Auckland has welcomed a new addition in the form of Den Ramen Bar, a collaboration between the team behind much-loved food truck Miso Ra, Pici co-founder Kaz Suzuki, and events specialist Isabel Buckley.
Created in response to what the founders felt was missing from Auckland’s dining scene, Den takes its cues from the specialist eateries found throughout Japan, where restaurants often dedicate themselves to doing one thing exceptionally well. Here, the focus is ramen, supported by a concise menu of izakaya-style snacks and drinks.
The menu centres on four ramen offerings, including a Shoyu topped with chashu pork belly, egg and nori, and a rich vegan-friendly Miso Ramen made using miso crafted by Fraser, chef-owner of Lillius. Alongside the bowls, guests will find snacks such as braised Japanese radish with yuzu miso, raw tuna with umeboshi vinaigrette, and grilled gurnard finished with a soy-orange glaze.
Inside, low lighting, dark timber and handmade details create the intimate atmosphere the team envisioned, with much of the fit-out completed by the founders themselves. The result is a space that feels warm, welcoming and quietly transportive.
Whether stopping by for a quick bowl or settling in for drinks and snacks before ramen, Den offers the kind of understated experience that has long made neighbourhood ramen bars a fixture of Japanese dining culture.
Designed by Todd Stevenson and handmade in Tāmaki Makaurau from solid brass, Powersurge’s Lateral Pendant resolves the question of what to hang above a long dining table or kitchen island as a single horizontal stroke of light. The thin rectangular light is customisable in lengths up to four metres. The dimmable LED light allows for practicality and restraint for those moments when the natural light is still the star of the show. As expertly executed in this New Plymouth Residence by Rowson Kitchens and KR Architecture, where it runs the length of the kitchen island and holds its own against a Tasman Sea sunset.
Is there anything quite as satisfying as tucking into a flavourful, vibrant plate of Mexican ? Luckily, in Auckland there are certainly no shortage of tasty taquerias and casual cantinas to find your fix, from cheap and cheerful to more elevated takes, and a veritable spectrum in between. Here, we round up a (non-exhaustive) edit of some of the best in the game, perfect for indulging in when the craving strikes.
For those setting alarms for FIFA Club World Cup kick-offs, squeezing in an early round on the simulator, or simply looking for a more interesting alternative to the usual morning coffee run, Bar Ziti and Flush Golf have introduced a new breakfast offering that makes a compelling case for starting the day a little earlier.
Available from 7am on weekdays and 9am on weekends, the menu leans towards the kind of generous, comfort-driven dishes that suit both sports fans settling in for a match and those easing into the morning at a slower pace. Ricotta Pancakes arrive topped with honeyed caramelised banana, the Big Breakfast comes loaded with eggs, bacon, lamb merguez and rosti, while Eggs Benedict swaps the traditional English muffin for a crisp potato rosti finished with paprika hollandaise.
Ricotta Pancakes
Flush Big Breakfast
Mushroom Bruschetta
The setting remains one of the city’s more entertaining places to spend a few hours. While Bar Ziti continues to deliver its familiar mix of good food and easy hospitality, Flush adds a playful dimension, allowing guests to move seamlessly from breakfast and coffee to a virtual round of golf without leaving their table-side conversations behind.
Breakfast Bap
Breakfast at Bar Ziti & Flush Golf
For one week only, there’s an added incentive. From June 15th until June 21st, diners can enjoy half-price Allpress coffee with breakfast or lunch when dining in, making those early FIFA kick-offs feel considerably more manageable.
Breakfast, football, coffee and a few holes before lunch. There are certainly worse ways to spend a winter morning.
Colour has become one of fashion’s most expressive languages, and while much of the industry continues to lean into restraint and tonal subtlety, Swarovski has carved out a distinctly more exuberant visual direction, defined by vibrancy, personality and a deliberate sense of joy. The House’s latest collection, created under Global Creative Director Giovanna Engelbert and fronted by Global Brand Ambassador Ariana Grande, continues that evolution with crystal designs inspired by confectionery tones, fruit motifs and a playful, expressive sensibility that feels entirely of the moment.
