The politics of closing times
On night time dining, hāngī steamed buns and a crochet sculpture duo share their favourite dining spots.
Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to The Boil Up, The Spinoff’s weekly food newsletter produced in partnership with Boring Oat Milk. Written by me, Charlotte Muru-Lanning. It’s lovely to have you here!
In Japanese television series Midnight Diner, the storyline lingers among the characters that inhabit a 12-seat izakaya restaurant in Shinjuku, Toyko, open between midnight and 7am. Part of the allure of the meditative series was its premise among the dreamy world of dining after dark – the eating that happens when most are asleep.
There’s something extremely bewitching and comforting about the prospect of accessing kai at odd hours: I think of late-night fried chicken delivery in Seoul, a 2am slice of pizza in San Francisco, 4am tapas in Madrid or the glow of 24-hour brasseries in Paris. Conversely, I remember as a kid being thoroughly creeped out by the grim early closing times of restaurants in smaller towns. Actually, I still find that quite unsettling.
A few days ago, I read a New York Times article examining why NYC’s reputation as the city that never sleeps, where there are plentiful eating options no matter what time of the day, is in jeopardy (spoiler alert: Covid-19, inflation, employment and supply chain issues).
Although Auckland’s late-night or early-morning options have always been sparse, what we once had seems to be dwindling too. Spicy House, which pre-pandemic was open till 5am and therefore a favourite post-shift dinner among hospitality workers, now shuts its doors at midnight. As of July this year, downtown Auckland’s infamous 24-hour Denny’s changed its closing time to 11pm. And the recognisable White Lady food truck which feeds night-owls till 5am, was recently at risk of losing its trading-license – but seems to be safe for now.
Often I find myself grumbling about how few options there are to eat out past 9pm – especially considering that I live in the most populous city in the country. Through the proliferation of streaming services, online shopping and food delivery apps, our choices have become less bound by time, and instead we’ve come to expect to watch, buy, and eat what we want, whenever we want.
But it can be easy to forget that a late-night dining scene requires a late-night workforce. Working odd-hours comes with a variety of not so fun conditions. For hospitality workers who tend not to be paid extremely well, working in the still of night means public holiday rights can become murky, there are less public transport options, it’s potentially more dangerous, you’re dealing with more unruly customers and it affects sleep, social life and health. I can see how there’s a counter argument when it comes to providing food for other night-shift workers. I've started to wonder whether my own irrational craving for a bite out at 2am is worth the impact on the people who would undoubtedly have to do the work to facilitate that. I’d say, probably not.
A while back I took note of a comment on a Facebook post that has stuck with me (although I’ve paraphrased), “as consumers we’re not entitled to unrestricted access to someone else’s craft and we should enjoy what we do have”. They were talking about a specific restaurant’s unpredictable opening hours, but I think you could just as happily apply that to Rihanna releasing new music.
While the concept of all-night eating is enticing, it’s less so when you consider the labour that needs to service that. What I’m saying is, that when it comes to food, perhaps it’s fine to be the city that, for the most part, actually does sleep.
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Weekly bites
Fonterra is anticipating that their year-end profits will be “at top end” of expectations. The dairy co-operative will report its 2022 financial result this week, and their earnings are expected to be in the higher side of its underlying profit guidance range of between 25 and 35 cents a share – a reflection of “the upbeat outlook for the dairy sector”. With extravagantly high dairy (especially, cheese!) prices and Fonterra telling wholesalers in April that dairy prices will be increasing due to inflation and record commodity prices, I’ll be interested to see if those higher profits are passed on to consumers as savings.
Nearly 99% of the world’s food production comes from fertile soil. But despite soil being a vital resource, industrial agriculture, the use of chemicals, and urban sprawl mean it’s disappearing at an alarming rate. This week, RNZ reported that the government has taken a step towards protecting the country's most productive land from urban development through the National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land (NPS-HPL). The policy is aimed at ensuring the most fertile land can be used for growing fruit and vegetables by requiring that Councils identify, map and manage productive land to protect it from inappropriate use and development.
Local steamed bun and dumpling company Old Country Foods have collaborated with TV chef and hāngi master Rewi Spraggon to produce a hāngī pork steamed bun, and I’m intrigued. The fusion buns, which Te Ao Māori news reports are made using hāngī smoked over a pit using mānuka and cooked for three hours before being enclosed in fluffy baozi, will be sold in local supermarkets. Will be sure to track some down and report back.
“There must be a reason why fish and chips eaten on a windy beach with fingers tastes infinitely better than when served on a warmed white china plate on a restaurant table,” writes Shahnaz Ahsan in her Guardian essay on why food is more delicious when you eat with your hands. There’s so much about our cultures, relationships and selves that’s unravelled in reflections of the everyday and since reading this I’ve lingered on thoughts on how those tools we use to eat with – steel chopsticks for a Korean pork backbone soup, a ceramic spoon to eat an egg drop soup, vintage silverware with oysters or, our hands to tear injera – can dynamically transform our experiences.
Five places with Lissy Robinson-Cole and Rudi Robinson
It’s through hooks, needles and neon yarn that collaborative art duo and husband and wife, Lissy Robinson-Cole (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu) and Rudi Robinson (Ngāti Paoa, Ngāruahine, Waikato, Te Arawa, Ngāti Pahauwera) explore mātauranga Māori and whakapapa. Their exuberantly-coloured crochet sculptures take the shape of chandeliers, pōtae, wheku, and soon, their most ambitious creation so far – a full-scale crocheted wharenui called Wharenui Harikoa which will be launched in its finished form in Matariki 2023. From October 1, the Dowse Art Museum in Wellington will exhibit pieces from the project completed so far. The pair share their most-loved kai spots below.
The 168 - my whare: I am a fussy foodie who loves to cook and feed people. You'll feel the love when you come to Lissy's kitchen for kai.
Sam Woo Vietnamese Cafe, Ōtāhuhu: It's an institution of Ōtāhuhu, and we've been going here for thirty years. The menu never changes – it's just good food.
Hill House Cafe, Manurewa: Our studio is located at Nathan's Homestead where Ricardo and Peter of Hill House Cafe have created a totally delicious spot, full of homemade kai. They're known for their legendary cinnabuns.
Chocola, Glenn Innes: Authentic Mexican in Glen Innes owned by husband and wife, Maria and Jose. Beautiful, simple, authentic and delicious. They used to own the Mexican Specialty Cafe in Ellerslie and were wildly successful, but are now exclusively open on weekends only.
Tony's Steak and Seafood Restaurant, Auckland Central: Has not changed since the 80s. The best steak. The best seafood cocktails. Retro as – gotta love it!
Talk next week!
Hei kōnā mai, Charlotte
