“Our ingredients are gathered from a local community garden, from small organic growers, and native seaweeds and plants are foraged on Auckland’s west coast. I wanted to open Orphans Kitchen because I love to cook for others. I still do. And for me, a big part of cooking for others means nurturing them with healthy foods and providing proper nourishment. This means sourcing locally grown, organic produce, and having a social conscience.”

Lamb rump with feijoa, red cabbage, horopito, and sheep’s milk yoghurt; kumara tortilla with charred octopus, kiwifruit mole, and salsa; and avocado bombe Alaska with avocado ice cream, passionfruit, and kahikatea berry meringue.

In this narrow Victorian villa, you may be lucky enough to strike the Root-to-Petal menu – a concept that began in this kitchen and is being taken up across the country. It’s reflective of a new movement to exclude meat and focus on the joys of a plant-based menu. For most of the year diners enjoy affordable dishes created with simple ingredients including vegetables like swedes and cauliflower, and more unusual cuts of meat and sustainable species of fish – all filled with flavour and beautifully styled. Pure comfort food.

“If you’re looking for the new wave of localized cuisine, Orphans Kitchen is it ... Orphans is doing things exactly as its two loyal, local proprietors like to.”

–Matthew Ankeny, Gear Patrol