Auckland Offline - Tues Dec 4th

[Craig(NZ)]

Im planning an offline type dinner for the kwfc writing team pre our assult on Wine NZ. Dinner Sat 1st September in Auckland probably at Amphora in Botany (good food/ glassware, no corkage). Emphasis will be on quality not quantity (well thats the plan anyway) for obvious reasons

Any Auckland Forumites interested in joining us , just PM me for details!!

[SueNZ]

Would love to Craig - but taxi fare from Albany to Botany would be about as much as a cheap air fare from Auck to Syd.

[mgbridges]

Would love to, but I suspect my cellar will still be on the high seas at that point!

Martin

[mgbridges]

Just bumping this back into life. My cellar seems to have survived its journey across the high seas (well, at least the bottles have - I'll give the contents a little while to settle down before I check for problems there) so I'd be up for any Auckland-based gathering in the not-too-distant future.

Are there many of us here?

Martin

[SueNZ]

Just bumping this back into life. My cellar seems to have survived its journey across the high seas (well, at least the bottles have - I'll give the contents a little while to settle down before I check for problems there) so I'd be up for any Auckland-based gathering in the not-too-distant future.

Are there many of us here?

Martin

Yep, you, me, Craig, Bick, Wycroft and others that post have Auckland, NZ as their location. Plus Maximus will be around town in Dec. Could be interested if it is a central location. Botany is too far away.

[Craig(NZ)]

yeah central is absolutley fine. no issues there at all. lets do it when max is in town in december??? mind you its a busy time for everyone but hey im sure we could manage something if we are all keen. if we set a date soon we can all block out our diaries.

the only thing is i would have to leave the central restaurant choice to someone who knows. i only know byos in my area.

Lets assume december thur or fri night?? then lets just spill the nites we cant make it and find a date that suits all??

can add bacchus to the list of possible starters too

[SueNZ]

the only thing is i would have to leave the central restaurant choice to someone who knows. i only know byos in my area.

Perhaps we could have a BBQ somewhere instead of going to a restaurant?

[mgbridges]

The only date I definitely can't do in December is Thursday 6th. The rest is still clear at the moment.

I'm based in the city centre but I'm afraid I'm too new on the scene to know much about the restaurants.

Cheers,

Martin

[SueNZ]

One of the guys from WLDG is having a trip to NZ in December and would love to meet up for an offline. I'll PM him and see if he wants to participte in this thread.

[Maximus]

Sounds cool, and I like the bbq idea Sue.

The trip to Auckland is 95%, with confirmation in about two weeks time. All going ahead, I'll be there Nov 12 - Dec 21, so we can even schedule something for Nov if Dec is busy for people.

Cheers,

[Peter NZ]

I'm in Auckland 3 - 4 days each week for work for the next 6 months or so, & would be a keen starter.

Cheers
Peter

[Curt]

Hi, I am keen on an Auckland off-line as well. My preference would be a BBQ .... if not, I can recommend a BYO that I went to with another bunch of wino mates recently : Canton Cafe in Kingland. Cheers, Curt.

[Craig(NZ)]

bbq wold be fine but then we have the same issue as the byo. we need a central volunteer to host.

rules me out, rules bacchus out, rules sue out as volunteers.....all auckland fringe dwellers

[Maximus]

Why not a public place near the water or something?

Roadtrip up to Bay of Islands?

[SueNZ]

Public place - good be tricky the way the liquor laws and "drinking in public places" are going. Will put my thinking hat on.

Kingsland would be OK. I was thinking ethnic could be good.

There's always the Chinese restaurant downstairs at the Elliot St end of the Strand Arcade. Round tables that seat about 12. We go there every year after wine options and drink all sorts of different wines. Buffet style food. Plus there is a 'lazy Susan' in the middle that makes it easy to move bottles around. Set price. Lots of food choices.

Red in Herne Bay does BYO - $10 corkage.
I like St Tropez in Parnell also. But it's so formal. Nice to take some treasures out of your cellar and match to French cuisine.

[Bick]

I like St Tropez in Parnell also. But it's so formal. Nice to take some treasures out of your cellar and match to French cuisine.

I went there last night! I hadn't been there before and liked it very much. We had a pretty enjoyable Cotes du Rhone with our meal.

As to the offline - I'll have to see nearer the time I think - it's tricky with a 1 year old and my wife's work schedule. I'll keep track of the plans as they shape up though - it would be good to meet some folk offline if I possible can.

[Craig(NZ)]

Ok

issues we have include:

1. December is busy. Make it easy. Also because of office parties and xmas events we will have to book early.
2. December is expensive. Lets not exclude people because of cost
3. Auckland is big. Lets make it as easy as poss to get there and home.

Minimise the above by:

1. Wed/ Thur night or how about a sunday long lunch?? Trips to the ends of the earth arent gonna fly that time of year
2. Somewhere that isnt over the top expensive
3. Somewhere centralish

It is also good to go to a BYO with decent glassware. Stumpy crappy glassware aint cool when you have flash wines (or any wine). Sues idea of ethnic is not bad as they are always cheap, though usually the glassware is shite and many dishes are better suited to beer than fine wines?? There would be exceptions to this no doubt but vindaloo and pinot???

Lets all think of a place and a date and put the ideas in the hat and discuss. Also should we theme or just a random collection of wines??

