Words and images Vicki Ravlich-Horan
People often think my life is very glamourous, filled with events, long lunches and the like. The truth is there are an awful lot of dishes, eating leftovers and time spent in front of a computer. Although I can see where the confusion lies when my feed is filled with days like our recent Audi Day Out.
A couple of lucky Nourish VIPs and Ebbett Audi clients joined me for a day out in the Waikato. We started at Ebbett Audi where we picked up our rides for the day, the fully electric and super smooth Audi e-tron S Sportback and very cool Audi Q8 S-line 55 TFSI.
First stop on our iconic Waikato foodies day out was Vilagrads. Here, Kristian Nooyen, one of the three brothers and the third generation continuing to grow this 100-year plus family business, showed us around. If you’ve been to one of Vilagrad’s famous Sunday lunches or celebrated a wedding here, as head chef, it was Kristian’s food you enjoyed.
We’ve arrived on a busy day with the restaurant closed for the weekend as the team spring clean, paint the kitchen and waterblast the vast marquee that now acts as the main restaurant. Despite this going on Kristian generously shows us around the winery and cellar before we sit down to enjoy a few medal winning drops.
With a few bottles in hand for later, we take a short drive to Meyer Cheese, parking the Audis beside some very cute new additions to the farm, baby calves. Not normally open to the public we have timed our visit perfectly, as the team are not busy making cheese, meaning we can get the full tour from farm and miking shed to the cheese factory just 100 metres away.
After explaining what makes Meyer different and their cheese so good (the happy healthy cows and freshest, best quality milk) we enter the cellar to taste for ourselves why Meyer Cheese is one of the most award winning cheesemakers in New Zealand.
Adding some cheese to our wine stash in the boots of the Audis we nip over the hill for a smooth ride to Raglan. Parking on the wharf, we catch up with another Waikato icon – Tony Sly.
Since the 80s, Tony’s iconic pottery has been a favourite of many foodies from the Waikato and beyond. His plates often grace the pages of Nourish spreads and our group get to have a peak at how the pieces come together, before we peruse the shop to discover what’s new.
With tummies rumbling, our final stop is The Shack, where co-owner and head chef Justin has created a feast for us to enjoy. The raw kingfish with lime, coconut, cucumber, coriander and finger limes elicits sounds of joy. For me, the bang bang brassicas are bang on and I’d be happy with just a plate of these!
But there is more to try. Lamb shoulder with caper parsley emulsion has some wiping the plate clean, while the zucchini and haloumi fritters with harissa tempt me even though I am full. And just as we are exclaiming this to be the case, Justin’s wife Alex tempts us all with an array of cakes from the cabinet.
What a perfect way to end our wonderful day out in the Waikato. It’s just a shame the Audi’s aren’t self-drive, as we all now feel like a bit of a snooze!
Book your own Audi test drive at www.ebt.nz/ebbettaudi