At a time when dressing is increasingly guided by instinct rather than occasion, the collection reflects a broader cultural shift towards jewellery that integrates seamlessly into everyday style, functioning less as an accent and more as a form of self-expression. Swarovski responds to this with pieces that prioritise mood over convention, using saturated colour and sculptural detail to create designs that feel confident, individual and unapologetically expressive.
Ariana Grande embodies this energy throughout the campaign, where layered styling and bold crystal combinations reinforce the collection’s more-is-more aesthetic while retaining the brand’s polished sense of glamour. Jewellery is framed not as something distant or precious, but as an extension of personality that invites experimentation.
Among the standout designs are strawberry-inspired pieces that reinterpret familiar natural forms through precision-cut red crystals suspended in resin, creating depth, luminosity and a refined sense of play. Alongside these, a growing universe of charms—fruits, bees and symbolic motifs—speaks to the ongoing demand for personalisation, allowing wearers to build combinations that feel uniquely their own.
The collection’s colour story extends into Swarovski’s watch designs, where the Millenia family is reimagined through candy-inspired tones, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to expressive, contemporary dressing.
Overall, the collection reflects a growing appetite for fashion that prioritises feeling over formality, embracing decoration as a deliberate expression of identity rather than excess.
Everyone has an emergency stain story. Red wine on a white shirt. Foundation on a collar. Grass stains, tomato sauce, coffee, turmeric, the entire visual résumé of modern life embedded into the fabric fibres of our existence with infuriating regularity. And what most people reach for almost instinctively is the same product they’ve relied upon for a lifetime. Heavy-duty soakers and stain removers that promise industrial-strength results through chemistry powerful enough to be genuinely alarming.
A recent office stain incident brought this to our attention when, upon attempting to read the instructions on the back of a handy little bottle of hope, we were shocked to discover the recommendation that eye protection be worn when applying the stain remover, due to the risk of serious eye damage or blindness upon contact. Furthermore, any contact with skin requires immediate flushing with water. And this was before even reaching the actual instructions for removing the stain.
For decades, consumers have been conditioned to believe that the harsher the formula, the better the clean. Serious stains require serious chemicals. That has long been the accepted narrative. But reading the fine print can feel strangely disproportionate to the domestic task at hand. Avoid inhalation. Avoid eye contact. Risk of serious irritation. Suddenly, the modern laundry feels like it requires a Hazmat suit.
So what are the alternatives? Long established as New Zealand’s authority in responsible home and body care, Ecostore has developed formulations that strip away much of the chemical aggression consumers have come to associate with effectiveness, while still delivering genuinely impressive results on stubborn stains. The surprise is not that it works. The surprise is that so many people still assume it won’t.
Formulated with plant and mineral-based ingredients and designed to be safer for both people and planet, Ecostore’s laundry soaker approaches stain removal without the usual chemical theatrics. No overwhelming fumes. No sense that protective eyewear might be a sensible precaution before tackling a wine spill. Just a formulation that quietly and effectively gets on with the job, much to the surprise of anyone game enough to rethink an entire category they have been conditioned to distrust.
With our daily lives increasingly focused on what we put into our bodies, it seems equally important to consider the products we expose ourselves to inside our homes. The long-ingrained marketing narrative from chemically laden household brands has always traded on trust and familiarity. As consumers, many of us continue to buy the products our parents used without ever questioning the ingredients or reading the fine print, because nostalgia is a remarkably effective sales tool.
In a time where we are increasingly focused on improving the way we look after ourselves, there is still plenty left to reconsider. Ecostore’s approach feels intelligent rather than ideological, delivering superior stain removal without the bravado. After more than two decades developing safer alternatives for modern homes, the brand has quietly built products that challenge the old assumption that powerful cleaning must come at a cost to the user or the environment. Perhaps it’s finally time to let the consequences of the chemical-laden alternatives really soak in.
