There are very few people today whom the entire human race, regardless of religion or political beliefs, can collectively hold in the highest regard than Sir David Attenborough, who celebrates his 100th birthday.
His unwavering commitment to highlighting planet Earth and all of its species, to ensure that humanity pays attention to the other species with which it shares this planet, is incomparable. Delivering his important message for more than 80 years, with his idiosyncratic warmth, wit, and immediately recognisable voice, Attenborough is attached to our hearts as a champion for all that is beautiful, while quietly serving as a fierce advocate for humans to wake up to the breadth and depth of our planet.
Attenborough started his interest in wildlife when his father gave him a fire salamander when he was eight. By eleven, he was selling newts to the zoology department at Leicester University for three pence each. That early instinct, the compulsion to find creatures and then make other people care about them, became the architecture of his entire life. Life on Earth, his landmark 1979 series, has been watched by an estimated 500 million people worldwide, and its most famous sequence, in which young mountain gorillas in Rwanda clambered onto him and tugged at his shoes while he whispered to the camera, was never scripted. He described it simply as “bliss.”
David Attenborough is also very funny. During the filming of The Life of Mammals in 2002, to scare his camera crew, he delivered a wolf howl so convincing that an entire pack of wolves assembled within view of the crew, prompting Attenborough to break into uncontrollable laughter at their shock. In 2013, he was filmed on his hands and knees in a Kenyan conservancy, squeaking back at a blind baby rhino named Nicky as though the two were having a perfectly reasonable conversation. He is also, despite a lifetime spent face to face with gorillas, snakes and the full spectrum of the planet’s more confronting inhabitants, utterly terrified of rats, a fear he cheerfully attributes to one unforgettable night in the Solomon Islands when they ran across his bed in a tropical storm.
At 100, Attenborough no longer traverses the world’s jungles and deserts, but earlier this year, he presented Wild London, discovering canal-dwelling snakes and pigeons riding the Tube with the same attention and admiration he gives all life on earth.
Today, we celebrate the man who has ignited our curiosity and love for our planet and all of its inhabitants. We are immensely grateful for his curiosity and unwavering commitment to sharing the truth about all life on Earth.
Who doesn’t love Mexico in May? Forget the flights, Savor Group has brought la vida loca to Auckland. Viva Espolón sees Espolón Tequila cocktails served at Bivacco, Bar Ziti, Flush, Non Solo Pizza, Ebisu andAzabu’s Mission Bay and Ponsonby outposts, with every eatery creating a delicious cocktail list, with each drink only $18 a serve. Pair your cocktail of choice with the specialty dish to transport yourself elsewhere.
With a cocktail lineup that includes margarita and paloma variations, ranch water, tequila negronis, and mezcal-led twists that lean into bright citrus, gentle heat, and the grassy backbone of agave, this is a rare chance to taste how a single spirit reshapes itself across six different eateries.
Bivacco’s Braised Short Rib With Pickled Onion, Avocado, Lime, Beef Sugo On Grilled Corn Tortilla and Spicy Paloma
At Bivacco, the bar is pouring the classic margarita alongside a spicy paloma, the latter built for diners who like a bit of friction with their citrus. Pair it with the fried prawn taco, dressed with salsa verde and campechana, or the braised short rib taco with pickled onion, avocado, lime and beef sugo on a grilled corn tortilla.
Bar Ziti’s Ranch Water
Bar Ziti’s Passionfruit Margarita
Meanwhile, Bar Ziti leans into stone-fruit territory with a passionfruit margarita that drinks like a late summer refusing to leave. The Ranch Water sits beside it for anyone after something cleaner and more linear, all lime, salt and the quiet hum of tequila.
Non Solo Pizza’s Rosita
Non Solo Pizza’s Osteria Pizza
Non Solo Pizza’s contribution is the Rosita, a tequila negroni that swaps gin’s botanical edge for something warmer and rounder, designed to drink alongside the Osteria pizza. It’s an unlikely pairing on paper that makes complete sense when you try it.
