Stories

Ah, the burger. Is there a simpler, yet more versatile and universally loved food around? It’s Burger Day and we’re celebrating by sharing our picks of some the most delicious burgers around Christchurch – get your drool bibs at the ready. Black Burger Where: 172 St Asaph Street What: LA-style burgers made with premium Japanese black Wagyu beef. The Classic Burger is just what it sounds like – an absolute classic, done right. Burgers & Beers Where: Eats on Oxford, 32 Oxford Terrace What: Simple, good burgers, big in size, big on flavour. And of course, cold beer to wash it down. Burger Station Where: 96 Riccarton Road or 3/249 Stanmore Road What: These gourmet burgers will hit whatever spot you want, with flavours such as the Mumbai Indian or Shroom Bomb that you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Slick Burgers Where: 254 Ferry Road What: Loaded burgers stacked sky high...

Move over, Land Rover, the Land Doughver is here. What’s like a Land Rover, but pumps out delicious woodfired pizzas? Fire & Slice’s new mobile pizza truck, the Landdoughver! It’s a modified, ex-army 1982 Series III Land Rover, V8 petrol beast with an Italian-made pizza oven on the back. A sister vehicle to the Series II mounted over the pizza oven in the Sumner restaurant, the Landdoughver is a roving pizza machine that will be gracing festivals, community events, weddings and private gigs all over Canterbury. It’s got upgraded suspension springs, braking and power steering to incorporate the 900kg oven on the back. The oven sits on a custom-engineered frame with in-built fireproofing, and the concrete coating on the oven has layers of fireproofing built in so even when its burning at 400 °C inside, it’s just warm to the touch on the outside. But the most important part is the...

There’s nothing quite like a woodfired pizza, and there’s no woodfired pizza quite like Fire & Slice in Sumner. Since its launch in August 2018, Fire & Slice has become a Sumner pizza legend. It’s a buzzing joint, and on any given evening you’ll find takeaway customers hanging out in the front watching pizzas fly in and out of the oven, while diners enjoy a beer over their pizza at the tables down back. Fire & Slice isn’t faffing round with pasta or desserts. This restaurant knows what it does best and sticks to its guns: pizza, chips, beer and wine. And when it comes to the pizza, there’s nothing else quite like it in Christchurch. The dough is hand-made with fresh yeast – not the instant stuff you get from the supermarket. It takes two days to rise, giving it its signature flavour and light texture – it digests easy,...

A nurse and a drag king walk into a bar... and they are shaking (and stirring!) up the local theatre industry. Georgie Sivier has dreamt about creating her own theatre company since she was eight years old. She studied performing arts at Whitireia in Wellington and quickly dove headfirst into the worlds of acting, standup comedy, directing and drag. But Georgie says her theatre company Play Space was never intended to be a solo project. “Ever since I set up Play Space in 2017 I’ve been looking for someone who challenges and inspires me, someone who is as passionate as I am.” Kat Forrester is a nurse who turned her hand professionally to performing arts in 2018 after a long flirtation with community theatre. “I studied with Hagley Theatre Company, after taking a breather from nursing and focussing on something more creative for a couple of years. I’d never seriously thought...

The Great NZ Toastie Takeover is back, and judges are deliberating on which cafés, restaurants, bars and eateries are behind Aoteatora's best toasties. In the meantime, you can get the recipes direct from the source. THere's notinh like a good cheesy toastie for a classic Kiwi meal. The Great NZ Toastie Takeover is an annual competition to find the best one in New Zealand. The criteria are that the toastie has to be sandwiched between two slices of bread and able to be eaten by hand if necessary. Each toastie must also contain cheese and McClure's Pickles. We highly encourage you to get out and try some of Christchurch's entrants in the competiton (see below), and if you're a home toastie maestro you can check out recipes for previous winners and chef-designed toasties on the Great NZ Toastie Takeover website. Recipes include mushroom toasties, lamb toasties,  grilled sourdough with chicken paremsan,...

All our pop dreams are coming true this winter as the sonic sounds of Drax Project head our way, along with Mitch James and special guest AACACIA. From humble beginnings as music students busking on the street, Drax Project have grown into an exceptional band who've won over crowds at every single one of their recent performances, from their own headline shows to international festivals and opening for such household names as Ed Sheeran, Christina Aquilera, Lorde and SIX60. With catchy tracks that have any audience bopping along, this is one of New Zealand's most-watched groups and one of the world's must-see live acts. Singles from their self-titled debut album have been streamed over 300 million times and have collected 18 platinum certifications to date. Mitch James is a Kiwi-born, Australian-based singer songwriter whose star is rising fast. After multiple headline shows across New Zealand and winning Best NZ Act at...

