Alice Neville 
Covering Climate Now: The Spinoff crew who took on climate change with a vegan diet for the week reflect on the highs, the lows, the pies and the fries. Check out the introductory post and midweek update for the full story. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. … Read more
Covering Climate Now: A midweek update from the Spinoffers who have ditched dairy (and eggs, and meat, and fish…) for the week. The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! Read this for the background on what this plant-based palaver is all about, and this for … Read more
Covering Climate Now: Why we’re saying adios to animal products (just for a little while). The Spinoff’s participation in Covering Climate Now is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join us here! As part of The Spinoff’s commitment to Covering Climate Now, a week-long worldwide initiative aimed at strengthening the media’s focus on climate change, … Read more
For the first day of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Alice Neville banned herself from speaking English. Here’s how it went down. I discovered a foolproof way to make a day of speaking only te reo Māori easy. Just don’t talk. Seriously, turituri and you’ll be fine. I know, I know, that’s not the … Read more
For some, it symbolises the very backbone of New Zealand’s food culture. But can Kiwi onion dip survive after the factory that makes reduced cream is shut down? The Australian factory that makes Nestlé reduced cream, an integral ingredient in Kiwi onion dip, is shutting down, casting a shadow over the future of the New … Read more
A pair of innovative Kiwi startups have partnered with a Kiwi burger behemoth to bring two delicious, nutritious and under-appreciated local ingredients to the people. Long gone are the days when a burger strictly equalled a meat patty, a bit of limp lettuce and a sad slice of tomato or two between a couple of … Read more
Small businesses have told The Spinoff that hefty commission fees from the global delivery giant are pushing them to the brink, and are asking why global fast food chains get a discount. Small hospitality businesses are paying substantially higher commission rates to Uber Eats than fast food giants using the food-delivery app, and some say … Read more
Alice Neville dives into Wellington’s doughy underbelly to uncover the eye-opening truth about the capital’s passion for this humble baked item. One of my first proper jobs was at Nikau Cafe in Civic Square, where I worked part-time while I was at university, circa 2004-6ish, making coffee and life-long friends. I also ate a lot … Read more
The New Zealand wing of the world’s largest conservation organisation has crossed enemy lines to team up with two large fishing companies on a proposal to mitigate the threat to a critically endangered species… and other environment groups aren’t buying it. Wildlife conservation group WWF-New Zealand has partnered with two major fishing companies on a … Read more
Inspired by the ethos of food-rescue organisation Kaibosh, chef Kelda Hains looked to the past to champion unloved ingredients and showcase clever waste-minimising techniques at her All Taste, No Waste dinner during Visa Wellington On a Plate. Ever glanced at those supermarket bags of pre-cut broccoli florets and wondered what happens to the stalks? Kelda … Read more
The new joint from the team behind one of Wellington’s favourite craft beer bars is dedicated to minimal-intervention, organic wine – and more exciting things are coming to the heritage building it’s housed in. Before the Cadbury factory opened in Dunedin in 1930, New Zealanders ate Cadbury chocolate made in England. After it was shipped … Read more
We love it battered and served with chips, but tarakihi stocks aren’t doing well and another big cut to commercial catch limits is in the works. Ah yes, terrakee, that’s a fish, right? Well, first things first, let’s say it correctly. Pronounce every syllable, remember the Māori vowel sounds (A-E-I-O-U), roll the r and you’ll … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alice Neville critiques a curious culinary union. Fusion cuisine gets a bad rap, but some of the finest dishes on earth are culinary mash-ups. Would you really want to live in a world where there’s no bánh mì, where … Read more
The popular and staunchly independent Auckland eatery Coco’s Cantina has launched a ghost restaurant on UberEats, and it ‘shows that our industry is not in a healthy place’, says its owner. Over the past couple of weeks, as they idly scrolled through the mind-boggling array of dinner possibilities, Auckland UberEats users may have noticed something … Read more
