Morningside for (the flash dining) life
A $6 million suburban outdoor dining precinct is set to open its doors in Auckland for the first time later this month.
The 2500 sq m retail and dining facility, in the suburb of Morningside close to Eden Park and Western Springs, has been under construction for most of the year and is set to officially open on November 19.
It will be home to seven food and hospitality vendors including the existing Crave Cafe and new addition Miann, as well as a wedding and functions venue called the Greenhouse, office spaces and a bridal showroom.
“What we have done is bought four buildings that were previously light industrial sewing factories, surrounded by quite a bit of open space which was previously carparking, and built up a building and filled it with food and beverage operators,” Morningside precinct designer and developer Nat Cheshire said. “It’s a bit like what we’ve been doing in City Works Depot, Britomart or Catalina Bay — taking old buildings that were used for something completely different and curating a little mix of people all doing different things but work well together.”
The dining precinct on McDonald St is surrounded by gardens, with around half of it in open-air space.
Cheshire likens the property to a smaller version of City Works Depot.
“Experiences are one of gardens rather than interiors — it’s sort of the opposite of a mall which throws a wall around the edge of a site,” he said.
“It’s about using food and beverage to create a hub for community building.”
Fried chicken outlet Electric Chicken, Bo’s Dumplings and a cider brewery and tavern called Morningcider will also be housed there.
Cheshire, who has spent the past decade “fighting against malls”, says the plan was always to have just a handful of hospitality vendors.
“The idea is that we hopefully just got the balance right so there’s enough to make the whole street the place you might come to.”
Popular pastry and dessert bar Miann opened its third store and a separate chocolate factory on the site in September.
Scottish-born patissier Brian Campbell, founder and owner of Miann which has two Auckland downtown stores, said moving to the suburbs was something Miann had planned to do for a while.
“Getting into the suburbs you have a bit more scope to reach people who don’t want to drive into the city,” Campbell said. “And it means we have the space to start doing cool things like making our own chocolate from scratch.” Miann will make 4.5 tonnes of chocolate in that site to supply to its other stores.
Juliette Hogan will open a bridal showroom in the precinct and businesses will fill the adjoining office spaces.