Books of the week
New Zealand Restaurant Cookbook edited by Delaney Mes, photography by Liz Clarkson (Penguin)
Food writer and restaurant reviewer Delaney Mes gives us 50 upbeat mini-profiles of eateries bundled with a recipe or two from their menus. This is a well-worn path, notably blazed by Michael Guy. But it’s an idea that doesn’t date because the restaurant scene changes so much. I say restaurants, but also included are breweries and wineries in a nod to our new love of casual dining out.
This is a Swiss Army knife book, with multiple uses: it’s a snapshot of eating out in 2017, a credible line-up of some of the country’s top spots; and a useful road trip guide to great eating out choices. It’s also a recipe book – though this tool is perhaps the least useful. Many recipes seem more about kitchens showing off than a genuine ‘‘try this at home’’.
Who would seriously tackle the blueberry chia jam and labneh tart (start the labneh a day ahead), or the complicated six-part Black Forest Volcano? Not me, but I’ve noted they sell it. Mes has a bright, clean, approachable writing style that isn’t too gushy, although these are definitely not reviews.
The South Island contributes 15 places and the North Island 35. You want to know what they are, right? That’s why you’ll buy the book. You’ll look up the favourites you know, ponder the unknown and enjoy how the sun was always shining when the photographer turned up. The Betrayal by Kate Furnivall (Simon and Schuster) $35
It’s easy to see why Kate Furnivall has so many fans. Although The
Betrayal is my introduction to her page-turners, it is unlikely to be the last – she keeps you guessing right to the end with tight writing, engagingly vulnerable main characters, and a sense that there just might be more than one betrayal in the wind.
It is Paris in 1938, Romy and her twin Florence could not be more different.
Romy flies planes, wears drab clothes when not in her flying suit, lives in a squalid dive with empty whisky bottles under her bed, and hates Hitler. Florence lives in a mansion, wears designer clothes, and, with her husband Roland, collaborates with the Germans.
But the two share a fierce bond with each other and unconditional love for Florence’s daughter Chloe´ . They are even more tightly bound together by a secret – a secret that has ruined Romy’s peace of mind and keeps her living on the edge, fearing discovery.
As Romy gets more involved with the anti-Hitler movement, she is increasingly at risk – something she doesn’t mind too much because her life is in ruins anyway. The pace picks up and the reader is swept into the fear and breathtaking danger Romy and her lover Leo face – a danger only heightened by the facts we all know about Hitler and his hunger for war.