Even at the best of times, a trip to a bustling supermarket can be the last thing we feel like doing. Fortunately, boutique supermarket Farro has always glorified the grocery shopping experience, making it something to enjoy, instead of a bore or a chore.
The New Zealand owned and operated business has stepped up to the plate and launched farro.co.nz — offering the ability to shop over 3500 of Farro’s premium products, including fresh produce, meat & seafood, alcohol, and of course, its own Farro Kitchen range.
That same mentality for shopping well has been extended to their eCommerce site, where items have been selected carefully by the team, and reflect their own foodie preferences — from high quality produce to goods with no artificial ingredients. Plus, Farro’s trained Personal Shoppers handpick each order in-store, ensuring they select the best products, as if it were their own shopping trip.
The site has the added bonus of allowing you to save recipes and shopping lists, as well as linking your Friends of Farro card number for accruing loyalty points and rewards as well as access to member-only specials.
Whether you’re after those hard-to-find ingredients, a gift hamper or a nourishing ready-to-go-meal, Farro Online will always be there in the nick of time. It offers safe, tracked and contactless same-day delivery from Monday to Friday for all orders made before 1pm, for a $15 flat rate for shipping Auckland-wide. There is also a Click & Collect service available from Farro’s Lunn Avenue store.
To celebrate Farro’s gourmet groceries being available at the click of a button, Denizen is giving away a week’s worth of Farro Kitchen’s sumptuous meals to enjoy.
From low-lit ambience to conversation-starting food, the impressive entries in our Best Date Night category are known for inspiring romance. That said, it was intimate Karangahape Road restaurant Bar Céleste, that was voted as this year’s winner, thanks to its cosy feel, considered wine list and exceptionally tasty, made-to-share menu. Not far behind were honourable mentions, including fine-dining institution Cassia, Britomart’s delicious Andalusian eatery Alma, innovative, inner-city foodie haven Culprit and another K’Road go-to for wine-lovers, Apéro.
Milan’s design extravaganza, Salone Del Mobile, is taking place at the moment, and aside from the exceptional designers showcasing their newest creations, there are also a number of iconic fashion houses that have turned their hands to design (some for the first time, although many are old hands here). From Louis Vuitton to Fendi and even a collaboration between the late Virgil Abloh and Cassina, here are our highlights.
Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton This year marks the 10th anniversary of Louis Vuitton’s lauded Objets Nomades collection—a decade of the iconic French fashion house’s foray into intriguiging design. Handily coinciding with this year’s Milan Design week, Louis Vuitton is celebrating the milestone with a takeover of the recently-reimagined former parking lot, Garage Traversi, to unveil a number of new items (designed via collaborations with Atelier Oï, the Campana Brothers and London-based Raw Edge) alongside some re-invigorated classic designs, (including the Bomboca Sofa in new colours by the Campana Brothers, and fresh iterations of Marcel Wanders’ Petal Chair and the Signature Armchair and Sofa by Frank Chou). In a continuation of the brand’s history of teaming up with the world’s most revered designers, this year’s Objets Nomades is an impressive showcase of the Louis Vuitton’s signature savoir-faire and unique design edge.
Fendi Casa.
Fendi Casa To celebrate the opening of its first Milan flagship store earlier this year, Fendi is putting its best foot forward at this year’s Salone Del Mobile and showcasing a range of exquisite new pieces by designers like Cristina Celestino, Piero Lissoni and Atelier Oï, as well as new lighting collections. One particular highlight is the Cloe Chair by Marcel Wanders, which reflects Fendi’s pequin stripe motif in dark brown leather loops over a smoked-oak frame and boasts a plush velvet seat.
Fendi is also erecting a pop-up bar in the courtyard of its Milan boutique, finished in the brand’s signature O’Lock logo and bright pops of yellow and promising to serve perfectly-brewed coffee in porcelain that offers an exclusive preview of Fendi’s Art de la Table collection.
Miss Dior Chair by Philippe Starck.
Dior Revered designer Philippe Starck has transformed Christian Dior’s iconic Medallion Chair, treating its recogniseable sillhouette to a sleek, minimalist reimagining reflective of the designer’s pasison for the pared-back. In persuit of perfection, Starck reinterpreted the chair with impossibly thin legs and arms and fashioned it from a singular material, so that the form’s uninterupted lines feel fluid and feminine. It has been aptly named the Miss Dior chair.
