
As we try to savour the last taste of summer, Sauvignon Blanc is the drop we often find ourselves reaching for. But since indulging in Butterworth Estate’s Te Muna Sauvignon Blanc 2020 of late, a wine that we would usually associate with long warm evenings, we’re starting to realise that a wine this good shouldn’t be reserved for summer soirées alone.
With grapes sourced from the Estate’s Julicher Te Muna Vineyard, six kilometres from the main Martinborough township, the climate is similar to that of Burgundy. Long cool summers and low rainfall provide the optimum long ripening conditions, for a taste that lingers on the palate.
Bringing together both the old and new worlds of winemaking, the vines are tended to by hand, and are sustainably grown on a smart trellis system. At this spot, the vines are naturally low cropping, which leads to naturally high-quality fruit — the pick of the harvest.
The soils of the Te Muna Terraces are free-draining alluvial gravel, which means they are rich in minerals. With masterful techniques and time spent in French Oak barrels, the aroma of the Te Muna Sauvignon Blanc 2020 has a grapefruit pitch with tropical fruit salad and freshly crushed sage and basil. An undertone of cracked vanilla bean adds a hint of oaky complexity underneath.
Twelve months on Gross Lees has given a viscosity to the palate that is beautifully juxtaposed with the racy acid line from the ripe Sauvignon Blanc fruit. Textural with fabulous length, this wine is best enjoyed among great company, with divine seafood delights and, preferably, a sunset.
Well, the world outside is frightful — but inside the luxury emporium that is Faradays, there’s always something delightful. In one of the good pieces of news we have heard this week, the flagship Faraday’s Bar is now open Sundays, by popular demand, for a weekly culinary celebration.
Reserve a table between noon and 4pm on any Sunday from this week onwards, and you will be able to indulge in an exquisite pairing of Veuve Clicquot’s voluptuous La Grande Dame 2008 with an Omakase Nigiri Box (by Anthony Price of Private Fine Dining fame).
Japanese for ‘trust the chef’, Omakase is always deliciously decadent, and Price’s take on a colourful yet refined Nigiri Box will proudly feature the finest ingredients from around the world. Resting atop a display of koshihikari rice, the gastronomical delight includes the likes of New Zealand kingfish, Mount Cook alpine salmon and deepwater scampi, Hokkaido scallop with ikura, A4 Wagyu beef with crayfish aioli and truffle fries, and zebra cuttlefish ink tamagoyaki with crayfish mayo and Oscietra caviar.
The perfect pairing is also the ideal accompaniment to browsing Faradays’ exquisite ready-to-wear and home décor offering from a coterie of coveted brands, including Givenchy, Alaïa, Loewe and Alexandre Vauthier.
If, like us, you think you’ll be in need of a treat by the time Sunday comes around, we recommend booking in today to ensure you have something to look forward to.
Bookings are essential. Call (09) 217 1017 or email [email protected] to make a reservation.
Staying up to date with the cultural churn can be a struggle, given the constant release of new watching material. Whether you’re a sci-fi buff, a fantasy fan or love a salacious, based-on-real-life drama, there’s a show for you to sink some streaming hours into. If you’re after something to watch but can’t for the life of you think what to choose, check whether you’re tapped into the zeitgeist with these recently-released series that garnered a hefty amount of hype.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX22D65TqAs
Yellowjackets A gripping series that melds a tale of survival and coming-of-age drama, with some psychological horror thrown in for good measure, Yellowjackets follows a high school girls’ soccer team who survive a plane crash, stranding them in the remote northern wilderness. Flicking between the present day (albeit, with no Covid-19) and that fateful time 25 years prior, the series chronicles the often horrifying events that occurred while they fought for their lives in the woods, and the lives they’ve tried to rebuild since. An excellent cast that includes New Zealander Melanie Lynskey, plus Juliette Lewis and Christina Ricci makes this even more of a must-watch. Watch on Neon.
And Just Like That… There’s no denying we were curious to watch And Just Like That to see how the show’s creators follow up one of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of our generation, and to see if there still seems to be sex in the city. With no more Samantha, or (you must know by now) no Big, And Just Like That follows a new dynamic, where Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte, are joined by several friends new and old to make sense of their new life, from post-pandemic brunching to break-ups and non-binary dating. As you may have seen on social media, there is no shortage of memorable fashion moments in the series, including one croissant coiffed gown, courtesy of Valentino, worn for the final episode in Paris. Watch on Neon.
Inventing Anna In news that likely excited its real-life character, Inventing Anna follows the trail of the infamous Anna Delvey, who charmed and conned New York’s social scene. While it was inspired by a New York magazine article by Jessica Pressler, who also serves as a producer, it goes much further, delving into previously unnamed characters and chronicling events right up to Delvey’s trial. Overseen by Shonda Rhimes, this is a salacious and high-drama mini-series. Watch on Netflix.
