Sumptuous and sexy, velvet has long been associated with luxury. From its tactile softness to the deep, jewel-like tones in which it is often rendered, this fabric might feel like the ultimate expression of opulence, but that does not exclude it from the modern home. When used correctly, a velvet piece is the perfect way to lend depth to a monochromatic, contemporary space — here’s how.
1. Subtle centrepiece Choose a velveteen pouf like this Amami one by Moooi to inject a soft sophistication into your living room.
2. Sculptural seating If your style is more bold, try adding an eye-catching piece like Gan-Rugs’ Grapy (by Kensaku Oshiro) to your space. As much a conversation-starter as it is a genuinely comfortable place to put your feet up.
3.Understated addition A more subtle approach might be to inject a swathe of velvet via a piece like Reflex’s Plisse Bench Seat. While it doesn’t cry out for attention, it will most definitely get it.
4. Just a touch If you would rather just dabble in this trend, employ it with a lighter touch. Accessories like Coco Republic’s Sara Scatter Cushion will offer a hint of velvet without ever feeling too much.
5. Everyday luxury Why not embrace velvet in something you walk past and use everyday? A piece like the Poliform Mad armchair will offer comfort and luxury in equal measure.
When we found out Grownup Donuts had opened a new outpost in the CBD, needless to say we were immediately trying to think of excuses to leave the office and travel over to that side of town.
Fabricated errands or not, we suggest you follow suit to the new site at number 2, Anzac Ave, for some of the best doughnuts in Auckland.
Founded by Daniel and Annie Black, Grownup Donuts started life as a regularly appearing stall around the city’s markets, and has now expanded to three permanent locations — Henderson Valley, Wairau Valley, and the new central city spot.
The company’s sweet delights are unique in that they are handmade every single day by the team of passionate bakers (who work, impressively, from 3AM), and are filled to the brim with original fillings. The philosophy centres around decadent treats that are supremely flavourful, but aren’t overly, artificially sweet or oily — crafted without added colours, preservatives or additives, these doughnuts are the real deal.
While the flavours change fortnightly, you can expect the likes of Belgian chocolate with roasted macadamia butter, or raspberry cheesecake; black sesame cream custard, passionfruit cheesecake — and much more.
Plant-based eaters can also rejoice because Grownup Donuts offers vegan flavours, which include mouthwatering combinations like crème brûlée with coconut cream, Belgian chocolate coconut and strawberry jam.
If you’re based in the city for work or study, or find yourself there in your downtime, and have even a slight sweet tooth, we suggest you make your way to the new store.
Available as a single serve filled doughnut, or in multiples from four and up to 100, bringing a box back to the office would ensure you suddenly have a lot of new friends. Although, we wouldn’t blame you if they didn’t make the journey.
Opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 9AM — 6:30PM (unless sold out prior) Saturday & Sunday: 10AM — 5PM (unless sold out prior) Closed Monday & Tuesday
Grownup Donuts 2 Anzac Avenue (on the corner next to the barbershop, access via Beach Rd)
A day to remember the sacrifices made by our forebears, ANZAC day offers an opportunity to stop and reflect with gratitude on the freedoms we take for granted. Alongside wearing a poppy and attending a dawn service, one of our favourite ways to commemorate the day is with a big batch of ANZAC biscuits, a nod to the versions that army wives and girlfriends would send their soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the wars (this particular formula favoured for containing ingredients that wouldn’t spoil easily).
Offering a slightly updated take on a classic, this recipe sees the traditional biscuit decadently dipped into Whittaker’s dark chocolate, taking the chewy, moreish morsels to a whole new level.
In our opinion, ANZAC biscuits are best when shared, so this ANZAC day, once you’ve paid your respects, whip up a batch or two of these tasty treats and invite some friends and family around to enjoy a cup of tea and a bikkie.