Hermès Taking over the sport centre, La Pelota, in Milan’s Brera area, Hermès returns to Salone Del Mobile with a showcase of its new six-piece offering. Already renowned for its elevated, luxury homewares, Hermès has put the focus on textiles this year’s, specifically cashmere, expressed under the umbrella of ‘Looking for Lightness.’ Staged in four imposing but delicately-built structures (covered in transluscent coloured paper), the brand’s new pieces, including blankets in patchwork patterns and bright, unique tones, moulded leather centrepieces, bamboo chairs and porcelain plates, are exquisitely presented under the ever-changing light that filters through the towers’ exteriors.
Versace Home.
Versace Home Working with Roberto Palomba and Ludovica Serafin to create an immersive, multi-faceted space for Versace Home at this year’s Salone Del Mobile, Donatella Versace is reimagining the brand’s home experience. Combining design, fashion and art, the space in Milan’s Palazzo della Permanente captures all the sensual luxury and opulance of the brand while speaking to its evolution, where the undisputed hero is a reimagined La Medusa collection in an all-new vinyl covering.
Armani/Casa.
Armani/Casa Giorgio Armani is presenting the new range of Armani/Casa products at Armani/Silos, an exhibition space split into nine environments, eight of which speak to the iconic designer’s main sources of inspiration, and one which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind Armani/Casa. Inside the space, a range of furniture and accessories will be brought to life — including new pieces and classics re-contextualised — offering a 360-degree look at the aesthetic world of Armani interiors, iconic from 2000 to today.
Loewe.
Loewe Unveiling a raft of intriguing design concepts for its sixth year at Salone Del Mobile, Loewe is celebrating the art of weaving with ‘WEAVE, RESTORE, RENEW,’ an exhibition that explores leather weaving, a Galician straw weaving tradition called Coroza and a Korean paper weaving technique called Jiseung. Here, the house resurrects materials that may otherwise be discarded by weaving them into baskets, handbags, vases and storage, and highlights ideas of how manual labour can deliver meaning to an object and the beauty of bringing traditional techniques into a modern context.
Stella McCartney Marking her first foray into interiors, lauded British fashion designer Stella McCartney has teamed up with historic Italian design house B&B Italia to reimagine the latter’s iconic Le Bambole chair (originally designed by Mario Bellini in 1972). Upholstered in Stella McCartney’s hand-drawn Fungi Forest Burgundy print (from Spring/Summer ’22), the chair is given a bold, unapologetic presence, befitting of its status as icon of design. The collaboration also marks the 50th anniversary of the Le Bambole — a fitting tribute, we think.
Missoni Home.
Missoni Home Setting up two installations to showcase two collections, in conjunction with Fuorisalone, Missoni has installed a dreamy exhibition on the ground floor of its Milan showroom that promises to take visitors on a whimsical, colourful journey through fantastical, nostalgic design. While on the first floor, its Gifting Capsule comprises small but very significant and highly collectible items. Milan University will also play host to a Missoni moment, in which the brand will tell the story of its evolution in design via evocative installations in the University grounds. At Salone Del Mobile, Missoni is presenting its latest tableware collection that melds the brand’s signature colourful flair with artistic touches and allegorical forms.
Ralph Lauren Home.
Ralph Lauren Home For this year’s Salone Del Mobile, Ralph Lauren opens up his unique world in a showcase that epitomises the kind of lifestyle his eponymous label has long been associated with. Located in the heart of Milan, Palazzo Ralph Lauren offers a moment of opulent respite in the middle of the bustling urban centre, where richly-layered, ornate interiors are used to showcase the brand’s Fall 2022 homewares. Here, deep mahogany meets antiqued brass and burnished leather, while tartans and paisleys and animal prints somehow happily coexist. The Palazzo even offers the perfect courtyard for alfresco dining, decorated with pieces from the brand’s new collection and available to be booked for lunch, afternoon tea or aperitivo.
Toogood x Carhartt.
