Motorhomes Caravans & Destinations
REPACKAGING THE PAST
It’s satisfying to have a good story to go with a good coffee. At The Old Packhouse Café in Kerikeri, Jill Malcolm was well catered for on both counts
Jill Malcolm enjoys good coffee, and a good story, at Kerikeri's Old Packhouse Cafe
Kerikeri’s Old Packhouse Café is an add-on to the well-known Saturday and Sunday morning markets of the same name. The cafe is open every day from 6.30am, although I can’t vouch for this as coffee at that break-ofday hour, with or without a story, has little personal appeal.
It was 10am before I ordered my coffee and almond croissant and sat down in this rustically charming shed. It has been remodelled and upgraded, but retains the atmosphere of its original purpose. I looked around at the crafted kauri tables, and the decorations fashioned from plantings and old rural memorabilia such as wool presses, rusting milk cans and rough wooden doors. Plump sofas offer comfort, and large fireboxes would warm the space in winter. In another corner, a grand piano awaits musicians who are invited to entertain.
A FARMING HISTORY
I chose a quiet spot and as I sipped an excellent coffee, I began reading the story on the back of the menu. After the First World War the owner of this site, a farmer by the name of Rod Macdiarmid, grew oranges, kiwifruit, and tamarillos, at first sorting the produce in the basement of the home he’d built on the property. As his enterprise grew, he built the cool stores and packing sheds that now house the market and cafe, not just for his own produce but big enough for other growers in the community to also use. He called the complex the Dundee Packhouse. His benevolence was forged by the Great Depression when his family, like many others, were up against hard times. Rod is remembered as a pioneer of the New Zealand fruit industry and was awarded an NZ Order of Merit for his efforts. It is interesting to note that Rod is the brother of Alan Macdiarmid, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000.
In the 1980s, the building was taken over by Rod’s daughter and son-in-law, who used the spaces for a cabinet-making factory, a liqueur distillery and a ceramic studio. Then in 2013, it was bought by current owners Judy and Warrick Hyland. Their idea was to use the buildings for a Saturday market and meeting place that continued Rod’s belief in community, and where local growers and artisans could sell their wares.
The market is ever-expanding and the latest addition, created in two of the old packing rooms, is the cafe which opened in June last year. The idea had been in the owners’ minds for some time, but it was the Covid-19 lockdown that gave them space to do the planning. When restrictions were lifted, the conversion began.
Warrick is a builder and cabinet maker and his skill is evident in the cleverly timbered walls, window frames and replica wooden crates marked with produce logos from the past. The cafe is a triumph in the way it reflects the building’s first purpose and Rod Macdiarmid’s philosophy. The re-created spaces make it one of Kerikeri’s most desirable places to eat.
Of course, the victuals have to match up. “Our focus is on fresh Northland produce sourced directly from the growers and, as much as possible, spray-free or organic,” Judy says. “The menu changes according to the time of the year and the crops being harvested. Some of it is from our gardens, and the products we use are mostly made by local artisans – we sell a selection in the cafe.”
All menu items from salads to slices are made in-house. From the on-site bakery, which has been there ever since the market began, come breads, cakes, sourdough boules, baguettes, almond croissants, pain-au-chocolat, cinnamon swirls and the popular pies with fillings such as curried chicken, pancetta and steak, bacon and mushroom, and steak with oysters plucked freshly from the owners’ oyster farm at Russell.
“Probably the most popular items are our cheese scones,” Judy says. “We bake around 400 a week.”
It is no wonder the food is so tempting. The consultant chef is Neil Brazier whose impressive CV includes Kauri Cliffs, the Pear Tree in Kerikeri and Sky Tower Sugar Club in Auckland.
Judy says it’s a bit of a headache finding the right staff. Nonetheless, she seems to have succeeded. I found them unfailingly cheerful and accommodating (even when I spilled my coffee) and they added much to the cheerful ambience.
“I want customers to leave having found delicious food and excellent coffee at good value, in a friendly and happy atmosphere,” Judy says. If I can’t attest to the 6.30am opening, I can certainly vouch for that. ■
The Old Packhouse Café is open seven days a week. The takeaway cafe is open 6.30am-1.30pm and the eat-in cafe is open 8.30am-4pm. There is plenty of parking.