Tomorrow's Brunch – Peel to Pip, Auckland

A sunny new spot with a delicious seasonal menu and the most tempting milkshakes around.

Briar and Jesse Wakelin, the owners of Morningside's newest café Peel to Pip, says its bright name comes from their focus on sustainability and their "interest in the whole picture".

"This includes recycling or composting most of our waste, using free range meats and eggs, and letting the seasons inspire our food," says Briar.

This focus comes through in their menu, designed by Jesse and Briar with their Chef Mike Middleton, which currently features watercress, berries and asparagus. It's enough to excite even the most seasoned of brunchers – while it's filled with the sort of dishes you might expect to find, each has its own delicious medley of flavours. The Spiced Sunny Eggs are accompanied by flat bread, watercress, tzatziki, beetroot hummus and tomato salsa, while their Black Pudding is made up of seared asparagus, field mushrooms, thyme tomatoes and rosti with zested Hollandaise.

I ordered the Portobello and Chestnut Mushrooms with delicious herbed and whipped feta on warm sourdough accompanied by a sprinkling of pistachio dukkah. All the feta made for quite a rich dish, but it was a perfect brunch in that it kept me satisfied long into the afternoon. 

Briar says her current favourite is the Spelt Hotcakes with macerated new season strawberries: "The sweetness the berries have with the nuttiness of the spelt is divine!" 

The café's caffeine is supplied by Eighthirty Coffee – of all the companies they considered, Briar says their fairtrade ethos best suited that of Peel to Pip's. Not to mention it's rich and delicious. I was very quick to order a second cup.

With an indoor garden filled with towering tomatoes and one of the city's more impressive kids' play areas, the decor is almost as charming as the slew of milkshakes that found their way to almost every table during the hour I spent there. Peel to Pip has a bar that looks out on to the street, with a main area filled with natural light. If you're after the sunniest spot, you'll find it on their balcony, which also happens to be ideal for people-watching.

Having been on the lookout for a space to set up a café in the area for a while, Jesse and Briar decided upon the building that was previously the local grocers. Inspired by their Pinterest boards which had been growing and growing, they spent a few weeks bringing out some of the building's "hidden charm", planting the garden and creating the kid's area.

"Bringing the outside in as much as possible was important in creating the kitchen garden – both to help build a relaxing atmosphere, as well as practically for our chefs. We did our best not to overcomplicate things as the building has so much character already."

With it's simple design and memorable menu, Peel to Pip is just the sort of bright spot you want to set up camp on a Sunday morning for a slow brunch and a coffee or three.

Address
617 New North Rd, Morningside, Auckland
Opening Hours
Tuesday to Sunday: 7am – 3.30pm