Toogood X Carhartt Carharrt WIP teamed up with contemporary British brand Toogood to showcase their new, collaborative unisex capsule collection of everyday uniform wear at this year’s Salone Del Mobile. Highlighting the architectural shapes and voluminous silhouettes at play in the range of styles created by Toogood using contrasting, patchwork fabrics, three giant puppets wearing oversized garments from the collection anchor the exhibition.
Virgil Abloh x Cassina.
Virgil Abloh x Cassina The late visionary and culture-defining fashion designer Virgil Abloh might have tragically passed away earlier this year, but his particular design perspective was second to none, as proved (yet again) but the unveiling of pieces he had been working on with Italian design labels Cassina and Alessi, prior to his death. Now, the former is showing ‘Modular Imagination by Virgil’ which comprises two matte-black blocks in different sizes that play with ideas of creativity and adaptability and can be used to form a range of things from a side-table to a bench to a stool.
Swarovski x Rosenthal.
Swarovski x Rosenthal The Signum Collection is the result of an exquisite partnership between iconic crystal jewellery label Swarovski and historic porcelain artisans, Rosenthal, and sees pieces that fuse porcelain and crystal and are rendered in whimsical candy-toned colours. To mark this new chapter for the Swarovski brand, it held a joyful afternoon tea party at Casa degli Atellani in Milan for its official launch.
Thanks to these welcoming restaurants and spacious eateries, we no longer need to choose between good food and good company. Favourites in our Best for Group Dining category included the beachfront Azabu Misson Bay, Parnell’s Non Solo Pizza, K’Road’s Cotto (we particularly love the private dining space here) and Waiheke’s Three Seven Two. But it was the renowned Soul Bar & Bistro that topped the final list — thanks to its menu perfect for long lunching and spectacular views across Viaduct Harbour.
The 2022 Denizen Hospo Heroes is brought to you by American Express. Wining and dining your way around Auckland’s top restaurants (as voted by you), has never been easier thanks to American Express’s new Gold Rewards Cards. Find out more here.
Revered for the exquisite design and sculptural furniture it offers, the Bonham Group has always approached architecture and interiors through a lens of ‘breaking the mould’. The spaces it creates for clients are intensely personal, meticulously crafted and balance form with function in a precise, purposeful way. Just look at the studio’s new ‘functional art’ offering (pieces that give art a practical use), a clever way of imbuing clients’ homes with some creative finesse. Now, the coveted aesthetic of Bonham Art + Design is becoming more accessible than ever thanks to its recently-launched online store (where customers can shop from an impressive collection of artists and designers) and new permanent gallery in Arrowtown (its first ever bricks-and-mortar location).
Right: “Personages, Poetry and Prose”, 2021
Showcasing its unique perspective, Bonham Gallery provides the chance to get up close and personal with fine and functional art from celebrated practitioners as well as a curated line-up of collectable furniture — objects that are destined to become future heirlooms.
Marrying its contemporary vision with timeless design, Bonham Art + Design is fast becoming a go-to for those who value something different in their space, and with future plans to open more galleries in the likes of Sydney and Melbourne, it would seem this is just the beginning.
Podcasts are an excellent way to while away the weekend, whether they are listened to on a walk or while tucked up in bed with your morning coffee. And with a number of new podcasts coming out every week, we’ve made finding the best easy with a round-up of ones we’re listening to and loving right now. From juicy gossip to engrossing conspiracy, these are the five podcasts to tune into this weekend.
Finger Food This insightful new podcast from culinary-artist-turned-holistic-sexual-mentor Stacey O’Gorman is set to inform and entertain in equal measure. Speaking with a diverse line-up of guests, O’Gorman leads thoughtful, engaging conversations and creates a safe space in which to explore intimacy, vulnerability and sex. You won’t be able to tear yourself away.
American Hostage Based on a true story, American Hostage stars Jon Hamm as Fred Heckman, a beloved local radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker, Tony Kiritsis, demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news programme. American Hostage is an eight-episode scripted psychological thriller that exceeds all expectations.
Normal Gossip Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly uninspiring gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Kelsey McKinney shares reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, before diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. Call us gossips, but we can’t get enough.
Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions This intriguing new podcast from Sydney Morning Herald’s Kate McClymont and 60 Minutes’ Tom Steinfort tells the story of missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick, a seemingly successful businesswoman from Sydney’s eastern suburbs went missing after authorities raided her Dover Heights home amid questions over Caddick’s massive Ponzi scheme and a $23 million fraud that ripped off investors including her family and friends.
Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV
From Keeping Up With The Kardashians and The Hills to Selling Sunset, Love Island and more, journalists Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale explore the history of reality TV and the ethical questions raised by the genre. Using interviews with contestants, commentators, producers and psychotherapists, Unreal is a ten-episode deep dive that is just as addictive as the shows themselves.
A good bar is so much more than somewhere to enjoy a tipple. From interior ambiance to well-made drinks to delicious food, the contenders for Auckland’s Best Bar truly offer it all. And while Parnell’s elegant Faraday’s Bar came very close to the top, alongside open-air venues like Viaduct Harbour’s Rooftop at QT and Parasol & Swing, and of course, the perpetually-packed Hotel Ponsonby, it was underground Britomart bar, Caretaker that took pole position, thanks to its after-hours vibe and specialty cocktails.
The 2022 Denizen Hospo Heroes is brought to you by American Express. Wining and dining your way around Auckland’s top restaurants (as voted by you), has never been easier thanks to American Express’s new Gold Rewards Cards. Find out more here.
Wine and dine your way around the top restaurants as voted by you, with a little something to sweeten settling up the bill from American Express.
Dining your way around the proud winners of Denizen’s 2022 Hospo Heroes is a journey worth taking this season, and thanks to American Express’ new Gold Rewards Card, it’s never been easier or more rewarding. Card Members can indulge in memorable gastronomic experiences through American Express’ exclusive Dining Collection (which includes a number of our much-adored Hospo Hero-winners in Auckland and beyond) and enjoy up to $200 of Dining Credit1 — one of the Gold Rewards Card’s most enticing benefits.
There’s a delectable list of restaurants that count themselves part of the American Express Dining Collection, including some standouts you’ll uncover on the following pages. From the eternally popular Italian all-day eatery, Amano to the divine celebration spot, Mr Morris. Reliable favourites Andiamo and Non Solo Pizza make the cut too, alongside the ever-inspired Azabu and Soul Bar & Bistro, and even those found further afield, including South Island destination, Amisfield. And if you spend $100 or more on your American Express Gold Rewards Card at any of the participating Dining Collection restaurants you will be eligible for $100 credit, twice a year. That’s $200 back on some of the most delicious dining experiences across the country.
Dining Credits are just some of the rewards found with the new American Express Gold Rewards Card. Promising to add serious panache to your purse, this card is available in either gold or rose gold, and Card Members are able to earn 2 Membership Rewards2 Points for every dollar spent (to be used for travel, gift cards or to pay off eligible purchases). Additional cards can also be added for no extra cost. For those not currently members, you can sign up online today to reap the endless rewards.
See here for more information. Terms and conditions apply.
Never wonder where to take the family for a meal again thanks to this line-up of the best Kid-Friendly Dining in Auckland, as voted by you. While Ponsonby stalwart Prego was the very deserving favourite, taking out the top spot for its friendly service and menu of Italian classics, it was closely followed by the likes of Waiheke’s Man O’ War vineyard (perfect for a day-trip), Wynyard Quarter’s Baduzzi, the eminently accessible (and always delicious) Burger Burger and The Grounds at Whoa! Studios – where a day of entertainment awaits after the food is finished.
The 2022 Denizen Hospo Heroes is brought to you by American Express. Wining and dining your way around Auckland’s top restaurants (as voted by you), has never been easier thanks to American Express’s new Gold Rewards Cards. Find out more here.
The abrupt transition to winter (proper winter) has seen us cranking up the heat and reluctantly surrendering to our most cosy attire. And while the cold, rainy weather might be wreaking havoc on our usually festive Friday moods, we’ve decided to combat the blues with a spot of seasonal shopping. After all, what better excuse is there for picking up some new cashmere?
Without further ado, here is an assortment of the best knits we’re turning to, to see us through the cold snap in style.
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