Ingredients 1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup soft brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
125g butter
2 tbsp boiling water
½ tsp baking soda
250g block Whittaker’s 50% Dark Chocolate
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C fan bake and line two oven trays with baking paper. 2. Combine rolled oats, flour, coconut and sugar in a bowl. 3. Heat together butter, golden syrup and water in a small saucepan until butter melts and then stir in the baking soda. Mix this into dry ingredients until well combined. 4. Roll the mixture into small balls (approx. 20) and place on trays, allowing sufficient room between each for spreading. Flatten each ball slightly with a fork. 5. Bake for 15 minutes (for a chewy biscuit) or 20 minutes for a crunchier biscuit. 6. Allow the biscuits to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 7. Once cool, melt a block of Whittaker’s 50% Dark Chocolate in a small bowl. Dip half of each biscuit in chocolate and place on a wire rack until set. 8. Keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
We’re always gratified to see a brand use its reach to influence customers for good, and there are currently several causes you can get behind while indulging in a spot of retail therapy. Here are three on our radar.
Witchery X Maticevski OCRF White Shirt
Witchery’s white shirt for ovarian cancer campaign has been running for 13 years now, and the issue it highlights is still as important as ever — with some frightening statistics.
The fifth most common cause of female cancer deaths in New Zealand, one woman dies of ovarian cancer every 48 hours and around 300 women are diagnosed with the disease every year on our shores.
While there are often no signs of early-stage ovarian cancer, see the New Zealand Cancer Society for potential signs and symptoms.
Over 50 percent of the community incorrectly believe that a smear test diagnoses ovarian cancer — it does not.
Currently, invasive surgery is the only way of detecting and accurately diagnosing ovarian cancer. Organisations like Witchery are donating towards cancer research in the hopes of developing an early detection test which could save the lives of 1.3 million women worldwide, over a decade
When detected and treated early, 80 to 100 percent of women will survive beyond five years, while only 20 to 30 percent will if it’s diagnosed at a late stage.
Designed in collaboration with renowned Australian designer, Toni Maticevski, sales of Witchery’s latest white shirt will see 100 percent of gross proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Cos X OutLine
Helping LGBTIQ+ New Zealanders access support, information and a sense of community, OutLine is an extremely valuable national service. In a new charity partnership for Pride 2021, fashion retailer Cos has set up donation collection points for the organisation in its stores across the country until Sunday, 23rd of May.
In addition to collecting donations, a rainbow Pride, limited edition repurposed cotton tote bag will be given with each donation of $30 NZD and above, while stocks last. A way to give new life to leftover fabric, the tote is made from excess cotton unused by other designs. It’s durable, designed to last and 100 percent recyclable.
OutLine is an all-ages rainbow mental health organisation. They provide a nationwide, free and confidential 0800 support line for people who want to speak to a trained volunteer from the rainbow community, and also provide face-to-face specialist rainbow counselling and an Auckland-based trans and non-binary peer support service.
Donations raised from the Cos X OutLine campaign will be used to subsidise rainbow specialist counselling sessions for those who require financial assistance and provide training and regular supervision for the organisation’s volunteer call-takers.
Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman of label Camilla and Marc
Camilla and Marc — Ovaries. Talk About Them Another fashion brand taking a stand to help in the fight against ovarian cancer, Camilla and Marc launched ‘Ovaries. Talk About Them’ in 2020 to provide awareness and to directly fund research into an early detection test.
Having sadly lost their own mother 27 years ago to the disease, label founders and siblings Camilla Freeman-Topper and Marc Freeman have been motivated by their devastating, personal experience to provide awareness of, and wide scale direct research funding for, an early detection test led by Professor Caroline Ford at Ovarian Cancer research, UNSW.
A unisex line of limited-edition T-shirts and hoodies created by the brand sold like hot cakes, and while you had to be quick to snap up one of those, it’s still possible to donate directly to the campaign here.
If a spare wall is looking too sparse, we suggest turning it into a curated display of special objects and curiosities with some wide-set, carefully-painted shelves.
Designed to show off anything that would be wasted behind closed doors, a good display case will add dimension and intrigue to your space.
If you are curating your display from scratch, we suggest taking care to make sure there is some cohesiveness between the objects and artworks on show. They may all be completely disparate, but perhaps a somewhat consistent palette, or aesthetic, will help tie everything together.
Painting the shelves to match the wall behind it, as in the project pictured above by YSG Studio, will highlight your chosen objects further, allowing them to take centre stage and enhance the space.
Now you’ve created your display wall, consider these beautiful, design-led functional pieces and objet d’art for filling those shelves.
Greenwashing; when a company tries to portray itself as more environmentally minded than it actually is, has intensified in recent years as consumers have warmed to sustainable and organic products and services. Brands, trying to capitalise on that trend, often try to outdo one another with eco-credentials.
