Back and busy in Auckland

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Kia ora Gastronomads


I'm back in Auckland hosting my Supper Club on Wednesday evenings and Saturday lunchtimes on the floating terrace. Nobody ever wants to leave the table after a cooking class because it is the centre of the universe, the place where we share stories and memories, drink wine and laugh. The childhood table is where we learn to socialise and communicate. My plates are very colourful and rustic – can’t bear white plates – and the tablecloths and napkins are flamboyant. Food tastes better when you share it with other people. My kitchen table is probably the most important piece of furniture in my life and my favourite one is in Auckland – it’s long and narrow and was made from a knitting factory workbench so it’s covered in graffiti and machine marks. You can fit lots of people around it and even move it as it's on wheels. I like to think that when guests leave the Supper Club and go back down in the lift they have learned something, been entertained, had a good meal and picked up more French words than they had before the class. 

The Supper Club is for everyone –  a group of friends, a group of people who've never met each other before and end up networking, an office do, a Christmas party, birthday party, family affair with children. We have a cooking lesson then sit down to eat. Book or find out more HERE.

Event Speaking

I am available for event speaking and MC engagements from now until early May 2025. To give you an idea the sort of events I have coming up, in November there is EVES administration day in Tauranga, The Wellington Club and Gisborne Business & Professional Women's Club. In March I am the guest speaker at Pask Winery for the Hawkes Bay Food & Wine Classic (FAWC). All my talks are entertaining and involve humour because it's not really the content of your life that matters – it's the context in which you hold it. If you can see the funny side of life you'll live longer, resist the urge to strangle people and have more friends. My specialist subjects are food, travel, fashion and inspiration. Get in touch directly HERE.

Gastronomic Tours in 2025

Kicking off 2025 is the dazzling extravaganza that is my India tour – and we have just one place left! India is the perfect destination for an organised tour – you just sit back, relax and soak it all in. Delhi, Jodhpur & Jaipur, 9 nights of super luxurious accommodation, shopping, textiles and of course eating in the best places. India is very intense and dramatic and if you do one outrageous trip in your lifetime, it has to be India.

India – 3 – 12 March 2025 – one place available!
Marrakech – 12 – 18 May 2025 – 3 places left
Uzès  – 30 May – 5 June 2025
Basque Country – 14 – 20 June 2025 – half full
Puglia  – 31 August – 6 September 2025
Portugal – 14 – 20 September 2025 – half full

Salade Nicoise Tart

Here's a recipe from the Supper Club – serves 6.

  • Short pastry – Paneton is the best

  • 2 large onions, thinly sliced

  • Extra virgin olive oil

  • 200g quality tinned tuna like Ortiz

  • Sea salt and black pepper

  • One red capsicum, thinly sliced

  • 8 cherry tomatoes, halved

  • Eight quality anchovies like Ortiz

  • Tbsp capers

  • 10 black olives

  • Three hard boiled eggs

  • 24cm round tin with removable base

Preheat oven to 190°C

  1. Sweat the onions in a tbsp of olive oil till light golden – about 15 mins.

  2. Roll the pastry out and place in the greased, floured tart tin. Prick base with a fork.

  3. Scatter the cooled onion all over, then the tuna, sprinkling with salt and pepper.

  4. Arrange the sliced peppers on top, then the tomatoes, anchovies, capers and olives.

  5. Drizzle with a little oil from the tuna tin.

  6. Bake for 25 mins, lightly covered with tin foil.

  7. Remove from oven and serve with quartered eggs on top

I'm loving being back in Auckland, catching up with friends and family, discovering new restaurants like St Marg's on Karangahape Rd (practically in my dining room) and enjoying the view of the Sky Tower and Mt Eden from my pointy terrace. Come and visit the Supper Club and relax before the Christmas craziness kicks in. And remember – you're only young once but you can be immature forever.