Architecture — Carter Williamson Interior Design — Claire Delmar Photography — Pablo Veiga
Wurrungwuri, a reinvigorated heritage-fronted home in Sydney, deftly blends the past and present with an eye to the future, reimagining a historic cottage with a contemporary new extension. This stunning residence was crafted by Carter Williamson, who transformed it to meet the clients’ vision of a house built for entertaining, filled with light, and exuding luxurious yet approachable elegance.
Flos Bellhop floor lamp from ecc, Knoll Wassily chair from studio italia & Moooi Meshmatics chandelier from ecc
The project brief was clear: celebrate the original 1881 Victorian cottage while creating a contemporary, connected space. At the street front, the unassuming, original facade is carefully preserved, while at the property’s rear, a fluid form sits overlooking the river — its sinuous expression exploring the limits of spatial ambiguity.
One of the first houses constructed on its street, the four-room cottage was originally built with sandstone quarried from the site, with extensions added over time with no cohesion from one to the next. In its latest renovation, alterations were removed, and a new, harbour-facing extension integrated, cascading over four distinct levels, cut deep into the sandstone bedrock. Linking old with new is a light-filled, cylindrical staircase — the first of the home’s defining ‘voids’, encased in artfully tessellated white bricks which nod to the home’s artistic past. Once belonging to artist Montague Scott, the residence now sits as an architectural artform in its own right, its gallery-like interiors showcasing an incredible collection of contemporary works.
“One of Wurrungwuri’s defining features, and perhaps the reason behind the exceptional feeling of lightness and calm, despite a busy mix of materials, references, and eclectic artworks, is its use of voids, which create a sense of connection throughout the home.”
But, perhaps the most artistic element of all, is the home’s striking extension, which sits like an open book, cleaving into two wings reaching towards the harbour. Rooms are interwoven across the levels, infused with a sense of both the playful and the refined, with social spaces and private dwellings carefully dispersed across the plan. One of Wurrungwuri’s defining features, and perhaps the reason behind the exceptional feeling of lightness and calm, despite a busy mix of materials, references, and eclectic artworks, is its use of voids, which create a sense of connection throughout the home, bridging the cottage and extension.
Edra Standard sofa from matisse & Artek Rope chair from kada
The ground level serves as the hub of relaxation, featuring a spacious main lounge and a cosy TV room, seamlessly connected by adjoining terraces and a central staircase that leads to the backyard and jetty.
The home’s design maximises the breathtaking view without overshadowing its own architectural elegance, incorporating thoughtfully crafted viewpoints that highlight both the striking interiors and the scenery beyond its walls. The material palette furthers this, maintaining a focus on naturality to invite the outdoors in. Here, sandstone, brick and stone take centre stage, offset by concrete and timber throughout.
Wurrungwuri is a home of grand proportions and harmonious balance; a blend of old and new, public and private, offering a retreat for a busy family that is both a functional space and a work of art in its own right.
Jervois Steak House is bringing back one of winter’s most anticipated rituals, this time in a new Sunday lunch format designed for lingering afternoons and generous gatherings.
Available every Sunday throughout June and July, the Sunday Roast Lunch centres around 12-hour slow-cooked Southern Stations wagyu sirloin, served with all the classic accompaniments that have made the experience something of a seasonal institution. Expect pillowy Yorkshire puddings, creamy potato gratin, wagyu fat roasted potatoes, seasonal vegetables, and a rich house-made jus, all arriving on the table ready to be shared.
At $84 per person, with a minimum of two guests, it’s the kind of meal that rewards unhurried conversation, second helpings, and a few hours spent away from the winter chill. Served exclusively between 12pm and 6pm every Sunday, the experience offers a compelling reason to gather friends and family around the table.
Pre-payment is required to secure a reservation, and with limited sittings available throughout the season, early bookings are recommended. Book now.
Whether it’s a quick lunchtime jog you’re after or an epic race along the waterfront, behold a round-up of the best runs in the CBD, commencing at Auckland Domain. Dust off your running shoes and leave the excuses at home. You’ll thank us in the long run.