If you’re looking for some entertainment next weekend, NZ Opera is bringing world-class Baritone Phillip Rhodes to Christchurch to sing in a one-off concert at The Piano with Dame Malvina Major Foundation studio artists Katherine Winitana and Katie Trigg as well as pianist Mark W Dorrell. Phillip tells Cityscape about some of his top picks from the evening's varied programme. I'm keen on getting down to Christchurch and being in The Piano, which will be a new venue for me. It’s been a year away from the stages, so I'm really looking forward to it. I’ve had one show, and I’m just ready to get into it. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for. Mozart – 'Soave sia il Vento' I’m doing a couple of Mozart numbers, because I've got the studio artists Katherine Winitana and Katie Trigg involved. Mozart should never leave you in your career. It's...

After 17 wondrous years of Open Air Summer Shakespeare in Mona Vale Gardens, Top Dog Theatre has come indoors to tread the boards of the magnificent Isaac Theatre Royal and perform Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays. Twelfth Night is Shakespeare’s brilliant fast-paced romantic comedy, brimming with interwoven plots of romance, mistaken identities, drunken songs and dances, farcical fights and practical jokes to delight and entertain the audience. Separated from her twin brother Sebastian in a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy and becomes a servant to Duke Orsino. So begins this whirlwind tale where music is the food of love and anything is possible for these romantic castaways. Come and revel with some of Shakespeare’s most notorious characters – Malvolia, resplendent in her yellow stockings, the wise jester, Feste, and of course the drunken rogue, Sir Toby Belch. “A performance as never seen before,” says director Derek Doddington....

Pegasus Bay Winery, one of the original and definitive North Canterbury wineries, released its first wines in 1991. But its story starts in the 1970s with some of the first grape vines in Canterbury. Ivan Donaldson and wife Christine were behind those early vine plantings. Ivan was a consultant neurologist who started making wine as a hobby in the garage at their Christchurch home. At that point they had no idea that wine would become the family's business and passion. A decade later, in 1986, Ivan and Chris purchased some land in the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury with a vision of creating what is now Pegasus Bay. Their four sons, aged 8 to 14 years, helped plant the vineyard which is now 35 years old. All the Donaldson boys are still involved in the business today: eldest sn Mat is the winemaker, Mike is the Canterbury sales manager, Paul is...

We've got the deets on the media you're going to want to check out this month, from great shows to hot new albums. Bingewatching The One Finding your predestinate, biological soulmate through DNA testing might sound like a sweet and heartwarming premise, but from the first episode of futuristic thriller The One, there’s a slight sense of dread and forboding that suggests happy endings might not be so easily found. Brimming with complex, flawed characters whose choices infuriate as much as compel you, The One is a gripping, dark look at relationships and what might prove most important to people when they are forced to choose. Watch on: Netflix. Creamerie It could have been a bit awkward in a post-Covid world to make a series about a world in which all the males on the planet have been killed by a mystery virus, but through empathetic characters, a great script and...

Legendary Aussie pub-rocker Jimmy Barnes will celebrate his new album with a New Zealand tour in May 2022. While most of us spent 2020 bingewatching TV shows, Jimmy and his wife Jane entertained the world with daily ‘at home’ performances that attracted more than 100 million views on social media. The Australian rock icon also used 2020’s COVID lockdowns to learn the bagpipes, release a non-fiction book, start work on a novel and help Jane create a forthcoming recipe collection. Plus he somehow found time to write and record a new album with his loved ones that’s aptly titled, Flesh And Blood. Flesh And Blood is released on July 2 and is the 20th studio album by Jimmy Barnes. Jimmy will be bringing his eight-piece band made up mostly of his family to New Zealand for a three-date tour, kicking off in Christchurch on May 5. “It’s great to be back...

Innovative Aotearoa designer Jason Lingard’s labels have hit the shelves at The Tannery boutique Cosi Fan Tutte. Jason's eponymous label is dark and bold, paying homage to Japanese and neo-Gothic aesthetics with a decidedly modern bent. He has a deep appreciation for high-end finishings and loves working with quality, natural materials such as linen, leather, silk, wool and fine cottons. His second label, Gaard, strikes further in the direction of streetwear, with printed hoodies, tees and multipurpose garments. The Gaard range was born from an Asia New Zealand Foundation trip where Jason and other ethically-minded Kiwi fashion designers travelled to Asia to explore family-run factories and meet with local designers. The collections are both designed to fit interchangeable body shapes, genders and ages. cosifantutte.co.nz

