Cafe chat: // movers and shakers
New owners open Astro Lounge
Astro Lounge, Cook ’N’ with Gas’ beer garden, has reopened after a change in ownership in the middle of last year. The Worcester Blvd establishment had maintained a loyal following since 1999.
Astro Lounge is once again offering live music, creative cocktails, sharing plates and more, in a relaxing, al fresco atmosphere.
Many of New Zealand’s best craft beers and wines are on offer and the specialty cocktails consistently delight drinkers. One crowd favourite, the Gastropolitan, features cointreau, vodka, passionfruit, lime, and cranberry juice.
Another, the Gasoline P3, is made with peach schnapps, Pimms No 1 and pineapple juice.
The ‘‘universal platter’’ boasts olives, pork belly, fried chicken, potato skins, fries, jalapeno poppers, fish and chips, salt and pepper squid, and salads.
Burgers, such as the buttermilk-fried chicken with bacon and jalapenos, are juicy and well sized.
23 Worcester Blvd
The Butcher’s Pie Shop opens
Jason Kupe and his family started making pies 12 years ago at a Hororata cafe. Now they churn out more than
1000 pies a week (still made by hand), and have moved their shop into the central city, as part of the popular Riverside Market development.
A butcher by trade, Kupe selects all the meats, carves each piece himself and slow cooks the cuts to achieve the perfect pie filling. No thickeners are ever used, just high-quality meats and vegetables.
The most popular flavours are pork and apple or steak and cheese.
If you’re really hungry, opt for a pie meal, which comes with mushy peas, mashed potatoes, gravy, and fries. Keep an eye out for late-night hours soon.
96 Oxford Tce
North Canterbury Wine and Food Festival
Head to Waipara on March 7 and 8 to celebrate North
Canterbury’s status as one of New Zealand’s ‘‘coolest little wine regions’’.
At the North Canterbury Wine and Food Festival, you’ll be able to meet local producers, makers and growers of all sorts. You can try bites from Utopia Ice, The Burger Joint, Inati, and Grater Goods.
Of course, you’ll also be able to savour drops from vineyards, including Black Estate,
Try this
Coffee Embassy Espresso Bar
107 Fitzgerald Ave
If you’ve been to Ally & Sid, Engine Coffee Brewers, or any number of the city’s top cafes, you’ve probably tried Coffee Embassy’s all-star product: coffee beans. Since 2014, it has been importing, roasting and supplying local cafes with beautifully roasted beans.
Head to the Fitzgerald Ave retail shop and espresso bar to experience its coffee on all levels. Espresso, two exotic filter coffees, and the signature cold-brewed nitro coffee are always on offer.
The filter coffee, single-origin roasts rotate to mirror the global harvest seasons. Delicious on its own, the nitro coffee also features in specialty drinks such as the nitro-mocha, made with Lewis Road Creamery chocolate milk.
If you like what you’re sipping, take some home with you. The retail section makes it easy to stock your office or home with the right kind of beans.
The team can answer all your coffee-related questions and, if you’re after a nibble, be sure to check out the espresso bar’s selection of homemade cafe fare.
Terrace Edge, Mount Brown, and Greystone.
Meanwhile, at the Talk Tent, listen to producers and growers debate ‘‘sustainability, terroir and tu¯ rangawaewae’’. You can even take a craft class by Mrs Bottomley’s Flowers or Rekindle with the kids. It’s an annual event that’s not to be missed.
The festival begins at 10.30am and finishes at 5pm. Glenmark Domain, Waipara Valley
Life & Style editor: Emma Chamberlain, emma.chamberlain@stuff.co.nz; Advertising inquiries: adsales@press.co.nz, 03 943 2451