MEET SUMMER, OWNER OF PILAR, PONSONBY’S NEWEST CAFE

Pilar opened last month at 2 Ponsonby Road – the Great North Road end.

Please tell us a little about yourself? What inspired you to open your own cafe?

I’m a chef and graduated from an Auckland local culinary school and have been in a commercial kitchen since 2013. I worked for different employers on different sections with different workmates in different cities. But mostly they were cafes. I was thinking I could learn something new from a few years ago. I’m a shy person since I was little, but I would love to take on new challenges. “Life is short" one of my previous workmates said to me. She inspired me.

The cafe looks nice – very contemporary. How did you decide on the concept and the name for Pilar?

My favourite book in childhood is,‘The Old Man and the Sea'. Then we picked Pilar as the name. The idea was from SundayBestNZ who helped me to develop the design. They also provided some ideas for inside, and my husband and I also did some online research for the decorations. Simple is the best.

“In 1934, New England’s Wheeler Yachts crafted a 38-foot sport fishing boat for legendary author Ernest Hemingway. He named his new boat ‘Pilar', which was Hemingway’s nickname for his second wife, Pauline, and also the name of the woman leader of the partisan band in his 1940 novel set during the Spanish Civil War, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’. It was on this vessel that the Nobel Prize winner pioneered big-game fishing, hunted Nazi submarines and wrote two of his most famous literary works – ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ (1953) and 'Islands in the Stream' (1970).”

What role will social media play in your marketing strategy?

I do think social media is playing an important role nowadays. People attract people.

Please tell us about the food and your menu? We are providing Rocket coffee beans from Hamilton. Not many places in Auckland do work with Rocket. We wanted to bring a good quality coffee roaster to more people.

We are doing traditional European cafe food, plus Asian fusion choices, still improving and wanting to update chef specials regularly so as to bring more new and creative ideas to customers.

Everything on our menu, we do from scratch – corn fritters, pancakes, poke sauce for poke bowls, chicken marinade for the burger, steak marinade for the open sandwich. We do our best to keep the good quality for every single item on the plate.

We know it’s early days but what has the feedback been so far?

Customers are so kind and sweet, they always say the food and coffee were good. We have a few reviews on google and they are all five stars.

PILAR CAFE, 2 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 217 9890, @pilar.ponsonby

PILAR CAFÉ

ROCKET COFFEE + ASIAN-FUSION MENU WITH EUROPEAN INFLUENCES

2 PONSONBY ROAD / PH: 09 217 9890 instagram @pilar.ponsonby

Transport yourself – no TARDIS necessary.

At the time of writing, the rain was still falling. Despite recently returning from a holiday in warmer climes, cabin fever was beginning to seep into my daily mood with that old ‘covid-time bubble’ looking like it just might return. I looked despondently out at another grey sky and wet road. But then I remembered my grandmother.

Nana S., who lived in the outer suburbs – perhaps inspired by Petula Clark’s 1968 hit ‘Downtown' – used to say, “When you’re feeling a bit blue, tidy yourself up, put on your good clothes, get on a bus and go into town.” That she did on many occasions; a small sherry at the old Travelodge on the waterfront probably helped just a little too.

It was good advice, but these days there are obviously a lot more ways to shake off the winter blues and to get into town other than taking a bus ride. Driving yourself, if you can, is one way, if you don’t mind the often bumper to bumper ride and the circling while looking for a carpark, or are partial to feeding a hungry parking meter machine. Although, all this can be avoided by renting a conveniently located Cityhop vehicle from around $15 an hour, or an e-bike or e-scooter.

The first time I hired an e-scooter in Auckland back in 2018, I went head-over-heels over the handlebars. Luckily, training from my skydiving course in my youth (when parachutes weren’t as advanced as they are today) kicked in, and I automatically rolled into a ball ending back up on my feet and upright. No harm done. Those e-scooters are now much safer and more robust than they were and remain a mode of transport, when ridden sensibly, hard to beat for an uplifting, environmentally friendly trip.

However, if you’re not an e-scooter user, you can always take a bus as my grandmother did, but no longer have to waste time waiting for ages at the bus stop for one to arrive.

The AT app on our phones tells us exactly where the next bus is en route and when exactly to expect it. Thus allowing us to leave home just beforehand. The app is great when you’re short of time, and especially great if it’s raining cats and dogs! And now, since 1 July, children under 13 can travel for free, children aged 13 to 15 and young people aged 16 to 24 can travel for half price. SuperGold card holders continue to travel at no cost after 9am weekdays and anytime on weekends and public holidays.

If Nana S. was still with us, I’m not sure if she would get on a bicycle or an e-bike, either in cycling gear or in her best clothes in order to get into town these days, but with the current and future planned cycleways, she certainly would now have that option. The recent decision by AT that the longdiscussed development of Great North Road will go ahead, making cycling connections safer and more convenient is welcome news. Improvements are not limited to dedicated cycle lanes, but also include greater safety for pedestrians, better bus stops and dynamic bus lanes.

Of course, another major way to connect with people and places is by electric train. A friend of mine recently needed to get from a central city suburb to Middlemore Hospital. Having never used the trains before, despite living in the city for some time, he was impressed with the ease of doing so and, after using the train, came away with a refreshed vision of the city. Sometimes, on a sunny day I cycle the city, and after an extra-long ride when I have over-rewarded myself with food at my destination, I put my bike on the train and return in the comfort of a carriage.

So, no need to let the winter blues stop you getting out and about – there’s more than one way to travel this ol’ town!

For further details check out at.govt.nz

(WILLIAM GREIG)  PN

Auckland Obstetric Centre is a unique practice in Parnell made up of six leading specialist obstetricians and support staff. Together we have many years of experience and feel privileged to be able to share in the care of women during their pregnancy. To find out more about how we can care for you and your baby call our team or visit our website.

09 367 1200 obstetrics.co.nz