Ebisu and Azabu Mission Bay (and Ponsonby) share a menu, that might be the most ambitious of the lot. The ESPaloma anchors the drinks list, while the kitchen sends out poached prawn tostadas and wagyu tartare tacos that play the group’s Japanese sensibility against Mexican brightness. Expect rotating taco specials throughout the month, so a return visit is definitely required.
Azabu And Ebisu’s Espaloma
Azabu And Ebisu’s Wagyu Tartare Taco
Viva Espolón runs for the entire month of May across the participating Savor venues, with $18 cocktails the entire month. We suggest working your way through the list for a true slice of la vida loca.
Among the countless ways a diamond can be cut, only a handful achieve true distinction. The Ashoka is one of them. Instantly recognisable to those fluent in fine jewellery, this elongated diamond with its softly rounded corners possesses a poise that feels both modern and timeless. Elegant without being austere, it offers the crisp geometry collectors admire in emerald cuts, but with a brilliance that feels far more alive.
That brilliance is no accident. The Ashoka cut features 62 meticulously arranged facets, engineered to amplify light in a way that traditional step cuts rarely achieve. While an emerald-cut diamond is celebrated for its clean architectural lines, it is not typically known for sparkle. The Ashoka changes that equation entirely. Its additional facets create a vibrant play of light, producing a brightness and scintillation that feels noticeably more radiant on the hand.
Achieving that effect is neither quick nor easy. Each Ashoka diamond can take up to six months to cut and polish, a painstaking process requiring extraordinary precision. The stone must be carefully shaped to achieve the cut’s exact proportions, ensuring the facets align perfectly to maximise both brilliance and balance.
Before that process even begins, the odds are already narrow. Fewer than one per cent of rough diamonds possess the clarity, size and elongated crystal structure required to become an Ashoka. The material must be exceptional from the outset. Only then can the cutter begin the long and highly specialised journey toward the finished stone.
The result is a diamond that appears larger than many others of the same carat weight, thanks to its elongated silhouette and distinctive faceting. On the finger, it has a luminous, almost floating quality, the light moving through the stone with a softness and energy that sets it apart from more familiar cuts.
Today, the Ashoka remains one of the few proprietary diamond cuts. Developed by the renowned William Goldberg Diamond House in New York, after years of research and experimentation, it is produced exclusively by the brand and a tightly controlled group of authorised partners worldwide.
For those who value individuality in fine jewellery, the appeal is obvious. The Ashoka is not simply another diamond cut. It is a connoisseur’s diamond; rare, exacting, and unmistakably brilliant.
ASHOKA® diamonds are available at Partridge Jewellers in New Zealand.
Ten scarves from the Gucci archives, each selected by Demna. A Calabrian silk production chain resurrected from abandoned mulberry groves. Students from Florence’s Accademia delle Belle Arti are transforming archival prints into contemporary paintings. This is how heritage brands stay relevant in 2026: by reaching backwards and forwards simultaneously.
The Art of Silk “Your Majesty” printed silk carré from Gucci
The Art of Silk “Giardino di Seta” printed silk carré from Gucci
The collection spans Gucci’s visual vocabulary with considered restraint. Your Majesty and Double Trouble sit alongside the inevitable Flora iterations. Each design carries its original character while speaking Demna’s quieter language. The silk itself tells its own story: sourced through Nido di Seta and Ongetta’s revival project in southern Italy, where renewable energy powers looms and rural economies find new life.
The Art of Silk “Salon Privé” printed silk carré from Gucci
The Art of Silk “Double Trouble” printed silk carré from Gucci
The accompanying campaign positions scarves as fluid accessories rather than precious relics. Movement shots capture silk in motion, styled as everything but what you’d expect. Meanwhile, the student paintings now inhabit the Rodeo Drive flagship, bridging archival craft and contemporary interpretation.