Cowboy Bebop Next up for a live-action adaption series is Cowboy Bebop. Like the cult-followed anime series, it sees a bounty hunter and his eclectic crew chase outlaws through the cosmos, and run into trouble with an interstellar crime syndicate, over 10 episodes. The jazzy space Western was filmed, in part, in New Zealand. Watch on Netflix.
The Wheel of Time Game of Thrones fans have finally found the next fantasy series to binge. Based on the popular fantasy books of the same name, The Wheel of Time takes place on a fictional future Earth where magic is real. A band of acquaintances, led by Rosamund Pike’s character Moiraine Damodred, set off in search of the Dragon Reborn, prophesied to either destroy or save humanity. Watch on Amazon Prime.
Inside Job Imagine a world in which conspiracy theories like ‘The Illuminati’ and ‘Deep State’ are real. In this comedic cartoon for grown-ups, they are — and company Cognito Inc. is in charge of managing them. Tech genius Reagan Ridley leads a somewhat inept team, and much amusement stems from their atypical workplace dynamics. Watch on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-XIRcjf3l4
Midnight Mass From the creator of the thrillingly beautiful The Haunting of Hill House comes Midnight Mass. this chilling series introduces us to an isolated island community that experiences miraculous events, as well as increasingly troubling omens, after a charismatic yet mysterious young priest moves into the divided town. Watch on Netflix.
Foundation Before there was Star Wars, there was Foundation — widely regarded as the greatest work of science fiction of all time. The sprawling, award-winning novel trilogy by Isaac Asimov takes place over thousands of years, and creators have tried to turn it into a television series for over 50. Finally on our screens, the series chronicles a band of exiles as they try to save humanity amid the fall of the Galactic Empire. For once, ‘highly-anticipated’ is an understatement. Watch on Apple TV+.
Comfort food is on the menu this week, and, fortunately, we have another new burger joint for you: Cheddar.
The brainchild of Otis Conaghan (who has a creative background in production and editing work before moving to the burger-side), Cheddar took two years of trial and error to open. Having grown up in Avondale, he and the team wanted to create a new experience for the area — one that is excellently executed.
Of course, the quality of a burger starts and finishes with its bun, and Cheddar’s soft and fluffy potato buns are made fresh by a local baker every morning from a recipe they worked on together. Then, there’s attention to detail throughout, with all the seasonings, and mayonnaise, ‘zingzang’ and buffalo sauces (for the buffalo wing sides) made proudly on site.
Sinking our teeth into more of the components — The Big C, Cheddar and Cheeseburger are made with grass-fed beef from Wilson Hellaby. For chicken-lovers, the Spicy, Deluxe, and classic Chicken Sandwich rely on Bostock Brothers in Hawke’s Bay. Any way you slice it, both types of meat are processed as halal, and Cheddar is looking to gain certification for the full kitchen in the near future.
In the heart of Avondale, the small store has a modern-industrial feel, but warmed with organic materials. It’s designed to ensure Cheddar’s classic stacked burgers are made as quickly and consistently as possible. Whether you live in the area or feel like a drive, the bright buns at Cheddar are here to prove it can do burgers, but better.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday: 11:30am — 9pm
Cheddar Avondale
1879 Great North Road
Avondale, Auckland
Inspired by the chain-link fences on the streets of New York City, Tiffany & Co. has transformed a familiar shape into something far more elegant and refined for its latest collection. Celebrating the strength of character and unspoken understanding shared by the city’s residents, the Tiffany Knot collection — much like its inspiration — is rebellious in spirit, but with an innate elegance.
Tiffany knot collection.
“New Yorkers are individualists who are also a part of something larger together,” says the storied jewellery house. The spirit behind the Tiffany Knot is subversive and audacious, a tribute to a strong sense of self and a certain state of mind that lends itself to ‘making it’ — a goal synonymous with the forward-facing hustle of The Big Apple.
As seen on ambassadors who have certainly ‘made it’, in-demand actress Anya Taylor Joy and Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu, the collection is a study in contrasts. Smooth, organic loops culminate in visually sharp, pointed edges. The collection’s hero piece (a double-wrap choker) is showstopping in a uniquely subtle way; hand-set with over 300 diamonds, it is the epitome of chic without being overly ostentatious, contemporary and just as beautiful peeking out from a crisp white shirt as it is paired with an elevated ensemble.
Tiffany Knot pieces in the making.
The knot design is doubly clever in that, on the collection’s bracelets, it hides the clasp. This makes for a seamless design that symbolises the power of connection — a worthy and important sentiment at any time, but even more poignant now than ever.
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