World in a Day Foodie Discovery Tour: Eastern Suburbs
Date: 28/05/2011
Start Time: 9:00 am approx.
End Time: 4:30 pm approx.
Price: $110
This is the tour that Nici Wickes joined and praised so
highly! Come and experience a wonderful variety of
foodie discoveries in Auckland's eastern suburbs.
We will visit a French/German artisan bakery, Italian food and
wine importer, UK butcher, spice blend maker, kitchenware
shop and a well-known gourmet food supermarket. Lunch
will be at the fantastic Mexican Specialities.
Transportation, lots of tastings, lunch at Mexican Specialities and
an information pack are included. Bring your shopping
bag!
Here is our last Eastern Suburbs Tour on Saturday, 21 August,
2010:
Praise from Nici Wickes, presenter of "World Kitchen" tv
series and restaurant reviewer for Viva, NZ Herald, who
joined us on this tour:
"I loved the tour from start to finish! Lynn introduced us to
places and products I never knew existed in my own city. It was
fabulous to meet the people behind the businesses and to sample
delicious food all day. A perfect day in my books!"
We received great comments from other participants, too....
"An excellent way for food lovers to spend a day around
Auckland discovering the most hidden gems - thoroughly enjoyed the
day." Jan Dawson, Whangarei
"A delightful, fun, food-filled day!" Another Happy Tour
Participant
Lots of shopping and laughter were the hallmarks of this sold-out
tour. We were honoured to welcome several Finding Flavour
friends who had taken previous tours (clients sounds rather formal)
and they were primed to help us make the most of the day.
We headed to Ellerslie to an artisan bakery, which has recently
been purchased by German Isabel Pasch. We loved coming
here for the organic sourdough French breads and pastries, and now
with the newly arrived German baker joining the French baker
Thierry, we can also enjoy authentic German breads. Isabel
herself enjoys making cakes and pastries (isn't this sounding
better and better?). The new name for the bakery reflects
this dual "heritage"...."Paris-Berlin".
Isabel welcomes
us
The baking team
Goodies to taste
The day may have been early, but our group was up for a wine
tasting at an Italian food and wine importer in East Tamaki.
Liz lead us through the characteristics of a Pinot Grigio, a
Sangiovese and a Dorato Passito Dolce. Italian wines are very
different from the fruit-driven Kiwi product and they are perfect
to enjoy with food.
Liz describes the wines........and tour participant Darren lends a
helping hand
Shopping for Italian food
After a (not so brief) detour to visit a Korean supermarket and
taste kimchi, we drove to the factory kitchen of gourmet Indian
curry sauces and condiments. The dynamic Mel and her husband
Avi were waiting for us and welcomed us with hot cups of chai
tea. This business is a Indian-Kiwi success story due to
their vision and hard work. Mel had kindly prepared a butter
curry made with paneer (Indian soft cheese) rather than with
chicken. Yum! We can attest to the freshness and
quality of the ingredients. The proof to our "seal of
approval" was the many sauces that were bought to take home and
enjoy another time.
Mel and Avi...of Mel's Gourmet Indian at Home
Suitably fortified, we took a break from food shopping to cookware
and utensil shopping...can a cook ever have enough gadgets?
Is it just me, or does everyone else already know that herb
scissors are different from kitchen scissors, and that they have
several blades to make herb cutting much easier? Well, I know
now and have a pair of scissors in the kitchen drawer.
Marianne demonstrates the lemon juicer (these are super!)
Just a short stroll up the road is a butcher worth crossing town
for. Don specialises in hand-made, authentic UK sausages, and
all his ingredients are the real thing. Most of the meat is
organic and free-range, and if you want a special cut of aged meat,
this is the place for you!
Having worked up an appetite after all that shopping (!), we
sqeezed our group into the fantastically popular Mexican
Specialities. Jose and Maria were flat out serving customers,
but the array of foods that kept coming out from the kitchen for us
demonstrated their hospitality. It was an excellent
opportunity to taste authentic Mexican cooking.
Lunch at Mexican Specialities.....ole!
Time to fit in one more foodie visit, and where else could we
go but Farro Fresh? General Manager Michal Haines welcomed us
and we turned everyone loose to complete their shopping lists. We
agree with Michal that New Zealand is boasting more and more
quality, specialist food producers, and it is heartening to have
such enlightened retailers such as Farro Fresh to champion their
cause.
Thanks to our enthusiastic group of foodie adventurers who helped
to make the tour such fun, including the ebullient Nici
Wickes. It was a pleasure sharing some of our foodie finds
with you....and we hope to see you again soon!
"Apart from Farro Fresh, I wouldn't have found any of the other
outlets. A tour of gastronomic surprises in the
suburbs." Helen Shale
"Excellent way to meet similar minded people and get to know the
area better." P. Weekes
Ready to book? Click
here for our online booking form.