hare and the turtle and pici: reviewed

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospo and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, by Reilly Hodson (who’s looking for work). A particular thank you to everyone who joined the clipboard community since last week, and all the long-term clipboarders doing the good work of sharing this newsletter with your coolest friends. This week, I’m reviewing two hospitality joints I’d never been to before; the Hare and the Turtle and Pici.

pici

This week marked the *gasp* 7 year anniversary of my first date with my partner, so, as has been the case for every significant event in our relationship, we celebrated by going out for a meal.

There are so many options when planning a date night dinner in Auckland. Often, Liv and I choose to go to the same places (which is great, being a regular somewhere is the best experience), so for this occasion, we decided to go somewhere new, and after some deliberation (mostly budget related), we settled on Pici, a new fresh pasta and wine bar in what was once Fort Greene in St Kevin’s Arcade.

Before I launch into my review, a couple of things to bear in mind:

• Pici had just been reviewed very favourably in the Herald, so it was packed. I haven’t been to a restaurant in a while that is turning away anyone without a booking, but that was the case on Wednesday.

• We’d gone to Clay for a drink and some bread before heading to Pici for dinner. The bread was a mistake.

• I don’t eat cheese (I know, weird), and when I make pasta at home it leans heavily into fresh flavours, so those tend to be my personal preference when it comes to Italian food.

The fit out at Pici is a triumph of efficient use of space. It’s a tiny room, but there are a remarkable number of seats, including a mezzanine and some tables that sprawl out onto the arcade. Like I said, when we were there, every table was full, and as soon as someone left, that place was filled in no time at all. It’s a lovely space that nails the vibe: bustling, energetic, but not so loud that you can’t hear your companion.

The waiter recommended two to three each of starters and mains, we got two of each. To start we had the house-made focaccia and heirloom tomatoes with stracciatella. The tomatoes were delicious, but I can’t say that they did anything that I haven’t seen at every other buzzy opening from the last two years. Heirloom tomatoes are delicious, and the best thing you can do with them is mostly get out of the way, which this dish achieved well. The stracciatella was apparently delicious, too. After a post-lockdown obsession with focaccia (shout out to my sister out-law Ella for making me a loaf whenever I suggest it), I hold any focaccia to a pretty high standard, and Pici’s was mostly just fine. A little denser than I’d like, not as crispy on the edges as you’d hope, very heavy fennel seed flavour, and they serve it sliced finely and laid out on the table, I’d prefer a big hunk.

The mains are where my somewhat specific personal preferences come in. We ordered the spaghettini with chilli and mussels, and rigatoni with pork fennel sausage ragu. In both, the pasta itself was perfect. Lovely flavour and cooked well; there’s just something about eating really good fresh pasta. The mussels spaghettini sauce was delicious too. Well seasoned and a delicious hit of spice, I could eat that dish every week. The pork sausage was a little creamy for my taste, and I would have loved to have more tomato flavour in there, it was lacking an exciting element, though maybe that’s because I ordered it with the parm on the side. We also somewhat hit the carb wall in the middle of our mains, having eaten two servings each of bread and pasta to that point, which was absolutely more than we needed. Unless you have a bigger stomach than mine, don’t let them talk you into ordering three dishes for each course.

The price point at Pici is unbelievably good, we paid less than $50 each for starters and mains and a drink each. To that end, it’s a great place to catch up with friends over some drinks and tasty food without burning a hole in your wallet, and if your tastes are a little different to mine I have no doubt you’d love it much more than I did. We left satisfied and happy, but I’m not sure I would choose it over any of the other places in the extremely competitive natural wine scene on Karangahape Road.

Pici gets a light recommend from clipboard

PS: We need to end the practice of waiters greeting tables by asking “have you dined with us before?” Unless there’s something truly unique about your dining experience, just assume we understand that we’re supposed to order food to share.

clips

• clipboard favourite Madame George has started doing a Taco and Cocteles night on Tuesdays. MG is fronted by the friendliest team in hospitality, and their drinks and food are delicious, perfect for a midweek date night or catch up.

• The new (and last to be in print) issue of Stone Soup, a community-funded, volunteer-run food publication is out. Check their instagram for where to find a copy, or check the counter at your local.

• Porter James Sports is popping up at Platform in Mt Eden this weekend. I’ll be there today at some point, come through and maybe cop a tee (or these socks that look like a convincing dupe for my favourite Uniqlo ones).

• When I was in year 4, I did my speech about Dawn Raid Entertainment, the early-2000s South Auckland music label behind the Deceptikonz and Savage, a topic I was uniquely unqualified to speak to as a 9 year-old Pākehā kid at private school in Wellington. There’s a new documentary by Oscar Kightley about Dawn Raid’s rise and fall, and if this review from Duncan Greive and Leonie Hayden, who were both music journalists back in the day, is anything to go by, it’s very good. I can’t wait to go see it.

• The weirdest meme after the inauguration was the one about Amanda Palmer, an American musician hiding in the Hawkes Bay since lockdown, claiming to have been applauded at a cafe. Hayden Donnell got the scoop on whether it really happened.

• Wellington’s best natural wine store, Everyday Wine, now has a permanent Auckland location! Head on in for a delicious drop, like this Chenin Blanc which is one of the more tasty wines I’ve ever drunk, and is perfect for summer hangs.

• Tim Batt, maybe most famous for watching Grown Ups 2 more than any person should, got very mad on his newsletter about the housing crisis, and every word of it is bang on.

• This essay about the West’s craving for nothingness is a brilliant read.

• The world’s best fashion writer Rachel Tasjian is brilliant on weird fashion. More weird clothes in 2021!

hare and the turtle

People have been telling me to go to Hare and the Turtle, Avondale’s premier sandwich cafe, for years. For various reasons, mostly laziness and the fact that I can get a pretty good lunch within walking distance from my house, I never made the trip out. On a whim last Sunday my partner and I decided to finally fix that.

It was packed, loud and a little stuffy, but completely brilliant. I had the Situation, a white bread sandwich filled with pork and fennel sausage, pickled peppers and basil. It was kind of like a delicious homemade pizza, except in a sandwich and much nicer than I would make at home. Liv had the Geezer, a fancied-up ham and cheese on their house made buns, also apparently extremely delicious, down to the piccalilli, I’m told.

I was particularly stoked on the speed and efficiency of service. They clearly do a crazy volume of customers and, despite the heat and sound and stress, all of the staff looked completely unfazed. As someone who’s worked in high-volume situations like that, finding cool heads to work front of house and keeping them is just as difficult as figuring out how to get people their sandwiches in under five minutes, which the Hare and the Turtle does comfortably.

I also loved the drinks options, which were just the right amount of fussy: all the coffees you could want, fancy juices from Almighty and “essenced” soda from La Croix, but also just cans of coke or L&P if that’s your thing too. There’s certainly something to be said for fancy soft drink options, but the Hare and the Turtle is unabashedly a crowd pleaser without sacrificing on quality. Plus, the price point is great: show me another great cafe in Auckland where you can have a big, filling main and a drink for less than $20, even if you pick the most expensive main and the most expensive drink, and I’ll show you a flying pig.

My only qualms are that I wish they’d put in some acoustic dampening so you can hear the person across from you when it’s full, and maybe a fan or two for hot days, but honestly, I’m clutching at straws. I’ll definitely go back.

The Hare and The Turtle gets a strong recommend from clipboard

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