In Mrs Krishnan’s Party, Kalyani Nagarajan plays the lead role and cooks the audience dinner to boot. What could possibly go wrong? The idea of cooking for more than 100 people would fill most of us with terror. How about cooking for more than 100 people within a constrained time limit while on stage acting … Read more
Why are bitter cocktails all the rage? It could have a little something to do with Sother Teague. We humans emerge from the womb with a sweet tooth – that’s why you’re more likely to see a baby drinking breast milk, which is slightly sweet, than propped up at the bar nursing a Negroni. Seriously … Read more
Sephora store employees may have swept some confetti down Auckland city’s drains on Saturday, and people got angry… at an entire generation. On Saturday, French cosmetics giant Sephora opened its first New Zealand store on Auckland’s Queen Street. Excited makeup enthusiasts queued overnight for the honour of being the first through the doors to get … Read more
Cave à Vin founder Zane Kelsall says he has been in ‘intense therapy’ following sexual misconduct claims in Halifax. Last week, The Spinoff published a story about Cave à Vin, a new wine bar on Auckland’s North Shore. The story hailed the vision of its owner, Zane Kelsall, who had recently emigrated from Canada with … Read more
About as far as you can get from Aotearoa’s rural heartland, a new breed of farmers are rethinking the way we grow. At the heart of that shitshow of an Auckland city confluence where Symonds St, New North Rd, Khyber Pass and Newton Rd come together, observant passers-by will notice an unlikely thing. Amid the … Read more
An urban farm in Auckland has been raising cows for meat for years. This time, they decided to involve the community in the process – but the backlash was so intense, the plan was canned. Alice Neville talks to those involved about what went down, and what we can learn from the saga. A sprawling, … Read more
A new generation of commercial fishermen is pushing for change, and chefs are helping to tell their story. “I used to be a little bit naive and think there was no end to anything – a good day’s fishing would always be the same,” says Nathan Smith of Gravity Fishing. “But it’s not the case. … Read more
In the wake of the demise of the famous UK chef’s restaurant group, Al Brown and Martin Bosley reflect on how in the hospitality business, being a “name” comes with its own baggage. It must be strange to be no longer simply a man, but also a brand. That, in essence, is Jamie Oliver: a … Read more
Alice Neville drank a lot of cocktails at New Zealand’s first dedicated cocktail festival in Wellington last weekend… here are a few standouts. Wellington’s always been a good booze town. These days it’s all about the craft beer and natural wine, of course, but years before hazy IPAs and pét-nats were de rigueur, there were … Read more
All men must die, and all true Game of Thrones fans must dress up as their favourite character, sup from a goblet and recite quotes from the show without context at some point in their lives. It’s the rules. It has come to our attention that a certain love-or-hate television programme is about to come … Read more
Do you lose your shit when you can’t get cherries in July? No. So why is everyone grumbling about the so-called avocado shortage? “AVOCADO CRISIS”, the headlines scream. “Soaring prices force cafes to stop selling avocado dishes”. Yes, apparently New Zealand has been brought to its very knees by an unprecedented shortage of the fleshy … Read more
Wellington-based startup Again Again has big plans for the way you do takeaways. Have you got a keep cup? Oh you do? Neat. Where is it? Oh you don’t know? Probably at home? Maybe at work? Maybe in the car? So not with you when you went to get your takeaway flat white this morning, … Read more
Ah, the slushy – it’s the semi-frozen sugary beverage that has the nation talking. But what even is a slushy, and is Simon Bridges’ beef with them warranted? Alice Neville investigates. Despite the rapidly plummeting temperatures that autumn has brought with it (Auckland this morning was reminiscent of the Battle of Winterfell, minus all the deaths … Read more
Thanks to a rapidly increasing population and some savvy young returnees, these days the Tron oozes quiet self-confidence. Follow the motorway south from New Zealand’s biggest city, past the fertile vegetable-growing soils of Pukekohe, the Hampton Downs race track and the historic battle site at Rangiriri, along the mighty Waikato River (where at every bend … Read more
In the third part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Alice Neville learns about what goes into making mozzarella, ricotta, gorgonzola and more. The bright lights and smooth floors of the supermarket are a world away from the soil and sun, … Read more