CAFE GOVETT BREWSTER

Two Breakfasts, Two Flat Whites. 

Len Lye Strikes A Pose

Fresh Changeable Cabinet Of Seasonal Produce

Eggs Benedict With Toasted Ciabatta, 
Crispy Potato Rosti + Hollandaise With 
Bacon ~ Smoked salmon ~ Spinach + mushroom 

Sweet corn, Red Chilli And Coriander Fritter
With Bacon, Poached Egg, Baby Spinach And Tomato Relish

Cheese + Bacon Scones Strike A Pose

Take Out Flat White by CGB from Ozone Roastery

The Corner Graphic

Govett Brewster Cafe + Art Gallery 

Love Len Lye Pin Badges

#35 Jump and Jive

Kinetic Coffee

If for the last decade you have been sleepwalking in your PJ's, you might have missed the cutting edge coffee being discreetly served by New Zealand roasters. Having just returned from a trip to Aotearoa, it seems the perfect time to blog a few of my favourite food places in the southern hemisphere who serve freshly roasted coffee and to highlight those cafes smitten by wanderlust, who have already migrated across the oceans to set up shop in the northern plateau.

Coffee is kind of massive in NZ in a laid back unpretentious way. They even have their own  NZ Speciality Coffee Association.

So whats the big bean addiction ? Mainly an ingrained desire for great tasting fresh roasted coffee. Served with fab tasting quirky combinations of seasonal food produce to indulge your senses and amidst the sort of relaxing, quality assured, lived-in-habitat where you feel so at home, you want to move in statim. 

This first blog focuses on the popular Cafe Govett Brewster already an institution in New Plymouth, the starry night city snug under the dazzling Mount Taranaki, located on the west coast bubble of the North Island. 

CGB is located adjacent to the Govett Brewster Art Gallery, the home of the permanent Len Lye gallery and guardian of the Len Lye Foundation and Archive. This artist is considered a genius to those that know and if you don't know, you will discover his work occupies its own unique space in the art world and is unforgettable.

The cafe offers wide open sky spaces with a sun drenched aspect, being only a short dash from the award winning coastal walkway. The coffee is roasted across the road at Ozone headquarters who I will be giving their own airspace in a future blog. Their Kinetic coffee creates its own unique force of motion.

The menu at CGB is inspired for breakfast, brunch or lunch and with a side of 'target word' from the Taranaki Herald, the morning blends seamlessly into midday. All the staff are lovely here. If I was a traveller I would have scribed a cross on the kerbside to signify my recommendation..... or perhaps it should be a koru.

The deepest southern hemisphere has the advantage of being mixed cultural, with an array of influences and ingredients continually progressing the cuisine. Coupled with a New Zealander's genetic inclination to innovate, experiment and tread new ground, the cafes serve food which occupies the enviable space of being so far away from the generic homogenisation of the western world, they are able to maintain their own barometer of influence as a secret gem.

This innovative leaning is demonstrated by CGB's star plate of Sweet corn, Red Chilli and Coriander Fritter, with Bacon, Poached Egg, Baby Spinach and Tomato Relish. Words can not describe how perfect that tasted at 11am, so I wont try to elaborate.

We followed our regular morning visits to Cafe GB with trips to see Julian Ward's photography at Puke Ariki, the T'Art gallery and a swim at the aquatic centre with indoor and open air pools facing the wild rolling sea.  A rad experience to start your day.


Cafe Govett Brewster Like No Other.