Lauraine Jacobs

Matakana

Leading food editor reveals her secret paradise just an hour away from the big smoke.

For busy food editor Lauraine Jacobs, there is nothing sweeter than spending her weekends relaxing with family and friends at her Omaha beach house, just an hour north of Auckland.

With its glorious coastline, gentle hinterland, vineyards, sculpture park, marine reserves and lodges, the Matakana region is fast becoming Auckland’s playground. The sleepy village of Matakana has been transformed in the last three years into a bustling centre with cafes, restaurant, chic shops, bakeries, ice cream parlour and boutique cinema – and an absolutely amazing farmers’ market showcasing outstanding local produce.

The tiny resident population swells by tens of thousands over the summer months – some day-trippers; others there for a summer break.

Who better then to guide the visitor around this region than Lauraine, who knows its producers and produce intimately as well as some of its best-kept secrets – including the many entrepreneurs who make the region so vibrant and unique.

With 20 of Lauraine’s easy-to-prepare, local produce, guides to walks and things to do, places to eat and places to stay, this handsome book is a marvelous souvenir that readers will come back to again and again.

Matakana
Author: Lauraine Jacobs
RRP: NZ$36.99
Released: 5 December 2008

This book is now out of print.