Stories

Make your Christmas planet-friendly with Green Dinner Table’s absolutely lip-smacking Christmas menu. The main event is a too-good-to-be-true maple and cranberry glazed Grater Goods furkey with herby cider gravy. Then you’ll be eating til you’re stuffed with new potatoes, mint, celery and smoked aioli, sugar snap peas with hazelnuts and sumac butter, stone fruit and tomato salad with avocado, bitter lettuce and cherry vinaigrette, and roast sweet peppers, feta and candied almonds. Green Dinner Table’s Christmas menu feeds four to six, is just $200, and will be delivered Christmas week. All the ingredients you need you need are delivered to your door in one handy package, and you cook it fresh on the big night. Thought vegan meant you wouldn’t need an elastic waistband this Christmas? Yeah, you were wrong. greendinnertable.co.nz

The Drifting Table is a new yakitori joint that comes to you – it’s a portable operation for small events run by the charismatic Chef Yuki Maekawa. Chicken. Beautiful, smoky, marinated, charcoal grilled chicken. That’s what yakitori is all about. Everything else is a beautiful accompaniment. The skewers and tenderloins are all perfectly cooked without a hint of dryness, and the different seasonings complement the smoky charcoal flavour. Our favourite is the yuzu and pepper sauce – a fresh, green, spicy condiment that picks you up by the nose. Another top dish is the simple and flavourful chicken meatballs with ginger and onion. Yuki has been a chef for over 20 years, and wanted to bring his skills to the table serving traditional Japanese yakitori alongside dishes with his own twist. In September he launched The Drifting Table and began drifting into lively household parties and corporate functions. He turns up...

Anchors away! Karen Walker’s fabulous new jewellery range has set sail. Dubbed ‘The Navigator’, the collection is a nod to her childhood spent tootling around in boats on the Hauraki Gulf. It features all things nautical; a ship’s bell, a fully-functional captain’s whistle, and a charming wee fishing lure, as well as a seahorse and an anchor wrapped in rope. Karen’s also reimagined her iconic Runaway Girl, this time toting a nautical burgee over her shoulder instead of her classic stick and bindle, as well as a sailor’s cap and plimsoll shoes. Karen now lives minutes from the Waitematā Harbour, and the sea has a firm hold on her heart. “I grew up on the water and I wanted this collection to reflect that sense of tradition and romance that boating life always evokes for me,” she says. To fuel her ongoing ocean love affair, she’s currently taking sailing lessons with...

Phở (pronounced like fah or fuh) is a fragrant Vietnamese noodle soup. Green Dinner Table Chef Tom Riley fell in love with this dish and it became his late-night post-work dinner when he lived in Toronto. Serves 2-3 big bowls. Shopping list: Stock30g ginger1 large onion4 cloves garlic1.5L water2 pieces star anise½ cinnamon stick¼ tsp fennel seeds3 tsp vegetable stock30ml soy sauce – more to taste Garnish 1 block tofu20g basil (Thai or regular)30g fresh coriander½ bunch spring onions3 Tbsp cornflour½ pack rice noodles2 fresh chillis100g bean sprouts1 lemonSalt and pepper (Szechuan pepper if you have it), to taste Make it happen: 1. Mince the ginger. Peel and roughly cut the onion into chunks. Cut each half into about 12 pieces. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a pot with the water and the spices. Cover and gently simmer this broth for 30 minutes...

Strap on your boots, pack up your tents and pump up your tyres Cityscapers, we’re taking to the trails. Prance up the Port Hills Hike: Ōtautahi’s view-filled antidote to the Canterbury flatlands, the Port Hills are covered in grunt-worthy gradients – and they’re mostly worth it. The Rapaki Track is a hit with fitness fanatics and the running-in-tights crowd, but the real suckers for punishment head up the Bridle Path, which has two options for ascent: 'steepish with corners' or 'quad-punishing and straight to the top'. Either way you can reward yourself with a coffee in Lyttelton on the other side, and return by bus if you're out of steam. Sea-seekers opt for Awaroa (Godley Head) an absolute classic nine-kilometre, three-hour coastline-hugging bonanza of epic ocean horizons, cool baches (yes, you want to take the Boulder Bay detour) rolling hills and, on a clear day, Kaikōura Ranges vistas. For a big...

Want to live more joyfully in 2021? Who wouldn’t? Veronica King, owner of Grassroots Yoga & Health, has loaded us up with ways to fill 2021 with happiness.  According to the ancient yogis our true nature is joy, and they even refer to our ‘bliss body’, where we experience unbounded freedom and joyousness. Here are ten ways to cultivate joy right now. And remember - just like learning to drive, the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature. 1 – Take stock and acknowledge where you are and all you have been through. It’s important to see all you have managed to do and achieve in spite of everything that has happened to you. Write a review of your year - I guarantee it will surprise you. 2 – Slow down, breathe deeply, do one thing at a time and feel your way into your day. Where are the...