But in the rush to be seen as green, companies often exaggerate claims, or simply make things up. Ecostore Groups CEO, Pablo Kraus gives his insight into the local greenwashing game and what we as consumers can do to be more aware of it.
“In the self care aisle of the supermarket we are bombarded with countless ways to save the planet, to the point that it’s becoming difficult to find a product that’s not pushing an ethical claim.
Driven by consumers keen to do their part, the green space has become a highly profitable arena, but we need to be doing more than just buying bottles featuring pictures of happy healthy critters or smiling babies. It’s up to individuals to be more informed about what they buy, and why.
A recent study showed that New Zealand is globally well ahead of the game, with 30 percent of us wanting to buy sustainable, responsible products. In Australia it’s 30 percent of consumers are thinking green and surprisingly China has the largest group of conscious consumers, at more than 600 million people.
Ecostore Groups CEO Pablo Kraus
Many companies see this as a tantalising opportunity, which has led to a significant rise in greenwashing, where brands provide misleading information about their products’ environmental impact.
Ultimately the choice to go green is in the hands of you, the consumer. By arming yourselves with more information, you can make the right choices for the betterment of both yourself and the planet.
To determine if a brand is legitimately ethical, it comes back to authenticity and credibility. Whether brands are being transparent. Do they for example disclose all of their ingredients? Can they back up their claims? Where was their product manufactured? Where and how do they source their ingredients? And do they have a clear purpose as a business and a brand?
Understanding which companies have a clear purpose should drive purchasing decisions’. Do their ingredients contribute to making safer products? Are they sustainable and renewable, making products safer for our environment? And does the company have a transparent supply chain?
Ecostore was founded on the precautionary principle 27 years ago. If there is any doubt about an ingredient, a material we use, a company or a service we use, we will find a safer alternative. Today we continue to proudly develop, manufacture and pack our home, body and baby care products at our own carboNZero certified factory in Auckland and share them with the world.
Ultimately the environmental responsibility is in the hands of the consumer. By understanding and recognising the red flags of greenwashing, and choosing products that can actually back up their bold claims, manufactured by companies that are genuinely committed to the eco cause, consumers endorse brands that are doing the right thing for us all. This choice impacts the future of our planet and will reverberate through generations to come.”
The 5 Sins of Greenwashing
1. Compostable Packaging The intention may come from the right place but consumers need to refer to the packaging and either dispose of this in a home compost, or seek out a commercial composting facility.
The most important thing for consumers to understand is that compostable packaging cannot go into your recycling bin, because if it ends up in landfill it releases methane gas, which is 80 times more potent than CO2, a key contributor to climate warming.
2. Natural packaging Natural materials used alongside conventional packaging, such as a bamboo lid on a plastic bottle, can create the illusion of eco credentials. These products contaminate the recycling stream and divert straight to landfill with the rest of the plastic attached to them. Instead, look for fully recyclable, reusable or closed loop products.
3. Where is it manufactured? Products produced internationally have a far greater carbon footprint than locally-made NZ products. If the product is produced by a third party manufacturer, which may make products for companies that test on animals, you could also unintentionally support something that doesn’t align with your values.
4. You get what you pay for Good quality is never cheap and cheap quality is never good. Making products that are better for the environment is not easy nor is it cost-effective. Any brand claiming to look out for the environment, at a much lower price point, should be treated with suspicion. Either it doesn’t actually work or it could be using a harsh natural chemical that’s bad for your health and the planet.
5. The natural tag Just because a product claims to be natural, doesn’t make it environmentally friendly. As an extreme example, oil comes from the ground and is therefore natural, however when it’s released into the environment the impact can be severe.
When it comes to household cleaners and cosmetic products keep an eye out for Benzalkonium Chloride, a chemical used for its antibacterial properties. This organic salt is highly toxic to aquatic organisms, a cause for concern considering these products are often washed down the drain. At Ecostore, we eliminate the need for harmful Benzalkonium Chloride by formulating our products with a low pH to provide anti-bacterial/disinfection.
Another example, Cocamide DEA/MEA, is derived from the reaction of coconut oil and an organic chemical compound and can be found in many shampoos and cosmetic products. It is also a skin, eye and respiratory tract irritant and classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
At Ecostore we prefer to use APGs, Sodium Coco Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Amphoacetate as our surfactants, which have comparatively milder effect on the skin and your health.