After years of matte restraint, gloss returns with conviction. Lacquered cabinetry, polished veneers and resin finishes catch the light and amplify a room’s drama, and no one is doing it with more assurance than Minotti. The Italian house has long understood that a surface is never just a surface; it’s an invitation to look closer. Their latest pieces lean into high-gloss lacquer with the confidence of a brand that built its reputation on quiet material intelligence. Think deep, inky finishes on streamlined cabinetry and console forms that seem to hold the room’s light within them. High gloss works particularly well in darker palettes, adding depth and a subtle glamour that feels intentional rather than nostalgic. Used strategically, it sharpens contemporary interiors and elevates simple forms. The key, as ever, is balance. Pairing Minotti’s reflective surfaces with tactile textiles, natural stone and warm timber avoids tipping into excess. This is not gloss for gloss’s sake. It’s a polished restraint that only works when the form beneath it is worth reflecting.
There is a spectral quality to Fiona Pardington’s photographs of birds. The specimens she trains her lens on are real — held in natural history collections across Aotearoa and Australia — but they are no longer living, and some no longer exist at all. For Pardington (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Clan Cameron of Erracht) ONZM, these taxidermied manu offer a meditation on presence and absence, and the resulting series, Taharaki Skyside, will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the 61st Venice Biennale.
Kākāpō (Rhys) by Fiona Pardington, Strigops habroptilus (2025), Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Tawaki by Fiona Pardington, Fiordland crested penguin, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus (2024). South Canterbury Museum
Kākā kura by Fiona Pardington, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, colour morph, Rangataua, Tongariro, 2025
The large-scale portraits introduce viewers to the kākā kura, a vivid colour morph of the North Island kākā; the moho, or South Island takahē, presumed lost before its rediscovery in 1948; and the delicate kōmiromiro (tomtit), among others. Each image works to restore something of its subject’s mauri — an act closer to reclamation than portraiture — while quietly interrogating the colonial legacies of museum collecting and the question of who decides what is preserved, and how.
Moho by Fiona Pardington, South Island takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri (2025). Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Toroa by Fiona Pardington, southern royal albatross, Diomedea epomophora (2024). South Canterbury Museum
The series also draws on Dante, whose Divine Comedy situates Purgatory on an island-mountain in the Southern Hemisphere; that idea of crossing between realms finds an echo in creatures suspended behind glass. “Birds can symbolise familial love, romantic attachment, and ecological warnings,” Pardington says. “They can be intimations of mortality, and in my work, they can also represent individual people in my life.” Taharaki Skyside previews on 6th May, with the Venice Biennale open to the public from 9th May to 22nd November, 2026, before the exhibition travels home to Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū from mid-2027.
This May, SOUL Bar & Bistro opens The Red Vault, a month-long Champagne celebration with G.H. Mumm, designed to make every visit a little more memorable.
Order a flute of G.H. Mumm at any point throughout May, and you’ll have the chance to discover what’s waiting inside the infamous Red Vault, stocked with over 600 suprises from some of the country’s most covetable names. Think CZE Hair products, Rebe vouchers, Red Room vouchers, a highly coveted Denizen magazine subscription, G.H. Mumm Champagne, and plenty more. Every flute is another reason to see what the Vault has in store.
Whether it’s a harbourside lunch that stretches just a little longer than it should, a golden-hour glass of G.H. Mumm with someone who deserves your undivided attention, or a midweek dinner that quietly upgrades an otherwise ordinary Tuesday, SOUL is making the case that May is a month worth heading out for. Because good things happen to those who wine and dine.
And if you needed one more nudge: Mother’s Day falls on Sunday, 10th May. A Viaduct Harbour table, a flute of Champagne, and the possibility of a Red Vault surprise is the kind of gesture that requires minimal effort and delivers maximum returns. Book now, before your siblings beat you to it.The Red Vault runs for the entire month of May, all day, every day. To secure a table for lunch or dinner, book online here.