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s crowdpleasing comedies, featuring all the usual hijinks of unrequited love, mistaken identity, misunderstandings, and cross-dressing. A summer tradition in Christchurch, Summer Shakespeare at Mona Vale is a perfect reason to pack a picnic, bring a rug and a couple of cushions and settle on the gently sloping lawn in the beautiful surrounds of the Mona Vale gardens. If you don’t have the time or inclination to pack a picnic of your own, you can order hampers for one or four people from the Mona Vale Homestead. Mona Vale, Wednesday 9 – Sunday 20 December.FB/thirdbear

Multi-platinum selling Kiwi band SIX60 are setting the tone for summer with an Aotearoa-wide tour of their wildly successful Saturdays show. This time, they're extending their schedule to new cities and large outdoor venues, including Hagley Park in Christchurch, so you can enjoy home-grown tunes in the heat of our long summer nights. At their Christchurch gig, they'll be joined by Drax Project, Dave Dobbyn, Broods and Maimoa in a 100% Kiwi artist line up. Fans at each gig will be treated to the first live performance of some of SIX60’s latest material, for what promises to be a great day of entertainment in the sun with friends, great music and the best of vibes. The Saturdays tour will be the largest outdoor concerts Kiwis have been able to attend since lockdown. Hagley Park, Sat 6 Febpremier.ticketek.co.nz

Join schools of brown trout, Doris the friendly eel and local guides having fun around the Ōtākaro Avon River this summer; it’s our inner-city flow-asis providing cubic-litres of fun. Flowing through Hagley Park, winding through the city centre, traversing the Avonside red zone and out to sea, a journey down the Ōtākaro Avon River is a chilled out tour of the city’s most interesting spots. The river’s Māori name, Ōtākaro, means ‘a place of game’, after the children who played on its banks as the adults were gathering food from its bountiful waters. We’re channelling that spirit and heading to the Avon for a playful paddle and some delicious kai. The Ōtākaro Avon River bursts into life at the historic Mona Vale in Fendalton, where the Ilam, Waimairi and Wairarapa streams converge. Start your Avon adventure there (don’t miss the fabulous rose and iris gardens) by fuelling up at the idyllic...

Mindfulness, meditation and mud masks are great tools, but they’re old solutions, and we’ve got some uber-modern problems to solve. Instead, forward-thinking tech-can-cure-everything companies are creating out-of-the-box solutions to our modern health and wellness problems. Here’s what we might be plugging into in 2021. Custom wellness soundscapes Music as therapy is being radically reinvented. It’s no longer about tunes that inexplicably make us feel good – it’s about precision tracks engineered with wellness in mind. Endel, a Berlin-based startup, famously signed the first non-human record deal with Warner Music in 2019. It’s creating ‘generative’ AI-powered soundscapes that pull your biological data to create custom, always-changing audio. MIT-affiliated Sync Project has worked with neuroscientists to develop personalised music therapeutics for pain management (and it’s been bought by Bose, no big deal). All-day, all-night circadian wellness Tech companies are realising that good sleep isn’t just about the night hours. We’re developed to be...

Channel your inner Coco Chanel in Fragranzi’s new make-your-own-perfume studio. You can now create your own scent with the help of a professional perfumer in a fabulous space at the Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora. Professor Conan Fee teaches fragrance design at the University of Canterbury, so he knows how to make things smell sensational. He’s recently opened Fragranzi with his partner Glenda Evans, probably to fulfil all our childhood dreams. First, you choose your own starter blend (try not to have an identity crisis - are you a Fairground Treat, a Pacific Dream or an Evening Affair?) and then modify it to create your own bespoke scent. Follow your instincts and blend your best in just half an hour, or linger longer and have some fun experimenting. Once you’ve created your perfect concoction, you’ll fill a 15ml perfume bottle and take away your own named eau de toilette. Fragranzi...

We’ve had a hectic year, but Deirdre Panapa from DP Herbals is here to calm us down. We made it (almost!). Elections, lockdowns, the Covid-19 pandemic and closed borders have caused unexpected stress, hardships and concern for ourselves and loved ones both here and overseas. They say pressure makes coal into diamonds, but you might be feeling anything but shiny and bright. 2020 has taught us is that through all this uncertainty we must find flexibility, strength and resilience. From daily updates to news reports of outbreaks and soaring financial uncertainty, we have been subject to chronic long-term stress since the beginning of the year, and some more than others. This type of stress strongly affects every system in your body, and if the situation remains urgent or intense then it will affect your mental wellbeing, mood, sleeping patterns, digestion, blood pressure, heart rate, hormones and of course your energy levels....