The lunch break quickie
Duration: approximately 30 minutes | Distance: 4.5km Ideal for inner-city professionals who need to let off a little steam, this run takes you through two of Auckland’s most popular parks — Auckland Domain and Albert Park. Starting at the War Memorial Museum in the Auckland Domain, you’ll head along Grafton Bridge past the Symonds Street Cemetery and along a short section of Karangahape Road to St Kevin’s Arcade. From here, it’s a quick sprint down Myers Park towards the Town Hall and Aotea Square and onward to Albert Park along Mayoral Drive. From Albert Park, turn onto Alfred Street (off Princes street), cross Symonds Street onto Grafton Road, which then crosses the motorway via pedestrian lights, and you’ll see the entrance back into the Domain once more ahead of you.
The three-park run
Duration: approximately 50 minutes | Distance: 10km Not a bad way to start or end the workday, this run offers a scenic three-in-one. Starting from the corner of Lover’s Walk and Domain Drive (by the pond in Auckland Domain), you’ll head west via Park Road and Grafton Bridge to Karangahape Road. Run along to Ponsonby Road, and jog down through Western Park, before making your way towards Victoria Park via Howe Street, Hepburn Street and Franklin Road. Then, run along the promenade at the Viaduct. The seafront leg along Tamaki Drive takes you to a footbridge that passes over to the Parnell Baths (Auckland’s only outdoor saltwater pool). The path then winds up the side of a cliff to Resolution Park — the top of which offers an ideal place for a breather overlooking the beautiful Waitematā Harbour. After running through Resolution Park, along tree-lined St Stephens Ave, left on Parnell Road and right on Domain Drive, your run concludes back at the Auckland Domain.
The scenic waterfront route
Duration: approximately 50 minutes | Distance: 9.5km Passing by unique historical, coastal and geological features, this run kicks off near the George Street exit of the Auckland Domain before heading left on Parnell Road and right down Ayr Street, passing Kinder House and Ewelme Cottage. Continue along Shore Road, Orakei Road and over the Purewa Bridge, which crosses between the Orakei Basin (an ancient volcanic crater) on the right-hand side and Hobson Bay on the left. Follow Ngapipi Road along the shores of Hobson Bay and Whakatakataka Bay and then back along Tamaki Drive. When you arrive at the Dove-Myer Robinson Park, make your way through the Parnell Rose Gardens, then up Gladstone Road and St Stephens Ave towards the Holy Trinity Cathedral. This is the perfect place for a rest, before walking back to the Auckland Domain (via Parnell Road) to cool down.
Winter and whisky go hand in hand. The civilised evening ritual of pouring a ‘wee dram’, however, requires a sense of occasion, particularly when it comes to how it is served. Whisky is not a drink that should be slung into any old glass; it deserves weight, clarity, and ceremony. As the supporting act in many great films, whisky is often seen alongside a moment of private grievance or of immense discussion, and the vessel in which it appears on screen genuinely changes the atmosphere. It’s not the liquid itself; it’s the drama and theatre that surround its cinematic presence.
And nothing brings drama quite like fine crystal that is satisfyingly heavy yet still elegantly bold. Cut crystal tumblers deliver the visual and tactile impact that whisky deserves. The brilliance of the crystal catches the light, refracting through amber, gold, and deep copper tones, while the clarity allows the eye to read the whisky’s colour, viscosity, and depth before it ever reaches the nose.
Nachtmann’s Noblesse whisky tumblers make the case with admirable conviction. A proper tumbler sits in the hand with authority, grounding the ritual with purpose. Noblesse cut crystal glasses allow aroma to gather, the liquid to move, and the drinker to savour the experience with a respect for the ritual.
In cinema, the whisky tumbler has always been a prop of consequence, held by people making decisions, regretting them, or preparing to make worse ones. At home, where nothing dramatic is at stake, the whisky glass still needs to be right. And Nachtmann’s Noblesse crystal tumblers sit comfortably with connoisseurs and bon vivants alike.
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