Treat shelving as a gallery rather than storage. Layer sculptural ceramics, organic vessels, art books and personal curios in varying scale and texture, letting the contrasts do the talking — a paper-bag porcelain vase from Rosenthal beside a hammered silver bowl, a Giò Ponti sphere catching light next to a stack of well-thumbed monographs. The trick is restraint with a point of view: every object earns its place, and the arrangement reads as instinct rather than inventory.
There’s a particular kind of eatery that doesn’t announce itself so much as simply appear, fully formed and quietly confident, on a stretch of road you thought you already knew. Wigmore Deli is that place. A compact, sage-green shopfront with branded wrapping paper, a short menu, and the kind of self-assured energy that makes you wonder how the Kingsland strip ever functioned without it.
Gin Wigmore (left) and Aiden Williams (right)
Wigmore Deli’s signature lunch box: artisan ciabatta, crisps, and house sauce.
Behind the counter is a duo that makes more sense the longer you think about it. Gin Wigmore (yes, that Gin Wigmore) is the driving force, a passion project brought to life with the same bold instinct she’s applied to everything else in her career. Alongside her is Aiden Williams, the sandwich architect, who can be found behind the grill from open until sold out, working with the kind of focused intensity usually reserved for fine dining.
The menu is deliberately concise, and better for it. Every sandwich is made fresh in front of you on focaccia from Bea Bea’s Bakery, and you’ll choose between having yours served as-is or toasted until the edges turn golden and crisp. The Prosciutt-Hoe (the deli’s sense of humour is as sharp as its menu) is the one generating the most conversation. Prosciutto layered with a sundried tomato and olive relish, provolone, rocket, and a slick of balsamic glaze, finished with freshly grated parmesan and pressed until the cheese pulls. It’s the kind of sandwich that makes you eat slightly too fast and immediately consider ordering another.
“OH! HONEY!” with Burrata, pesto, roasted pepper, pistachio, hot honey and rocket on focaccia
For something on the cooler end of the spectrum, the Oh! Honey! is its perfect counterpart. Roasted capsicum, burrata, hot honey, basil pesto, rocket, and crushed pistachios on soft focaccia. It sounds busy on paper but arrives with every element pulling in the same direction, the hot honey cutting through the richness of the burrata with a slow, sweet heat.
Wigmore Deli’s pantry shelf, stocked with cult Italian staples and house favourites.
Wigmore Deli’s signature cold brew, crowned with house cream foam.
Wigmore also stocks a range of specialty pantry items you won’t find at the supermarket, many of which feature in the sandwiches themselves. On the drinks side, Allpress espresso runs through the machine, but the move here is the cold brew with vanilla sweet cream. Get in early: they’re open Tuesday to Sunday and close when they sell out, which may be sooner than you think.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 am – sold out Saturday & Sunday, 9 am – sold out
When it comes to plant-based eating, there’s a growing local scene dedicated to vegetable-focused fare. Whether you’re a full-time vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, or dining with someone who fits the aforementioned criteria, these are the best plant-focused eateries in Auckland, from cafes and bakeries to restaurants and bars worth a visit.
Inner-city restaurant East is an entirely vegetarian venture, with 75 percent of the menu dedicated to vegan dishes. A bold concept that was originally brought to life in 2021, thanks to a team of passionate experts, East’s modern Asian menu is a flavourful marvel from start to finish, filled with vibrant and complex pan-Asian dishes that taste as good as they look. And if that all wasn’t enough, recently, East runs Auckland’s first ever vegan Yum Cha service, held every Sunday at the restaurant from 12pm until 3pm. There, diners can delight in all the classic Yum Cha dishes, reimagined with a tasty, plant-based twist.