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or plant-curious, Christchurch’s specialised plant-based eateries cover all the bases. The days of having a solitary vegetarian option on the menu at a restaurant are long past, and in the Christchurch hospitality scene, the seeds of plant-based eating are sprouting with more enthusiasm than your summer veggie patch. These menus showcase the incredible versatility of plant-based eating. Plant-based specialists The future of vegan Whoever said you had to give up meat and dairy to go vegan was, well, technically correct. But lucky for us, Grater Goods is living in the future. Created by musician and long-time vegan Flip Grater and her husband Youssef Iskrane, this vegan delicatessen’s purpose in life is to provide ex-meat eaters with the taste and texture of popular animal products. Housed in an old Sydenham glass factory, the deli doubles as a bar and live music venue, bringing vibes of second-hand cool...

Artist Gill Gatfield’s works are exhibited around Aotearoa and the world, including her work Suffragette on display in Christchurch at SCAPE’s Studio 125 Gallery. She sculpts a narrative of feminism, activism and art with Cityscape. Can you tell us about Suffragette and the time it alludes to? The Suffragette sculpture reflects the power and poise of 19th Century activists who won the vote for women and the right for women to be legally described as a ‘person’. Up until then, women in New Zealand were more or less the legal property of men. There is added meaning in showing this work in Christchurch with its deep history and strong leadership in the women’s suffrage movement. It holds the gaze and initiates the conversation, like I imagine Kate Sheppard and her colleagues did. You seem to have an affinity for the letter ‘I’ – what does it mean to Suffragette, and your...

After wowing punters on Wellington’s waterfront in August 2020, the wildly popular Van Gogh Alive exhibition is returning to Christchurch in 2021. Make no mistake – this is no ordinary art exhibition. Van Gogh’s art has been enjoyed around the world for over a century, but you’ve never experienced Farmhouse in Provence, Wheatfield with Crows or The Starry Night quite like this. Setting aside traditions of walking silently through galleries and observing art in quiet contemplation, Van Gogh Alive is a multi-sensory experience designed to give the feeling of walking right into the Dutch master’s paintings. Visitors are surrounded by a vibrant symphony of light, colour, sound and even fragrance, indulging the senses and bringing visual masterpieces to life as never before. Air Force Museum of New Zealand, from Friday 19 Feb. livenation.co.nz  

2021 is gonna be the best year ever! Just like how we said 2020 was gonna be the best year ever. Well, at the very least we learned a bunch about things like boardgames, sourdough starters, looking out for our neighbours, Dr Bloomfield (rrrrrrrr), Zooming with buddies (including ones you definitely wouldn’t have seen otherwise), working in comfy clothes, the unfettered joy of talking like a Star Wars character while wearing a mask, and the privilege of being in a country that’s relatively got its shit together. Yeah, okay, sometimes you’ve just got to eat your words and we’re ready to admit we were a bit premature with our predictions 365-odd days ago, but we’re pretty confident 2021 is actually the big one. You’ve just got to visualise it, right? We’re visualising a long and warm summer with enough rain to keep the gardens green and the water flowing; wicked festivals...

A deranged businessman snorting rails off a boardroom table; a homoerotic flute-off; and random members of the public popping in and out. This ain't opera like we've ever seen it before. To call New Zealand Opera's Eight Songs for a Mad King a one-man show would be an injustice. The King (played by the convincingly insane Robert Tucker) interacts freely with the conductor (mad), the six-piece orchestra (mad), and the audience (varying degrees of mad). The very modern performance takes place in Tūranga, the central library, with the audience split in two. For the first half, we're placed in the audience seated outside (hot tip: wrap up warm – this is Christchurch after all), while half of the punters are directed inside to cosy seats near the upstairs window. We're assaulted by sound through our headphones – bizarre noises, clacks, scrapings, and melodies. And yelling. Singing and yelling. Singing, and yelling....

In celebration of the god of wine, master mixologist Rachel Powderly shares her next-level recipe for her famous Bocca di Bacco – a primo, bourbon-fuelled take on the classic sour that will have you seeing stars. FIXIN’S 50ml Maker’s 4630ml lemon juice25ml Tamarillo Tea and Pinot Noir syrup5ml simple syrup1 fresh free range egg white1 cinnamon stick1 star anise METHOD Smoke a brandy balloon with cinnamon (light cinnamon stick until it is smouldering, then place on a plate and cover with a brandy balloon). Put all ingredients (excluding star anise) into a Boston Shaker and reverse dry shake (shake with ice to chill the ingredients and shaker, strain and remove ice, then return to shaker and shake dry to create foam). Double strain into the pre-smoked brandy balloon and garnish with the star anise.