Top Local Eateries Make International List

Auckland restaurant Ortolana and Wellington’s Olive are included in Monocle’s annual journal The Escapist’s 2016 Restaurant Awards, a list of 50 establishments from around the world.

“Tucked away in downtown Auckland, Ortolana is a brick-and-timber pavilion with steel-framed windows that open onto a small courtyard,” Simon-Farrell Green writes.

“Half the tables are outside – while inside there are linen-covered banquettes and timber tables. Seasonal produce comes from the owners’ farm and head chef Jo Pearson makes even the familiar exciting.”

“Olive is a venue that morphs throughout the day to match the atmosphere and the punters outside on Cuba Street, one of Wellington’s hippest strips,” Matt Alagiah writes. “The kitchen serves classic breakfasts and brunches, hearty lunches and slightly fancier dinners. In between mealtime, the café-cum-restaurant buzzes with people grabbing coffee, a snifter of dry Kiwi sauvignon blanc or a craft beer.”

Original article by Simon Farrell-Green and Matt Alagiah, The Escapist, July 2016.