Brunch soars to new heights
FPHOTOS: LORNA THORNBER/STUFF orget avocado toast, there’s a new brunch option threatening to separate Kiwis from their savings.
Australian demographer Bernard Salt caused a furore so epic it was dubbed ‘‘avo-gate’’ in late 2016 when he suggested millennials were struggling to save for home deposits because they were wasting money dining out on avocados on toast.
But even ordering a pimped up version of the brunch favourite – ‘‘smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more’’, as Salt said he’d seen ‘‘young people’’ do – can’t compare to dropping $450 on New Zealand’s newest brunching option: the helibrunch.
Millennials saving for their first homes probably aren’t the target market for Heletranz, the Auckland-based helicopter tourism company that has just launched the brunches.
But Swede Sofia Ambler, who co-owns the company with Kiwi husband John, says their clients are a diverse bunch, ranging from families who’ve saved for three months so granny can cross flying in a helicopter off her bucket list to former US president Barack Obama, who flew with the company on his visit to New Zealand in March.
Heletranz also specialises in aerial filming and photography – its film credits include the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia trilogies – so you can rest assured that you’ll get good photo and video opportunities.
For the slow to get going on weekend mornings, even the simplest of brunches can be deliciously luxurious.
Awake at an indecent hour, throw on your most comfortable attire and make your way to your favourite feeding and watering hole to indulge in the edible equivalent of curling up on the couch with Netflix. And, if the hair of the dog is called for, a cheeky bloody Mary or mimosa.
But the heli-brunch, which Ambler says is a first in New Zealand, takes things to a whole new level.
As kids, my dad – a former news photographer – would regale my sister and I with tales of being tossed about in a chopper by Cyclone Bola like a fly in a washing machine, so I was slightly panicked by the idea of getting into one myself for the first time.
Fortunately, the rain-soaked night had given way to a fairly clear day and, seated in the middle of the back row in the seven-seater Eurocopter EC130, I felt only excitement as the propellers began to whir and we were suddenly airborne. Actually make that excitement and smug satisfaction – there’s nothing quite like looking down on the snarling traffic you’d been stuck in only minutes earlier and taking the aerial shortcut to your destination.
I kept an eye out for Kim Dotcom’s former mega-mansion as we flew over the patchwork green fields and burnt-orange vineyards of West Auckland wine country.
I didn’t spot it but it was still fascinating to have a bird’s-eye view of the sprawling properties in those parts – you see much more than from a commercial plane.
Within 15 minutes, we were at the Hunting Lodge, a familyowned restaurant and winery on a 32-hectare estate in semi-rural Waimauku. Knowing the restaurant is presided over by Des Harris, the multi-awardwinning former executive chef at Auckland’s Clooney, my stomach began rumbling the moment I clapped eyes on the cute white villa that houses it. And when we stepped inside and smelled bacon, I was praying the chefs were as fast as they were reputedly talented.
Harris explained that the food is far more relaxed than the finedining fare he prepared at Clooney; heartier and made using local and seasonal produce. The restaurant is developing a permaculture garden to grow its own vegetables and local farmers have agreed to supply it with meat exclusively.
The interior is certainly in tune with the pasture-to-plate philosophy.
The short brunch menu is comfort food at its finest: classic dishes with innovative twists. Think potato rosti with housecured duck prosciutto and duck heart sauce, and a divine-looking amalgam of bread, fried egg, ham, melted cheese and mushroom sauce that looks like a cross between a croque monsieur and a Kiwi cheese toastie.
Two of our group of seven ordered the big breakfast and, clapping eyes on it, I immediately wished I had too. The fat potato rosti, eggs fried in lardo (pork back fat that has been cured in herbs and salt), and black pudding, are complemented by slices of bacon so thick they could be mistaken for pork belly.
I opted for the omelette, which arrived perfectly cooked – big, fluffy, lightly flavoured with parmesan cheese and accompanied by thinly sliced radishes in a dressing so divine it made me realise I don’t hate radishes after all.
Two of the group ordered the seasonal juice, and when tall glasses of mandarin juice, most of the rest of us did too. I had already had a short black, which was excellent, but the juice seemed to do even more to dispel my late-morning lethargy.
With 90 minutes until the helicopter departed, we took our time eating, then checked out the nearby wine cellar and vineyard before collapsing on to chairs on the sun-drenched veranda.
I was in the front row of the helicopter on the way back, and was so captivated by the scenery I took photos until my phone storage was full. For an extra fee, you can be flown past the Sky Tower or over the west coast beaches, but even the direct route back with Rangitoto and the city on the horizon is super scenic.
Two hours after we’d initially set out, we’re back at the helipad and I’m wishing I’d become a helicopter pilot. Is New Zealand’s possibly most extravagant brunch worth it? If you’re not saving for a house deposit, absolutely.
And even if you are, as the reaction to avo-gate showed, there is nothing wrong with treating yourself every once in a while. ● The writer was a guest of Heletranz and the Hunting Lodge.