Having become an unexpected high-fashion hero, the sweater vest is the perfect trans-seasonal layering aid to invest in right now. For styling inspiration, look to street style snaps from the contingent of Scandi-cool girls, plus the collections of Dior, Gucci, Ganni and more.
Whether worn oversized as a solo statement piece on a warmer day, or layered over a shirt and under a coat for when the chill sets in, a sweater vest is no longer the domain of your granddad’s closet — it’s a bona fide styling staple.
Landing a coveted spot on The New York Times bestseller’s list would be a career highlight for any author. Achieving this with a debut novel at the age of 21? Sounds like fiction. Unless, of course, you’re Chloe Gong, a Pennsylvania-based student and writer who grew up on Auckland’s North Shore.
Her novel These Violent Delights debuted at number three on the Young Adult Hardcover bestseller’s list last November, solidifying her as well and truly one to watch in the international literary world. Gong was, rightfully, “super thankful and pleased’ with this result.
“When I set out to be traditionally published, all I wanted was to reach as many readers as possible—reach the teen readers in particular who wander the shelves of their library like I did, looking for some new world to sink into,” she says.
“I’m so happy that word-of-mouth travelled so well in the weeks leading up to release and helped the book shoot up to number three on The New York Times list. Of course, it’s set high expectations, so I can only hope to keep working hard and writing good stories from here!”
These Violent Delights is a reinterpretation of a classic. Having always adored the themes and language of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Gong had wanted to do a blood-feud-meets-rival-gangs story for her first novel.
“I only really delved into the play after deciding I would do a reimagining,” she says. “Knowing that the story I had in mind was way too similar to the very touchstone text that’s foundational in Western literature as the original blood feud story—Romeo and Juliet—I decided to embrace approaching Shakespeare’s original themes, but with an entirely new lens.”
Set in 1920s Shanghai (Gong’s city of birth), These Violent Delights centres on 18-year-old Juliette Cai and her first love and rival Roma Montagov. Imaginative, vivid and fast-paced, the book has garnered widespread fans and praise from readers.
“Though the setting changes and the characters are altered in These Violent Delights, Romeo and Juliet’s original themes about daring to love in a place filled with hate remains, and I wanted to bring these ideas into the stories I was telling,” says Gong. “Plus, some of Shakespeare’s lines in that play are just so beautiful, and I wanted a go at weaving it into my prose.”
Having written the book in about a month during a summer break back in New Zealand, Gong then signed with an agent and the manuscript was sold at auction to Simon & Schuster. She worked with her editor to separate it from one manuscript to two — and the sequel has already been announced. Named These Violent Ends, the second of the duology is coming this November.
Until then, Gong will be graduating this year from the University of Pennsylvania, where she is double-majoring in English and international relations, and while she would usually be returning to New Zealand during her breaks, says that will be difficult this year. “So I guess I will see wherever the wind takes me…”
One major lesson Gong has learned throughout the whole process is to take all writing-related advice with a grain of salt. “Especially online, there are a thousand different people trying to offer a thousand different perspectives, and a lot of them will try to claim that their way is the only right way.”
There is no right way, she says, only a way that works uniquely for every different person. Evidently, Gong has tapped into a way that is working very well for her.
Chloe Gong is participating in the Auckland Writers Festival this May, within the 2021 Schools Programme. Find more information and tickets here.
For chef Croydon Cole, one of the joys of cooking for people is seeing their faces when they try something new, or something extraordinarily delicious. At Smokin Cole BBQ, his Grey Lynn eatery that specialises in the irresistibly charred flavours of American-style BBQ, chances are he sees these expressions a lot.
Located at the intersection of Surrey Crescent and Richmond Road, Smokin Cole opened in December 2019 and has been bringing its smoky charm to the neighbourhood ever since. Cole’s experience is vast and varied, having worked in kitchens for around 30 years both in New Zealand and abroad.
Spending 15 years as a private chef aboard super yachts, Cole has travelled widely, indulging in the cuisines of more than 80 countries. A solo motorcycle trip across the United States provided the opportunity to sample the delicious BBQ joints from South Carolina all the way around the southern part of the country — “I went up and down 14 different states just eating, basically”, he laughs.
