HELENSVILLE

Cosy up in the lovely courtyard at The Butcher Baker and enjoy locally-grown produce and foraged finds as owner Reginaldo Richard presides over the woodfired oven.

AUCKLAND

Cassia has a new home, now moving uptown to SkyCity after flooding closed the Fort St premises – Sid and Chand Sahrawat (pictured below) are hard at work and aiming to open in early May. It’s Auckland’s turn to get the Chaat Street treatment as the Wellington favourite opens in Parnell with Indian street food from co-owner and chef Vaibhav Vishen. Chef Elie Assaf brings Lebanese Grocer to Pitt St, offering a dine-in menu, Lebanese coffee and mint tea and also stocking authentic Lebanese goodies from pickles to pitas. In Milford, there’s an IRL location for Swedish treats expert Scandibunz – not only the best cinnamon buns but goodies such as prawn flatbreads, meatballs and pickled venison. Just Jess Boujee Bakery has opened a second store on Northcroft St, Takapuna packed full of cupcakes, cookies, cinnamon scrolls and, of course, more pretty pastel doughnuts than you could imagine. XO Mangal is K Rd’s latest pop-up run by Satya Chai Lounge owner Sammy Akuthota and chef Alfie Ingham, with a menu that changes every week – check on Thursdays for the new choices. Honey Sundays combines a very chic surf shack with on-point Allpress coffee and laid back treats into a corner spot on Jervois Rd – easy breezy. After a long renovation, Thai Village in Remuera reopens in an airy new pavilion setting. Fresh juices and made-to-order smoothies packed with functional doses of supplements, adaptogens and fresh ingredients are among the healthy pick-me-ups at Liquid Lightning in Herne Bay. In the Dominion Rd premises vacated by Love a Duck, now you can find Ju Chang An, serving Xi’an-style dishes – think biang biang noodles that will keep you coming back. If a key lime pie doughnut sets your heart aflutter, check out Doe Donuts new store, coming in May to downtown. Seems Auckland just can’t get enough Korean-style fried chicken so welcome the fourth branch of My Fried Chicken in Newmarket, which ramps up the offering with other fusion street-food dishes, too. Staking its place opposite Britomart Station, Daily Bread has a new coffee, bread and baked goods spot, though we hear this is a forerunner to a much more ambitious flagship store to come next door. From the team that helmed Bambina for many years, comes Spring, Remuera’s latest all-day eatery with a chic light-filled pavilion and patio.

HAMILTON

Hitting the tiny restaurant trend, The Green is an eight-seater chef’s-table restaurant by Karl Martin-Boulton offering a tasting menu using Waikato suppliers, growers and artisan producers to showcase the best the region has to offer and supporting small independent businesses.

FEATHERSTON

What could get better than a first-class secondhand bookshop in New Zealand’s only official booktown? The Dickensian Bookshop welcomes the Dickensian Tea Rooms – an excuse to stay even longer. And staying on the tea theme, Happy Thoughts Bubble Tea is the Wairarapa’s first bubble tea shop.

PETONE, LOWER HUTT

Bright and brash, Gear Street Union has a bit of everything for everyone – a diner-style menu to take you from brekkie through til late, Fortune Favours on tap, craft cocktails and a bar fashioned from the back of an old Bedford truck. The old post office building gets a new makeover to become Flint Social, a spacious spot with scrummy cabinet food and it’s worth giving the woodfired pizza oven a workout, too.

WELLINGTON

Head to Hataitai and climb up the stairs from BambuchiSan to find Bella’s Wine Bar, a little nook of retro comfort.

BLENHEIM

Say hello to The Fancy Cow, Marlborough’s newest restaurant, winery, cellar door and craft brewery, headed by winemaker Ant Moore and supporting his sustainable message.

QUEENSTOWN

Hopping on the secret bar craze, Le Salon Rouge is styled as a plush Prohibition-era speakeasy gin bar tucked within the Sofitel Queenstown Hotel and Spa.