Church Manor Café has joined Country Originals furniture and long-time favourite The Art Boutique, to make the Cambridge Rd complex a great destination for those looking for a gift, something for their own home, or just brunch and a browse.
This is the first time a café has been located on the site and Church Manor Café owners Tuhiao and John Halling have big plans. “We believe the café industry needs a bit more glamour. We want to have a king’s palace filled with finery and silver platter food without a huge price,” says chef Tuhiao. Her focus is on what she describes as ‘viva and angel food’. “Viva food is really fresh from the garden. We have a bit of a garden out the back here and I want to use things from that.”
Most of the food on offer will be organic. “In the king’s court days nothing had preservatives.” A speciality is the couple’s range of breads, which are made using specially imported organic wheat and other grains. They will also be introducing a gluten free range of products. Favourites include the high protein rye bread, ciabatta and saffron and curry loaf. “We also have absolutely gorgeous muffins and a delicious passionfruit custard slice.”
Church Manor Café serves Fusion Coffee and a range of organic teas. Visitors can enjoy brunch, lunch or morning and afternoon tea indoors in the vaulted ceiling café which sits between The Art Boutique and Country Originals’ showroom or outside in the courtyard before taking a look around.
Country Originals specialises in creating recycled native timber furniture from rimu, matai and other woods. Owner and cabinetmaker Mike Humphrey operates a workshop on-site and says his showroom has got to be the best in town, with high, church-like ceilings and polished concrete floors creating the perfect environment to show off his team’s high quality workmanship. Everything from coffee tables to dining suites and hutch dressers is on display.
“People often come in and see something they like but that’s not quite what they want. We’re prepared to create whatever the customer wants,” says Mike.
Carol Collins opened The Art Boutique in November 2004. She has a background in art, having worked for the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the National Art Gallery in Melbourne. The Art Boutique specialises in paintings by top local and national artists. Hand-blown glass, ceramics, weaving, objets d’art and jewellery are also on display. Carol has an ‘on approval’ and hire service for art works so customers can see how a piece works in their home or business before they purchase or hire. (Courtesy Weekend Sun – www.thesun.co.nz )