Having re-opened in a new spot on Dominion Road mid-way through 2023, vegetarian favourite, Forest, is better than ever before. Helmed by clever chef Plabita Florence, this delicious and innovative spot pushes plant-based cuisine beyond your wildest expectations. At Forest, diners will find a more traditionally structured, a la carte menu that marries mainstay dishes with seasonal specials and still plays into Florence’s experimental, exciting and exceptional culinary approach. From entree-sized snacks to larger mains that are designed to share and a number of mouthwatering sides and add-ons, the food offering at Forest is, as expected, a gastronomic journey.
Originally a food truck, Wise Boys has been serving its mouth-watering vegan burgers to the masses since it opened a brick-and-mortar store in Grey Lynn in 2019 and a Commercial Bay outpost a few years later. With a menu of banging burgers featuring the likes of crispy fried ‘chicken’, smoky ‘bacon’ and BBQ jackfruit alongside a range of tempting sides, shakes and soft-serve sundaes, the hardest part is choosing what to order.
Metita, the elegant SkyCity restaurant helmed by Michael Meredith, continues to chart new territory in contemporary Pacific cuisine — pushing the envelope further recently with a fresh focus on plant-based dining. In a move that honours the region’s produce-driven roots, the restaurant now offers a dedicated vegetarian and vegan menu, brimming with vibrant, thoughtful dishes that celebrate both tradition and technique. From the smokey intensity of charred corn tartlets with palusami purée to the umami-rich pairing of grilled oyster mushrooms and ulu, each plate is a lesson in flavour and finesse.
This off-the-beaten-track cafe makes for a cheap and cheerful lunch. Water Drop Vegetarian Cafe is situated in Flat Bush at the impressive Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple, and no walk around the grounds is complete without a steaming laksa, BBQ bun or wonton noodle dish — all meat-free, of course.
Lovers of health and raw foods will appreciate Olivia from Breakfast Babes’ selection of delicious raw treats available online and at select retailers country-wide (including newly-opened boutique fitness studio, Redroom). If you find yourself craving a 3pm, guilt-free pick-me-up, you’ll certainly find a moreish treat sure to satiate your cravings.
A welcome addition to Westmere, Esarn Rocket is a lively Thai eatery serving up bold, homespun flavours with a fresh, contemporary spin. Alongside its crowd-pleasing classics, the menu offers an impressive range of vegetarian and vegan dishes — from crispy spring rolls and green papaya salad to fragrant tofu curries and stir-fries bursting with seasonal veg. Vibrant, affordable, and packed with flavour, Esarn Rocket makes plant-based dining feel anything but an afterthought.
Next time you find yourself in Ellerslie, follow the queue to Richoux Patisserie, the low-key bakery serving award-winning meat and vegan pies. With clever vegan renditions of mince and cheese pies, sausage rolls, doughnuts and custard tarts (to name just a few), this beloved bakery puts the utmost care into every one of its creations.
There’s always a line outside Sandringham’s Paradise, and for good reason. Whether you dine in, takeaway or peruse the buffet, there is plenty to satisfy vegetarian appetites. Choose from delights such as the vege manchurian, which sees dense vegetable dumplings fried and coated in an irresistible sauce, bagarey baigan with eggplant cooked in a tamarind gravy, or wholesome daal tadka with lentils, cumin and red chillies.
With big, bold flavours and a special vegetarian and gluten-free menu to boot, Hello Beasty ticks all our boxes for dining out with dietary requirements. The KFC (Korean fried cauliflower) gives the real deal a run for its money, plus dishes like the grilled mushroom pancake and charred broccolini can easily be tweaked to suit a vegan appetite.
Middle Eastern restaurant Ima has plenty to satiate non-meat-eaters throughout its delicious all-day menu. For lunch, we’d recommend the sabich pita. Described as the ‘king of sandwiches’, it’s filled to the brim with smooth hummus, charred eggplants, slices of fried potatoes, boiled eggs, tahini and amber, a fragrant Iraqi condiment. The vegetarian Middle Eastern platter for two will also hit the spot, comprising falafel, hummus, labneh, salad, pickles, olives, Lebanese cauliflower and spanakopita with pita.
