Fast Becoming a Foodie Trail
General Interest
We’re lucky to be living in an area that’s fast becoming known for its foodie hotspots and experiences. The Bay of Plenty, by virtue of its name, is known as the food bowl of New Zealand. But the innovative people in the cuisine scene are now making the local produce into food to be savoured and celebrated.
Bakeries and cafes
Baked goods in Tauranga are hard to beat. It’s like a hothouse for the extraordinary when it comes to flaky pastries, bread, and buns.
Head into Love Rosie at 50 Ninth Avenue to enjoy the legendary Richie MCaw Brownie with caramel, or a whole host of brioche and sponge creations that make the most of butter, mascarpone, and all things rich, sweet, and delicious. Just around the corner is Love Rosie’s Breadhead shop and if you know bread, you’ll know instantly the artisan nature of this offering. Try the sourdough or rye variants, and peek through the hole in the wall to see the masters of this trade in action on big flour-doused tables.
Visit Spongedrop Cakery in Mount Maunganui to feast your eyes on delightfully neat rows of colourful cupcakes with flavours from vanilla, to red velvet, and chocolate. The sponge is always light as a feather, as is the buttercream topping.
In the artistic surroundings of the Historic Village, you’ll find the traditional – like you’ve stepped back in time – The Whipped Baker. Iced chocolates overflowing with cream and sprinkles meet snickers, raspberry, lemon curd, and salted caramel injectable doughnuts – quite simply, what’s not to love?
Other places to visit are Wildflour on Hull Road, Best Bakehouse on Tara Road at Papamoa Beach, and Elspeth Bakery at the Mount (watch out, you’ll be dreaming forevermore about their light-as-clouds, silky smooth cream slices). All offer a great brew, whether that’s coffee or tea you’re after.
Love Rosie, 50 Ninth Avenue ; Breadhead, 2A St john Street; Spongedrop Cakery, 10 Salisbury Ave, Mount; The Whipped Baker, The Historic Village, 17th Ave South; Wildflour, 5c Hull Road, Mount; Best Bakehouse, 1 Tara Road, Papamoa Beach; Elspeth 2A Terrace Ave, Mount.
Fine dining
Urban sophistication comes in many packages across Tauranga City. The newest of them all is Picnicka in central Tauranga at the city’s transformational multi-use development Thirty Eight Elizabeth. Picnicka has already scooped awards for its interior design, which is as beautiful as any international restaurant. The food is nothing short of a symphony of local produce, celebrated for its flavours and quality. Think freshly shucked oysters, tempura mushrooms, and short ribs from the open-flame grill that adds drama to the affair. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it’s always open, always friendly with exceptional service, and all made for sharing.
Kim and Noel Cimadon, the masterminds behind Picnicka, are also the authors of celebrated Clarence Bistro and Bar Centrale, both in Tauranga CBD, and Alpino at Mount Maunganui. Clarence will host you in one of the city’s few historic and exceptionally-restored buildings – the old Tauranga Post Office. Just to view the restoration is worth the visit. While you sit back in the comfy velveteen bench seats in the restaurant, and peer at the well curated curiosities around you, or perch on the al-fresco terrace at Bar Centrale for a mouth-watering cocktail, you’ll be stuck for choice when it comes to ordering from the menu. It follows a farm-to-plate ethos, specialising in backing, dryageing, and preserving local ingredients. Alpino presents the best of Italy, in view of Mount Maunganui. You can also guarantee a great party atmosphere at both venues, and if you’re lucky you’ll meet Kim or Noel as they wander around the tables talking to guests.
You’ll find Solera located in downtown Mount Maunganui. An intimate setting that feels entirely international and fabulous, presents the best in New Zealand fine wines. Described as a wine bar, don’t be fooled! This place crafts up some of the best food in the Bay. Chefs in the kitchen, which you can sit alongside and be mesmerised, have developed ‘modern hearth cooking’ – a sharing menu crammed full of surprises for the tastebuds, with understated names: smoked cauliflower, grilled cabbage, hasselback potato, lamb ribs, but like you’ve never had before.
And then there’s the establishments of Tauranga: Harbourside and Somerset Cottage. Both are known for their beautiful settings, Harbourside right on the sea down the very bottom of The Strand, and Somerset Cottage housed in a quaint cottage in Bethlehem, and their consistency, excellence, and homely charm. You can also find classics in fish, lamb, beef, and duck, cooked superbly well, and with that ‘where everyone knows your name’ familiarity.
Picnicka www.picnicka.com; Clarence and Bar Centrale www.clarencetauranga.co.nz; Alpino www.alpino.co.nz; Solera www.solera.nz; Harbourside www.harboursidetauranga.co.nz; Somerset Cottage www.somersetcottage.co.nz
Experiences
Foodie experiences have also developed in the region, with innovative thinking at the heart of each one. Kitchen Takeover describes itself as designed to surprise and delight, perfect for brave foodies. Diners buy tickets online knowing only the loose ‘theme’ of the eating event. They know nothing about where they’re going, what they’ll actually be eating and drinking. That is until the very moment they arrive at the secret location which is texted to diners shortly before the event starts. The multi-course menus at each event tell a story and demonstrate edible artistry. Chef’s Shane Yardley and Ian Harrison have worked with the likes of Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsey, Simon Gault, and Alain Ducasse.
Also, via the Kitchen Takeover team, there’s the extra special experience to be had of truffle hunting at Te Puke Truffles. Yes, you read it right, the small group truffle hunts take place on Maureen and Colin’s ‘lifestyle dream’ farm in Te Puke when the black gold is in season between June and July.
There’s the opportunity after your hunt to have a 2-course lunch featuring fresh truffles from Te Puke Truffles at The Trading Post – a beautiful French bistro just a 5-minute drive from the truffle farm. Really showcasing the foodie scene is Taste of Plenty’s food tours of the Bay. If you can gather between 6 and 14 friends together, you can book the showcasing tour, which will introduce you to some local food heroes as you visit and sample the best delicacies from restaurants, markets, specialty food shops, and hole-in-the-wall artisan production facilities.
Produced in what was an avocado packhouse, The Cider Factorie in Te Puna produces anywhere between 8 and 12 different ciders each year. All made from freshly pressed, locally sourced fruit, experience the delicious drops as the cellar door Tasting Room, and then enjoy some more local hospitality at the Restaurant onsite.
Kitchen Takeover secret location events www. kitchentakeover.co.nz; truffle hunting www.kitchentakeover. co.nz/truffle-hunts/; local food tours www.tasteofplenty.co.nz; The Cider Factorie www.theciderfactorie.co.nz
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