December 9, 2012
We were still new to the area and adjusting to life on solid ground after just arriving from Tonga when our friends Gloria and Brad on Kindred Spirit invited us to the Sunday Roast at Ake Ake. We didn’t know what any of that meant, but since it seemed to involve food and wine we were in!
Basically a Sunday Roast is British/New Zealand tradition, and some of the restaurants here like to serve them. Generally there is roast beef or pork, potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding and vegetable side dishes. Ake Ake is one of the local vineyards that happens to have a fine restaurant. If you do their Sunday Roast, wine tastings are included and done beforehand, then you can have a glass of your favorite wine with your meal.
The vineyard was up near Kerikeri, about 30 minutes from Opua, and this was our first time seeing some the New Zealand countryside. We were amazed and enchanted by how beautiful it was, and I rushed to dig out our camera and get lots of (admittedly terrible) pictures from the back seat of the car.
We pulled into the vineyard restaurant and were first led to our table in a beautiful deck area next to the vineyards so we could decide which roast to order. Then it was off to the tasting room where we sampled several wonderful wines while our food was prepared. Of course we could not resist buying a bottle or two of their wonderful chardonnay! We then headed back to our table to enjoy our chosen wine with our Sunday roast.
Sitting there with a view of the grapevines in the light of the late afternoon sun, eating alfresco with friends and enjoying fantastic food and incredible wine was the stuff that Napa Valley dreams are made of. It turns out there are many such places in New Zealand, but Ake Ake is easily among the best. -Cyndi
