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".


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Isabel welcomes us              The baking team



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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.

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Liz describes the wines........and tour participant Darren lends a helping hand


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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

  

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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.