The inaugural exhibition by UK-born, Christchurch based artist Ghostcat, AKA Mike Beer, resurrects and redirects the spotlight onto the lost, overlooked and slightly worse for wear elements of Christchurch. Visitors to Fiksate Gallery from now until May 8 can immerse themselves in a miniature world, one of intricate and grimy detail. A scaled-down skip bin with bits of rubbish scattered around it; a corner dairy with tiny cigarette butts stubbed out on the path outside; electrical boxes and derelict buildings, perfectly replicated right down to the graffiti adorning them. These inconsequential urban objects sit next to Christchurch buildings of the past, from the brightly coloured duo of The Lava Bar and The Volcano Cafe to the neon green M of the Ministry Nightclub. Ghostcat has spent over a decade in Christchurch and his connection to the city's places and its people is evident in his work, which is largely created by...

Christchurch's iconic Court Theatre is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and along for the ride are two key people who have been there from the very beginning. Doris Barnard and Gay Peek began volunteering as ushers at the Court Theatre when it opened in 1971, and still love the vital role they play in the theatre’s life. When the theatre was first established in 1971 by Mervyn Thompson and Yvette Bromley, Doris and Gay were among the first to ask if there was any way they could be involved. They were both on duty as ushers for the theatre's very first production, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which was shown at the Court's first premises in the Durham Street Art Gallery. “The contact with the audience is always fun and I enjoy the feeling of being a link between the public and the production teams and of course I get to...

The stunning white ngutu (ceremonial entranceway), will be a prominent feature of the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre. It will welcome visitors to the centre, and be the location of formal ceremonies. Construction will begin on the aluminium artwork, named Te Aika, this month. It has been designed by artists Rachael Rakena and Simon Kaan and will be produced by SCAPE Public Art in collaboration with Matapopore. Te Aika means ‘the home people’ (it is a Ngāi Tahu version of 'Te ahi kā': ‘the home fires burning’). The artwork recognises the mana of local hapu, Ngāi Tūāhuriri. The design has been inspired by the distinctive southern maihi (diagonal bargeboards) on whare on the bank of the Horotueka (Cam River). Other influences include: the kōtuku, which is considered a good omen; karanga weaving imagery as a tribute to Ngāi Tūāhuriri wāhine; the kahu huruhuru or cloak as a symbol of welcome, warmth,...

Come prepared to stock your pantry and try things you've never seen before at the 2021 Christchurch Food Show. With 120 local and national exhibitors bringing their fabulous wares to Christchurch Arena, there'll be everything from beautifully cured meats to plant-based milk bases; delicious chocolates and delectable cheese to fresh Chatham Islands seafood. An exhibition of New Zealand's cooking talent will be on show in the NEFF Cooking Theatre, with household names such as Nadia Lim, Annabelle White and Ganesh Raj joined by local legends like Jax Hamilton, Giulio Sturla and Two Raw Sisters. You won't want to miss the Wine and Cheese masterclass, new to this year's show and featuring Villa Maria wines matched with melt-in-your-mouth Castello cheese for only $15 a ticket. The La Panzanella Deli Collective provides everything you could possibly need to curate the perfect cheeseboard, and the Artisan Village has the best in small-batch handcrafted goods....

New Zealand Opera has gone full multimedia with this cinematic treat! It's Semele on the big screen, it's showing a one-off special fundraising session at Lumière Cinemas on April 15, and judging by the drama of the trailer and the awesomeness of the stage production we're pretty confident this is going to be a great night out. This stunning new opera film, directed by Rebecca Tansley (The Heart Dances), was filmed in 2020 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell. It features some of New Zealand’s best voices: Emma Pearson, Amitai Pati (SOL3 MIO), Paul Whelan, Sarah Castle, Stephen Diaz, Chelsea Dolman and Sashe Angelovski along with the Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus and the Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir. A baroque orchestra under the baton of Peter Walls ONZM brings Handel’s intricate score to life. The story explores the sensual love triangle between Jupiter (King of the Gods), his wife Juno,...

The 2020 Main Divide Rosé was harvested in the sunny days of last autumn. It’s perfect for enjoying during the warm evenings we have left in autumn 2021. With a light salmon colour, this rosy rosé has fruity aromas of strawberries, red currants, citrus blossom and white fleshed peach. On the tongue it’s delightfully dry and carries the minerality we’ve come to expect of great North Canterbury wines. The dry, hot summer of 2020 meant that perfectly ripened, small berries were able to be harvested earlier than usual, allowing them to retain a nice natural acidity. Full of intense flavour and concentration, the free run juice was given a small amount of skin contact to give this wine its beautiful colour. Main Divide sources its grapes exclusively from its namesake, the Southern Alps, with vineyards selected for their quality and unique regional flavours. maindivide.com