C

[Craig(NZ)]

B.Y.O.W (STILL WINE ONLY) ~ Corkage $5.00pp (LIMIT 1 BOTTLE 750ml PER PERSON DRINKING)

st tropez parnell.

food looks wine friendly

http://www.sttropez.co.nz/wa.asp?idWebPage=7790

[mgbridges]

I've not been to St Tropez, but the food certainly does seem wine-friendly.

I think I'd prefer Old World cuisine, as I find matching wine to Asian foods quite challenging. Plus my cellar is red-dominated at the minute.

As for the other questions, I'd say central city on a weekday evening works best for me.

At some stage in the future I'd probably be happy to host a BBQ at my place up on the Shore but it's still early days yet - we haven't yet moved in properly.

Cheers,

Martin

[Curt]

I have been to St. Tropez a couple of times ... once with appx 20 wine mates and the food was very good and wine friendly. We sat at one log table which was OK but hard to talk to anyone at the other end. One of the guys arranged to take quality glassware. The other time was a family birthday and I took a classy Bdx ... the house glassware was not great but acceptable but that was a year ago - things may have changed.

[John Fiola]

One of the guys from WLDG is having a trip to NZ in December and would love to meet up for an offline. I'll PM him and see if he wants to participte in this thread.

Hi All,
I'm the guy from WLDG that will be travelling to NZ in December. I would love to meet up for an offline. I could bring something from an American producer if you'ld like.

I will be in Auckland from 03-Dec-07 to 07-Dec-07. I'll be travelling throughout NZ, so for those not in AKL, I would love to meet up.


Cheers,
John

[Craig(NZ)]

ok, given the discussion above I will throw out a starter for 10

Wed 5th December St Tropez Parnell 7pm

Who is keen??

[SueNZ]

ok, given the discussion above I will throw out a starter for 10

Wed 5th December St Tropez Parnell 7pm

Who is keen??

Can't do Wednesdays, sorry.

If we are going to have a big group, I still prefer something a little less formal, such as ethnic.

I have rung this Chinese restaurant in the Strand Arcade in the city and they have a buffet of about 30 different dishes - fish, beef, chicken - no vindaloos as Chinese - and nothing too outrageously hot in any event - and I think you will find a dish to go with pinot.
The glassware is OK - quite decent sized glasses. They are not Riedels, but much better than you get at many restaurants.
Buffet meal is $22 per head - or $25 on Friday or Sat nights.
They will do BYO for us at $4 per head.

Buffet is good as it means you are not waiting ages and ages to get your meal. And you can have as many courses as you want. Plus you can't get much more central than this.

Martin can't do the Thurs 6th.
I can't do Wed 5th.
I thought about Fri 7th, but John leaves on the 7th.
So what about Tuesday 4th if we are going to do something while John is in town?

Cheers,
Sue

[Maximus]

Meh, what's with the midweek evenings? Why not a Friday night? November 30th?

I'm not so sure about the buffet either, though I'm with Sue on the ethnic. Unless it's been a seafood lunch at the Marriott, buffets have never met with much success in my experience. There's a great little Japanese restaurant down near the train station (Daikoku something), that do tapa size meals. You can order five or six, be full, the food is exceptional, and all up cost is around 35-$40. $5/bottle corkage. Glassware is average - may have to organise our own, which shouldn't be too hard.

And are we doing a theme?

[SueNZ]

Meh, what's with the midweek evenings? Why not a Friday night? November 30th?

If you read above, John from Boston is in Akl from the 3rd to the 7th - so thought it could be good to do something while he is in town. 7th is a Friday, but it seems he will have flown the nest, i.e. the hubbub of Auckland City.

I've been to the New Orient several times, and it's a pretty good buffet. Neil reminded me they have duck too.

[SueNZ]

I have been to St. Tropez a couple of times ... once with appx 20 wine mates and the food was very good and wine friendly. We sat at one log table which was OK but hard to talk to anyone at the other end. One of the guys arranged to take quality glassware. The other time was a family birthday and I took a classy Bdx ... the house glassware was not great but acceptable but that was a year ago - things may have changed.

Hi Curt,

One time at St Tropez, we were seated at the table next to bar. Really good glasses could be seen. Neil asked if we could have some of those but they said no. We think they were reserved for customers who purchased wine from them, rather than BYO. But the glasses sat there in our full view, all night, never used.
Next time we took glasses, but different people were working and they gave us the best glassware. Could be because the wines we took were French. Other than that have no idea what the reasoning, of who gets the best glassware, could have been.
I do like their food, however.

Cheers,
Sue

[Maximus]

Neil reminded me they have duck too.

You said the magic word. I'm sold.

[SueNZ]

Have been researching the liquor bans in Auckland City to see just exactly what they say.

Seems that the CBD has a complete alcohol ban
Permanent bans although supposedly you can carry alcohol through the area to a restaurant.

Other popular places have liquor bans Thurs, Friday and Saturday nights only -
Interim bans

[John Fiola]

Neil reminded me they have duck too.

You said the magic word. I'm sold.

It seems like duck is popular with offlines.
We sometimes go to a place in the Chinatown section of Boston where we have our fill of duck.


Cheers,
John

[Wycroft]

Sounds great. Whatever date and venue you settle on I'll do my best to join. Santa Lucia in Mission Bay also does BYO, and hoky old style Italian food to a reasonable standard. It's the full mural walls, wine bottle candle holders and check tablecloths arrangement. A bit kitcsh but perhaps a better venue than the long, narrow St Tropez, depending on numbers. I don't recall seeing duck on the menu though!