MAKE CONE -ECTIONS THIS FEBRUARY AT ISLAND GELATO CO. PONSONBY

Celebrating nine sweet years of Cool Licks and making Cone-ections!

February is the month of love!

We’re celebrating our 9th birthday at Island Gelato, and we've got something sweet for you and your taste buds.

This February, come and celebrate every day at our Island Gelato store in Ponsonby, and experience our award-winning gelato and sorbet!

Locally made from the finest ingredients, gelato and sorbet will tantalise your taste buds, so bring a lover, friend, family or just your good self and make some cone-ctions with a tasty scoop or two.

Join us for Gelato Happy Hour on Ponsonby Road between 4 pm-7 pm every night of the week for a delicious after dinner scoop or two.

In case you were wondering what gelato and sorbet is: Gelato is traditional Italian ice-cream made with milk, a little cream, sugar and flavoured with fruit swirls and nut purees. It contains less air, less fat and less sugar than regular ice cream.

Sorbet is made from fresh, inseason fruits locally sourced, natural sugar, water and contains no dairy. We also use alternative milks , which include coconut, almond or cashew milk; they create a creamy scoop for those non-dairy lovers. At Island Gelato we have a whole cabinet dedicated to sorbets for your non-dairy tasting pleasure!

So if you're looking to indulge in something sweet without having to worry about your waistline (or just want to try something new), come down to our Island Gelato store in Ponsonby this February—we've got all the flavours you could ever hope for!

Lick it or lose it!

Island Gelato’s Italian inspired gelateria is open at 124 Ponsonby Road and online www.islandgelato.co.nz

SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS: VEGAN VIBE

In the centre of Ponsonby, Daphnes Bar Taverna is the ideal summer spot.

After a summer of travelling, Kiwi barbecues, hot chips on the beach, many not-so-bouji holidays, and spending a fair few nights in tents or DOC huts on Great Walks, I was more than ready to come back home to Auckland to reinstate my citygirl self.

After missing my best friend's birthday, I insisted on taking her out for a dinner together. As much as she and I usually love to stick to our roots, we wanted to try something new and landed on Daphnes. We’d been eyeing it up for a while now, mostly because the pink building particularly called our names, and word on the street certainly talked it up. We went on a blazing hot Sunday evening and nabbed ourselves an outside table.

She and I are quite the “challenging” combo dining out together - me being plant-based and she being coeliac. However, this felt like no problem at Daphnes. Offering a menu drawing on Mediterranean flavours, their dishes are well selected, elegant and encourage diners to share and graze. After much deliberation and getting distracted by chatting away in between, we landed on the Kefalograviera Saganaki (vegetarian), Eggplant Papoutsaki and the cauliflower.

All three were refined, thoughtful and intelligent fares. The eggplant’s melty goodness was complemented by a light and slightly sweet red zhug and tangy carciofi (Roman style artichokes) which were to die for. Daphnes describes their Papoutsaki as “our moussaka''. I would describe it as a lighter summery approach to a traditional warm and wintery dish. The cauliflower was just as beautiful - a perfect balance of the sweetness of the kumara hummus, smokiness of the cauliflower, nuttiness of the walnuts and tanginess of the sauerkraut. It felt healthy but still a bit naughty.

Now I know this is a bit against my brand, but I did try the Kefalograviera Saganaki (baked cheese with quince)… I do believe that plant-based eating is all about balance and simply making an effort where one can. As much as this was not a matter of necessity, I believe that eating plant-based eating is not so much a restriction of one’s diet but a change in perspective. Plant-based diets do not need to be perfect to be making a difference. And just between you and I, that cheese was pretty incredible.

There are many more plant-based options Daphnes had to offer which we have yet to get around to trying - various other starters and salads, such as the figs with kalamata tapenade and the asparagus with tahini, truffle and crispy kale. After a splendid and impressive first experience we will be sure to be back for another special. (SOFIA ROGER WILLIAMS)