Currying flavour: Bolina Indian Sweets
Calling all lovers of traditional Indian fare… Indian cuisine can be found in every corner of the globe. Traditional Indian is renowned for its skilful use of exotic herbs and spices. Delicate and diverse flavours have been honed over a history spanning 5000 years; enriched over centuries by the fusion of various cultures […]
Flavours to be savoured: The Rabbit
… or devoured? Authentic and undeniably fun, add this to your taste-test list. Hailed for its fresh food, beautiful desserts, decadent cocktails and glamorous atmosphere, The Rabbit brings a new vibe to Canterbury’s restaurant scene. Located in Ashburton, guests come to enjoy luxe food and flavour and stay for the delectable desserts and […]
Yo ho ho, & a bottle of rum
Christchurch rum aficionados recently sampled cocktails created by internationally acclaimed mixologist Alastair Walker (pictured) and Matthew Barnsley. E xclusive tastings at DramFest 2025 and the Austin Club showcased rare single-marque bottlings from Appleton Estate’s Hearts Collection, including the 2002 and 1993 vintages, and the rare 17-Year-Old Legend. “The appetite for premium, complex rums […]
Cutting-edge and delicious: Mifan restaurant
Traditional Chinese cuisine is uplevelled with a modern twist. At the popular Ravenswood Chinese restaurant Mifan, the innovative young team are always looking to uplevel their food and create exciting new dishes. ‘Mifan’ means ‘cooked rice’ in Mandarin Chinese, and the restaurant’s deliciously authentic yet contemporary menu is as reliable as the much-loved […]
Sweets and treats
At Easter, chocolates fill the home or garden, hidden from eager eyes for a short time. While traditional, egg hunts fail to cater to diabetics and others who don’t enjoy chocolate. Consider an alternative when organising Easter gifts for friends and family: fill baskets with other personalised gifts to excite, and avoid the […]
Cake and its customs: Twisted Flour & Sugar Merchants
A wedding cake is more than a dessert, it symbolises tradition, love, and prosperity. The custom of wedding cakes dates back to ancient Rome where breaking a cake of wheat or barley over the bride’s head was believed to bring good fortune. Fast forward a few centuries to 1840 when the wedding of […]
When life gives you lemons: Sovrano Limoncello
It’s almost impossible to be downhearted with a glass of limoncello in hand. Its cheerful yellow hue, derived from lemon zest, conjures up images of balmy, sunshine days on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. It’s little wonder it is such a popular after-dinner digestif liqueur. Limoncello distilleries aren’t exclusive to Italy. Many Italian families migrated […]
Cake couture: The Sugar Room
Discover the sweet trends in wedding day showstoppers. Several stand-out moments at a wedding elicit oohs and aahs from the crowd. One of those is when the bride first steps on to the aisle – cue gasps and tears – and another is when the cake is revealed. A showstopper of a wedding […]
Events with ease: Cashmere Club
Being the organiser of a big occasion shouldn’t mean that relaxing and enjoying the day is out of the question for you. On the contrary, your reward should be having the most fun and basking in the glory of a brilliantly run event. The mother of Christchurch entertaining is the Cashmere Club and […]
Revive yourself, visit Silverstream: Urban Revival
Wedding planning often generates a need to restore energy, refresh palates, and reinvigorate the mind and body for what lies ahead. As its name states, Urban Revival does all of that. Located in the Silverstream subdivision in Kaiapoi, the quirky, fully licensed café is a place to feed and revive the soul. The […]