Having been approached to help out some friends who owned the site where his venue now sits, Cole saw the opportunity for what he originally thought would be a pop-up. However, when a huge woodfire cooker and smoker became available through a friend, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass — thus, Smokin Cole was born.
Left: Buffalo chicken wings.
When asked what appeals to him about the style of cooking, Cole says one of the best things is it’s a labour of love. “It’s all about the time you put into it. I love how you can turn something that’s really tough to eat, into something that people drool over.” There are no shortcuts with these meat cuts, with most of them being cooked and smoked for several hours. It also takes skill to get it right, he says. “You can’t hide anything behind it.”
Working with his ‘pit master’ Ants Tutavake, Cole creates a menu of varying meats and vegetable-centric sides that can be mixed and matched depending on what the diner feels like eating. “A lot of places already have pre-made platters for BBQ, but I designed my menu so you design it yourself.”
Left: Chef Croydon Cole; Right: A selection of Smokin Cole’s slow-cooked meats and sides.
The meats are all offered by the 100-gram, and overall the menu is brilliant for sharing — hot tip, come with a bigger group as you’ll want to sample everything. From Memphis ribs to beef short rib; pulled pork, Buffalo chicken wings and Cole’s signature ‘meat candy’ (pork jowl, smoked for up to eight hours and served with pickled kamo kamo), the offering is a carnivore’s heaven.
Surprisingly, Smokin Cole does actually cater quite well to vegetarians too (just maybe not vegan eaters) with jackfruit options like loaded nachos, truffle mac ‘n’ cheese or cauliflower cheese, smoky corn, slaw, fries and more. Everything is also gluten free (aside from one or two pasta dishes).
The eatery is fully licensed, with Asahi beer on tap and Jess Farrelly taking care of thirst-quenching cocktails and front of house. With its backyard BBQ vibe and excellent culinary offering, we suggest you make Smokin Cole a priority on your foodie hit list.
We’re excited, because The Dusty Apron (known for some of Auckland’s most high-quality, delicious baked goods) opens a new retail arm of the business in East Auckland tomorrow.
Previously only available in wholesale form on the menus of well-known eateries like Homeland, Saint Alice, Soul Bar & Bistro and Park Hyatt Auckland’s restaurants, The Dusty Apron founder Paul ‘Dusty’ Leaming and his business partner Stephane Bleriot have opened Dusty’s Depot as a customer-facing shop for fans of their tasty treats — of which there are many.
Dusty himself is an ex-car mechanic-turned expert baker; he re-trained in New Zealand and San Francisco at the renowned San Francisco Baking Institute, before landing the role of head baker at Amano. He then moved on to set up The Dusty Apron as a commercial business two years ago, slotting into an empty former bakery in St Johns.
The demand for a retail outlet or cafe has been there for a long time, he says, but there has been no space to do it in — until now. Fortuitously, Dusty Depot’s location is only 100 metres up the road from the main bakery, in what used to be the old Simkin Ave dairy.
Dusty’s Depot is inspired by the French way of having a ‘depot de pain’ in a tiny village — essentially a shop that stocks freshly baked bread, delivered from the bakery in a nearby, larger village. Servicing and welcoming the locals, and making sure they’ve always got a place where they can get top quality goods without having to travel so far.
Dusty and his team of bakers — Nancy Au, Dan Wilson and Sophie Peters — supply the Depot with fresh loaves of bread, pastries and sandwiches each day, while Bleriot takes care of everything front of house. Ozone coffee is on hand to pair perfectly any of the baked goods.
From left: Dusty, Nancy Au and Dan Wilson
They’ll have all the classics like croissants and Danishes, and original treats like the ‘Moira cinnamon bun’, a decadent delight named after one of Dusty’s first bakers that started with him. For both Dusty and Stephane, an emphasis is placed on supporting and highlighting local suppliers and farmers, and making people feel welcome no matter who they are.
“We’ve got a real sense of community here”, says Dusty, who recognises the importance of there being high-quality offerings throughout wider neighbourhoods as well as in the central suburbs. “There are plenty of amazing eateries in the city, but just to be able to go into your backyard and get a fresh croissant and a coffee, is a really cool thing.”
Dusty’s Depot 44 Simkin Avenue, St Johns Opening Hours:
Thursday to Sunday, 8AM until sold out
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