The Little Grocer

311 Richmond Road
Grey Lynn, Auckland
Tel. (09) 962 6711

Yummy yum yum yum.

Today from The Little Grocer we had two cinnamon buns, two lattes, one handmade plum iceblock, two delicious homegrown lemons and a rage against the machine badge that Astrid decided she wanted.

We have been very excited about The Little Grocer ever since we discovered on our return to Auckland. The first day we went was a Sunday before Summer and there was a most delightful table setting just brimming with super sweet deliciousness which we swore we’d return to photograph. One day we will.

But today’s treat, apart from the rage against the machine badge for a dollar, was Astrid’s amazing organic coromandel plum iceblock. Oh! It was a new experience, pulverised perfect plums, frozen. We’ll be back tomorrow for more we will.

And the cinnamon buns were delicious, two shared between the four of us. And the cheapest sweet option at $3.50. Lots of lovely things to look at while we waited for our lattes; little paper masks for a dollar each (but Astrid definitely wanted the rage against the machine badge more than a zebra mask, even more than a tiger mask), a big stack of the Ponsonby News, yummy cinnamon bread and butter pudding (oh!), pesto, a selection of old fashioned sweets, and urns for putting in your predictions, sage pieces of advice, or random scribblings.

The word of the week began with an ‘f’ and was about twenty letters long. I forgot to write my prediction, even though I meant to write, “look under the carpet for the missing DVDs”. Sound advice that is.

Sound, like The Little Grocer. A little piece of magic well and truly. We love you The Little Grocer. Oh yes indeed we do.

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We Love Pies!

Oh my goodness, do we ever. We love I love pies.

We tried three I love pies pies; Angus Beef Mince and Mozzarella Cheese, Smoked Fish in a Creamy Béchamel Sauce and Free Range Chicken Leek & Mustard.My absolute favourite that was the best ever pie I have ever ever ever eaten was the Chicken and Leek. Oh! It was dusted with semolina and oh so crispy and perfect.We could taste the vegetables, each and every last one.

Kevin’s favourite was of course the Angus Beef Mince. And Astrid was pretty keen on that too. It tasted beautifully handmade, home made, hand crafted. And it really was made with love, not just made up love.

The smoked fish pie froze well and we had that when we came back from Rarotonga. And it tasted very very good. Now that’s saying a lot because we ate fresh mahi mahi every day in Rarotonga and I can’t eat fish now. Except for the Smoked Fish pie. And fresh Rarotongan mahi mahi. So it was excellent fish and it lasted us three meals. And it even had little delicious surprise capers inside. Yum!

Overall we just adored I love Pies. They’re proper quality pies. Proper, real food. Because they are so beautifully made, with all the right ingredients they’re around $18.99. So while we won’t be eating them every day (we probably could if we were still in London), we know they’ll be a very reliable, delicious and welcome treat.

www.ilovepies.com

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Margaret McHugh

To be found at various markets around Auckland
For info on her catering services, visit www.gourmetfoodstore.co.nz

We discovered Margaret at Devonport Farmers market. Muttering to ourselves “She looks like she knows what she’s doing” we made a bee-line straight over.

Margaret was most affable and chatty, giving us a piece of this and a piece of that to try. And it was all so delicious. Kevin the sausage roll aficionado gave this one the thumbs up.

We’d heard of the legendary date scones a few weeks earlier, so how lovely it was to happen upon them like this. No sugar, just the sweetness from the dates themselves go into making these the most delicious scones we have had since roughly 1978. We enjoyed these later in the morning in the blissful sun at a friend’s new flat in Stanley Bay overlooking the harbour across to the city - with a very fine coffee.

Margaret had been up since three that morning preparing the food at her kitchen in Sandringham. You wouldn’t have guessed it from the sheer energy she exuded. Margaret is a passionate foodie - and that’s exactly the kind of person you want to be buying your food from.

Having just obtained a full rundown of future diary dates we can confirm she will be at Sandringham market this coming Saturday, Albany Market on the first Saturday of each month over Summer, and in Greenhithe market on November the 18th.

Margaret is also to be found running her catering business and the café by the Auckland Courthouse.

** The email that’s being referred to below has been published at The Spare Room - where they’re using our now rather infamous photo.

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