Fruitbowl - Fresh Ideas from Hawke's Bay

I think we take for granted that we have such amazing restaurants in Hawke’s Bay. All four of these restaurants were finalists in the Cuisine Resturant of the Year: Vidal Elephant Hill Black Barn Craggy Range -it doesn’t get much better than that! And they’re joining forces to offer an exclusive cocktail evening to their most loyal fans. ...Read more

Just popped down to Bellatino’s to see Al Brown (of Logan & Brown restaurant fame) and ended up buying his book! “Go Fish” is a gorgeous recipe book with fabulous photos and helpful ‘how to’ tips – a great present for my fish-mad brother in law in Sydney. ...Read more

Thanks to Chris and Alex we had a great night at Pipi tonight with Al Brown (of Logan Brown fame) as the guest chef. Really good to see mid winter events like this happening and such a great turnout. If you haven’t tried the duck at Pipi yet I can totally recommend it. Yum! ...Read more

PR from Craig Foss and Chris Tremain ‘Developing new markets for our Wine is a very high priority,’ said Tukituki MP Craig Foss, ‘and China is one such significant market.’ In 2009 New Zealand wine exports to China were worth $14.2 million or 1.4 per cent of all our wine exports. ‘We know China is a challenging market to break into,’ said Mr. Tremain. ‘There is distribution ...Read more

Hawke’s Bay is the launch pad for local grower Phil Alison’s tiny Rockit™ apples which will blast off today. His Havelock North Fruit Company’s new apples are set to make their commercial debut and that’s not the only milestone he has to celebrate. He has secured New World supermarkets locally to stock them as well as establishing offshore markets including the United Kingdom, the ...Read more

Editor of Hawke’s Bay Today Anthony Phillips was right on the money with his editorial last night. Hawke’s Bay Wine Country is an ideal umbrella for tourism in the Bay. It captures the unique experience the region has to offer and should be single-mindedly positioned both domestically and internationally. It was a stroke of marketing brilliance when the Bay claimed wine country (much to the ...Read more

Birthday cakes are a big tradition at our place.  This year was the turn of the lady of the house … Prior cakes include the IRB and airplane ...Read more

It’s great to see Harvest HB have a new home nestled within Gimblett Gravels. The venue has a huge amount of potential and it was great to oncve again be able to wander around all the winery stalls and taste their wares. The view from the old dump site is stunning with views back out of Hastings and out to Te Mata Peak. The event organisers should be proud of what they’ve achieved as ...Read more

When we planned Accelerate 2010 there was going to be a second Dave Dobbyn, Tim Finn and Bic Runga concert on that night at Black Barn. Unfortunately circumstances changed so Odette and I found ourselves in the concert promotion business. So rather than having to hear “Loyal” again we have an even better event happening with Katchafire in the Black Barn underground cellar on ...Read more

Airnet staff enjoyed a perfect evening out last night for our Xmas do. The recent forging of a partnership between Sileni Estate and Orton Catering has proven to be an absolute winner!   Thanks Sam, Nick and the team! If you are looking for a function venue I’m sure everyone at Airnet would agree this has to be at the top of your ...Read more