EAT, DRINK + BE MERRY THE VEG FRIENDLY CHALLENGE Finalist: Dizengoff It’s the great Ponsonby News Veg Friendly Challenge, in which Ponsonby-area cafes and restaurants line up to be judged on their vegetarian friendliness. What does that mean? Simply this: it’s a new day in food-land, what with an increasing number of restaurants offering a complete vegetarian menu, and a more ‘green’ perspective to eating generally. It’s possible to be nutritious and delicious, and we’re going to name the cafes and restaurants that cater well to vegetarians and vegans, whether or not they’ve also got meat on their menus. Each month, we’ll review one of our favourite ‘veg friendly’ eateries, and at the end of it all we’ll name an overall winner, and our coveted Veg Friendly Challenge Top 10. Try as I might to never, ever use the word ‘iconic’, the finalist in this month’s Veg Friendly Challenge can’t be described any other way. While hundreds of other cafes on the main Ponsonby strip have come and gone, and others have lapsed into ordinariness, Dizengoff has really never had an off day, and has continued to serve its Kosher-oriented food with style and simplicity, despite having changed hands a few times since it opened way back in the mid-90s. Its current owners Mark and Troy have steered the ship ably for a number of years now, seemingly keeping in mind the old truism that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!’ The consistency of everything about Dizengoff is one of the real attractions to the New York-style diner, and a boon to vegetarians is the generous portions of the menu devoted to meat-free fare. Another great thing for plant-eaters with sensitive olfactory organs is the lack of pig products: being Jewish-inspired, the menu features no bacon, and it’s a pleasure to sit in a cafe without that very pungent smell wafting around. Both the breakfast and lunch menu is thoughtfully available all day (well, until the kitchen closes at 3pm, anyway), which gave us even more choosing power. Ponsonby News editor Martin Leach went for a half and half scrambled eggs with Dizengoff’s famous creamy mushrooms ($15.50), which never, ever fails to disappoint. I don’t know quite how they get mushrooms tasting so good, but Troy (a vegetarian himself) guarantees they’re free of any suspicious ingredients. Described as ‘sautéed mushrooms in a creamy balsamic sauce’ and served with sourdough bread and a generous dollop of fresh pesto, they’re both a taste and texture sensation. I went for the onion tart ($13.50) with caramelised onion and parmesan. It comes with either chargrilled veg or rocket parmesan salad, and I chose the latter which turned out to be a generous bowl of greens. The tart didn’t look like much, but as we know, looks are often deceiving. Once again, the combination of taste and texture was perfectly pleasing, and the chefs have obviously finessed this recipe until all wrinkles are completely ironed out. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
Do you run a cafe or restaurant in the Ponsonby/Grey Lynn area that does vegetarian really well? If so, let me know on the email below. We’ll be sure to check out your eatery. And don’t be shy, okay? Gary Steel is an Auckland-based journalist who runs online vegetarian resource www.doctorfeelgood.co.nz. He can be contacted via beautmusic@gmail.com
FOOD COURTS IN DUBAI, NEO-BISTROS IN PARIS L’AUTHENTIQUE FOUNDER GUILLAUME DESMURS RETURNED TO NEW ZEALAND FOR a brief visit late last month to catch up with his Auckland-based partners and develop new lines for their brand of sausages, patés and terrines. Ponsonby News asked Guillaume, who has been living in Dubai and London, about international food trends. PN: How did you find the food business in the United Arab Emirates? GD: There are only mass production companies operating who leave no room for small players. The UAE is the kingdom of the food court with fast food brands. The only decent products are imported. I missed the fruit and veggies from the land of the long white cloud! PN: Had much changed in Parisian food when you last visited? GD: There is now the neo-bistro: elegant dishes, great products, organic wines, cool layouts, affordable prices. Refreshing! El Bulli’s bulls**t is a long way behind us and that’s good! Get back to real products coming from a farm and not a lab.
Other vegetarian options include hummus, beetroot salad, labneh cheese salad, feta pie and a bunch of egg-oriented breakfast dishes.
PN: Are you coming across more vegetarian products on your travels? GD: At home with my young family in London we have a meat/fish free day every week. When god-like chef Alain Ducasse dedicates a restaurant in Paris to vegetarian cuisine, you can only surmise that vegetarianism is growing.
If there’s a downside, it’s that while vegetarians are well catered for, the menu isn’t really a proposition for those of a vegan persuasion. This is one of the interesting discoveries of our Veg Challenge thus far: that vegetarian cuisine is now so mainstream it has been integrated into many menus, but vegan cuisine tends to exist out there on its own in dedicated environments such as the Little Bird Unbakery.
PN: What are the big trends in London food? GD: The mainstream trend, like here, is towards craft beers and organic wines. Otherwise, London is very much about brands with multiple outlets. I remember London in the ‘80s, there was nothing edible! Now, even the pubs have made huge efforts.
Personally, I found everything about Dizengoff to be pretty much top-notch. The counter service was friendly and helpful, the quality of the food justly celebrated, and the environment delightfully utilitarian. I hadn’t been to Dizengoff for some years, mainly because it’s so popular that I got tired of battling to find a table. Now that its excellence has been reconfirmed, I’m willing to join the fray! This time we chose 10am on a Monday morning and it was busy enough, but spare tables were in abundance. One other thing: we had demolished everything on our plates before we remembered our plan to photograph the meals. While I’m sure that the stimulating conversation had a part to play in our forgetfulness, I’m sure also that the food was just too enticing not to scoff up PN as soon as it hit our table. Open 7 days, 6.30am-5pm. (GARY STEEL) F DIZENGOFF, 256 Ponsonby Road, T: 09-360-0108.
32 PONSONBY NEWS+ February 2015
PN: Tell us how New Zealand foodies differ from their international equivalents. GD: My fellow Kiwis are the most discerning consumers I’ve seen so far. Products must be good (of course), super healthy, ethically perfect... and cheap! If you make it here, you can please anyone. PN: What’s next for l’Authentique? GD: We would like to use the combination of our experience to create our first line of ready-to-eat meat products: a family food solution, with the same criteria as our fresh products - free range meats, no preservatives, no cheating. F PN L’AUTHENTIQUE, www.lauthentique.co.nz PUBLISHED FIRST FRIDAY EACH MONTH (except January)