With locations in Ponsonby, the CBD, and Milford, Khu Khu is an entirely vegan Thai restaurant that doesn’t skimp on flavour and finesse. Owner Michael Khuwattanasenee found himself struggling to find plant-based options when dining out, particularly in Asian eateries given their proclivity for not just meat, but also animal-based ingredients like fish and oyster sauces. Khuwattanasenee took matters into his own hands, reinventing the classics to create tempeh pad thai, kumara spring rolls, ‘duck’ drunken noodles and warming curries.
Since opening, the days where this plant-based patisserie hasn’t completely sold out are few and far between. Here the croissants are buttery and flakey, the delicate pastries perfectly made despite being entirely vegan, and the ‘ham’ and ‘cheese’ offering a personal favourite of the Denizen team.
If you’d like to chow down on some meat-free fare alongside a fellow steak-loving diner who wouldn’t be seen near a leaf of spinach, you’re both bound to find something to love at Devonport’s Vondel. The all-day eatery caters to both preferences, with a vegan crispy ‘chicken’ burger sitting next to a Wagyu beef burger on the menu. No need to compromise here.
The original raw, organic, vegan eatery, Little Bird is still going strong. Pop into its humming Ponsonby spot for the likes of the famous Bird Bowl, kimchi pancakes, dahl dosa and kumara hotcakes, or one of its utterly satiating smoothies and shakes — and make sure you don’t leave without a raw sweet treat.
Not only is this inner-city haunt home to some of the city’s most beloved vegan food, it serves up authentic Thai dishes without the addition of fish sauce or shrimp paste. At Sunflower, flavour isn’t compromised either, the joint famously serving up some of the most sought-after ‘prawn’ fried rice in town.
Infamous for its mac and cheese with ham off the bone, Soul Bar & Bistro offers a vegetarian version of this dish as well. In fact, Soul offers a wholly vegetarian menu, filled with meatless renditions of its regular dishes. For vegetarians, the ricotta filled tortelli with sunday sauce and calabrian chilli is too good to miss, while vegans can try an irresistible take on Soul’s ever-popular green goddess salad.
For those in the know (and vegans often are about these things), Jervois Road’s Janken has been touted as one of the best destinations in the country for plant-based foods. Offering a modern slant on traditional Japanese flavours, here the vegan offerings are plentiful, with ramen, sushi, and even a vegan Benedict breakfast.
At SkyCity’s Cassia, those who shy away from meat will find plenty of flavoursome dishes to dive into on Sid Sahrawat’s lauded menu. From the famous pani puri with potato, chickpea, and mint to the stir fry paneer with chickpeas, kumara, and vindaloo sauce, Sahrawat has always been known for the innovative and utterly delicious ways in which he reimagines vegetables on his menus.
For those who want to eat plant-based but still treat themselves, Tart Bakery’s sweet and savoury treats are the pinnacle. With a prime location in Grey Lynn, the bakery’s delicious European-style bread, pasty, pies, doughnuts and sandwiches are made fresh every day and all its food is vegan and free of animal products.
Having only opened its doors recently, Bowler has already become a fixture on Team Denizen’s weekly rotation, and for good reason. Serving nutritious and delicious salad bowls that you’ll actually want to eat, with plenty for both vegetarians and carnivores alike, alongside acai bowls and epic smoothies, this drop-in is well worthy of your attention.
St Kevins Arcade’s beloved Lebanese eatery, Gemmayze Street, is the perfect spot for vegetarians and non vegetarians to come together in culinary bliss, with plentiful options for both. Here, the hummus is famous and an essential order, as is the babaganouj which pairs smokey eggplant with cumin and pomegaranate, and vegetarians shouldn’t look past the jazar roasted carrots with cashew, fennugreek, and spiced granola. Simply sublime.
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