Cafe brunch and a birthday lunch

I am nothing if not a woman of my word. So I meant it when I said we would be back at Zus & Zo. Sunday brunch and we were ready to take Hospobaby to our favorite cafe. If you haven't been to Zus & Zo please don't go there, we love it and its quite busy already, we don't want you to go there and make us wait for a table, do we?
Zus does amazing sandwiches. I love them because finally there is a cafe who can think beyond the eggs benedict. Nothing wrong with Eggs Bene but I just hate eggs, I have a childhood phobia - ovophobia (its a real thing) I hate their smell and texture.  I am not alone, Alfred Hitchcock hated them too.
 I have only just learnt to boil an egg for Hospobaby who likes them soft boiled. Also I think if you want eggs ,why go out? Just crack one open at home. Zus like I said goes beyond eggs, they make mean sandwiches. Sid loves the Croque Madame and I love the Black box Piri Piri chicken sausage sandwich.
They also have a selection of loaves,muffins and scones displayed, so while we wait for our order Zoya can tuck into something tasty.

Zoya eating her date and walnut loaf

This weekend they had an amazing date and walnut loaf. Although we ordered it for Hospobaby we ended up stealing rather big bites from it. Thankfully, our order arrived before Zoya could start screaming her head off. She ate all the cheese from her dad's toastie and made a start on my Piri Piri sausage.
Zus and Zo are generous in their portions my sandwich came with 3 sausages. I hate how I have to share all my food and drink now. I reluctantly parted with a whole sausage. Unlike Sid, Zoya loves red peppers too. I had to share those too. I am an only child and not used to giving up my food, especially as Hospobaby doesn't have anything to barter with.

Before Hospobaby attacked my plate it looked like this.

A couple of drinks, two sandwiches and a slice of the date and walnut loaf= $47. Ka Ching! money well spent, bellies full for the day and Hospobaby on her way to snooze land! We love Zus & Zo.

Monday we were invited to celebrate Paula's birthday with a 7 course lunch at TriBeCa. We have been to TriBeCa in Parnell before with Hospobaby. She loved it, Chef Hayden does a good job. On a nice summer's day you can sit outside and they even have a high chair. As we walked in Chef warned me that he had been reading my blog and he would be looking forward to it. After a sip of bubbly we sat in the courtyard. We were a good sized group, nine of us with some or the other connection to hospitality.

Please note the clean dress!

The first course arrived, it was a refreshing course with compressed melon and tomatoes. Chef was out to impress Hospobaby, he sent out a special portion just for her. She loved the flavors, especially the tagliatelle woven amongst it .

I can't believe it! I get my own...

For once I was very happy not to share. It was a taste revelation. Our second course was so simple, yet exquisite. Hayden's take on Prawn toast. It was a prawn on a puffed up pork cracker.  Hospobaby ate some of Sid's as I was too quick in scoffing mine. I could have eaten a whole plate of these delectable prawns.

Prawn toast

The third course was another crowd pleaser. The freshest salmon with a wee hint of wasabi and crunchy rice puffs. We skirted around the wasabi and fed Hospobaby morsels of the fish, which she devoured with no hesitation.

Salmon w wasabi

Duck is my favorite, I don't think Hayden knows that. I used to be a vegetarian for 17 years, then I came to Auckland and lost my virgin tastebuds to chicken. Later, fate had me bump into Sid and the rest is history. He had it tough though, he introduced me to duck and it has a special place in my tummy now.

 The duck at TriBeCa came with the most velvety pumpkin puree. Almost the consistency and color of American mustard. Hospobaby ate some of the duck and all of the pumpkin puree.

Duck w pumpkin, walnuts and figs

Our main course was Merino lamb with goat's cheese cream, some baby carrots and roquette. This is the second time I have tried eating Merino lamb (usually I just wear the wool), the first time was at Cru at Sale Street. I liked how the lamb didn't taste fatty as it sometimes does. I am a die hard fan of goat's cheese, the jury is still out on Merino though, the cut was a tad tough. Hospobaby had taken to gallivanting by now and was under the table playing with gift bags, meant for Paula. We couldn't cajole her back to the table. Our lovely waitress also offered to take her off our hands, but we had to explain that Hospobaby loves her food.

We were all a bit surprised and unsure of our refresher when it arrived. A tooth brush in a glass of fizzy liquid accompanied by a red and a green gel. Hmmm... was chef taking this a bit too seriously?

Where was the sorbet in a glass? Well I admire Hayden for trying something out of the box. 

The fizzy stuff turned out to be Aloe Vera and was supposed to be gulped down after one brushed their teeth with the mint and strawberry gels. Always one to try something new I started brushing away. The aloe was quite refreshing. The others were not as uninhibited as me... tooth brushing is quite a private ritual I guess. Most of us only knew Mark and Paula and brushing our teeth in front of perfect strangers was a bit daunting. Some were worried about the tooth brushes themselves. Were they new? The germ-phobes chimed in. The owner came and relieved us from that anxiety quickly and soon everyone was brushing away. Hospobaby was mesmerized by the commotion caused by the arrival of the tooth brush course and came back to give it a try.

I think we might have to make some special strawberry flavored gel to get her to brush her teeth as enthusiastically as she did that day, the Wiggles toothpaste just doesn't cut it.
Our last course was dessert and we were allowed to choose what we wanted off the menu. I ordered the "Crunchie Bar", Valrhona chocolates, honeycomb, honey and mandarin. Sid asked for the tropical fruits salad, which was compressed mango, pineapple, lychee, coconut and a licorice sorbet. The desserts delivered exactly what they promised. While we had been busy choosing desserts Hospobaby had found a long lost friend. Gabby had met Zoya at Mark's birthday and had arrived from school to join the celebration.

Gabby and Zoya

She donned her chef's hat and apron and ran into the kitchen to whip up a dessert for her and Zoya to share. Soon she had a platter full of blue berries, watermelon,ice cream, jellies and gooseberries. It was a sweet feast, Gabby proudly fed Zoya heaped spoonfuls. After the sugar rush of the dessert platter, Gabby went back into the kitchen and got two chocolate petit fours. Unlike me who is reluctant to share, even with her own child, Gabby was happy to give a petit four to Zoya. Hospobaby was on a definite sugar high, she and Gabby laughed as only children can. And so we all finished our lunch at 4.30 pm on a happy high and headed home. Chef Hayden gets a special thanks for keeping the little ones happy. We will be back for more once the menu changes.
Till next week... Live to eat like Hospobaby!

The After photo- beautiful dress is now full of chocolate stains!