November 14th - Day 6 - Taste of Auckland

Up around 7:30am because we have to move the van off street parking by 8am to an early bird car park. $7/day.

Went to the Countdown which is a grocery store to get a few items like coffee, cream, laundry detergent, cheese, eggs...  We had to get new keys cut for the van so while we were waiting for the Mister Minit to open we spyed a Japanese food stand that was open early, St. Pierre's.  So fresh looking and all of the sudden I absolutely had to have a sushi burger. Yup, a Sushi Burger. Teriyaki chicken with avocado nestled between 2 patties of rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Super Yum!

We spent the next few hours lazing around, doing laundry, blogging,  facebooking, instagraming, drinking coffee... We wanted to take it easy today in preparation for Taste of Auckland this evening.  Pretty excited!!  Ryan got his hair cut, and we got ready but because of my injured foot, I had to settle for flip flops, there was no way I could wear heels seeing as I can't even get runners on.   We briefly met up with Perry (guy who sold us the van) because he said he had a brand new portable gas cooker for us, and he also needed the reflector that he left in the glove compartment.  Seems like a nice guy for realz, although everyone seems really nice here!  :)

 It's now 4:50pm and we're off to catch the bus to Taste Of Auckland in Victoria Park.  We arrived just on time for the venue to open at 5:30pm to see that it was outdoors with rows of white tents set up.  A beautiful night weather wise and the event seems bigger than I imagined.   There was a crowd lined up already when we got there but our awesome VIP tickets got us through a separate up-front entrance.   

Oh... the Taste of Auckland did not dissappoint!  All the pics and write ups are on Facebook but there are a few here as well.  Such a treat, we got our VIP lanyards and boy, did we feel important!  Even the lady that gave us our passes said, "oh, VIP, lucky!"  We took in a bit of the scenery and atmosphere before heading over to the VIP tent for our free glass of the finest Cuvee champagne.  Cheers!  We couldn't help but notice on the menu that each glass of Cuvee is $26, and $160 a bottle. 

We planned a route around the perimeter first,  then we'd make our way through the middle Isles sampling wines and beers and meats and cheeses and aerated marshmallows...oh myyy.
We met so many nice random strangers who gave us their card, or email that said they knew people in Queenstown for housing or work.  Tonight was a little bit like networking for us. 
Everything we tried was fantastic, and we tried a fair bit.  Ryan and I can't quite choose what our favorite  dish was because it was all so good.  But, if there was only one thing we could have again... For me, it would be the Porchetta from Toto, but the Wild Game Sausage Roll with Cherry ketchup is right up there! Ryan is refusing to choose... He says, "I can't, it's too hard!!!... You can't make me choose!"   Below are my top 3:

Bracu: Wild game sausage roll with cherry ketchup. (venison, pheasant & pork) 

Toto Modern Italian Cuisine: Porchetta - Free range roast pork belly, spicy green, sharp auricchio cheese, light mustard, Toto Pizza hand made bun.

The Commons: Scallop congee, black truffle vinegrette, bisque tuil, bitter cres.

Sadly we were too full to enjoy any desserts but I would have tried either the Sugar Pie or the Deconstructed Birthday Cake.  Full, tipsy and super happy, we hired a cab for our ride back to Newmarket then picked up our van from the car park for free street parking.

Between the two of us we had:
2 glasses Cuvee
4 glasses Sauvignon Blanc
2 glasses Reisling
10 delectable dishes
Approx. 10-15 tasty bites of cheeses, lamb...
Approx. 10-15 taster shots of local beers and wines

I can't even begin to add up the potential cost of all of this but it truly was a very thoughtful awesomely personalized gift from our fantastic friends!!!!

Spending a super fun evening with my hunny...Priceless!!!