Paul McCartney and Beef Teriyaki

I spent most of my life as an ethical vegetarian and only returned to meat around the middle of last year. People often ask me what it felt like to eat my first steak after a 20 year hiatus, and the only parallel experience I can think of is that of a newly liberated gay man enjoying his first ever kiss with a bloke: a strange collection of unfamiliar and discomforting sensations followed by a rush of adrenalin, mild nausea and a guilty curiosity for more.

Mork and Mindy and Colin Mathura-Jeffree

Did you know that TV sitcoms Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley were both spinoffs from Happy Days? I've been thinking about spinoffs a lot recently, because I'm beginning to think I could do a spinoff of this blog focused entirely on the comings and goings at Herne Bay shops. You wouldn't believe the turnover of businesses up there, as one fledgling entrepreneur after another attempts to divine the magic formula for separating a bored rich woman from her pocket money.

Twenty Questions and a visit to Coco's Cantina

One of the guilty pleasures of being a blogmaster, I've discovered, is getting to peek at the google searches which have led people to your website. Did you know that a lot of people type questions into google? Like, proper questions. Instead of searching “Auckland Restaurant Chinese” they will search “I am looking for a chinese restaurant in Auckland where shall I go?”.

Spotted in Auckland Fish Mart vege section

... maybe they fillet them for free.

Review: Andiamo

I had a very pleasant evening out over the weekend. Having owed my schoolmate Rich a decent dinner for a number of months now, I spent quite some time on Saturday looking for a restaurant that would feel sufficiently upmarket, without him feeling like I was going to place my hand tenderly on his knee between courses and tell him how much our relationship meant to me. Andiamo was the answer.