editorial

Words by Shalbha Sarda 
August 14, 2026
An easy weekend day trip from Auckland, this rural area offers boutique vineyards, coastal scenery, and a farmers’ market showcasing local ingredients and producers.
<figure id="attachment_162065" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-162065" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-162065" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Brick-Bays-Glass-House-Restaurant-and-Sawmill-Brewery-Beers.jpeg" alt="Wining and dining at Brick Bay’s Glass House restaurant; a flight of beers at Sawmill Brewery." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Brick-Bays-Glass-House-Restaurant-and-Sawmill-Brewery-Beers.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Brick-Bays-Glass-House-Restaurant-and-Sawmill-Brewery-Beers-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Brick-Bays-Glass-House-Restaurant-and-Sawmill-Brewery-Beers-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Brick-Bays-Glass-House-Restaurant-and-Sawmill-Brewery-Beers-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-162065" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Wining and dining at Brick Bay’s Glass House restaurant; a flight of beers at Sawmill Brewery. (Courtesy of Brick Bay; Photo: Shalbha Sarda)</figcaption></figure>
Set in rolling countryside an hour’s drive north of downtown Auckland, Matakana may be tiny—only 650 or so people live here—but it occupies an outsize place in New Zealand’s food scene. The credit for this goes to Richard and Christine Didsbury, who in 2002 purchased the town’s old timber yard and began transforming it into <a href="https://www.matakanavillage.co.nz/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matakana Village</a>, a riverside hub of small shops, restaurants, and galleries. At its heart is a celebrated Saturday farmers’ market, where vendors offer the area’s best produce alongside artisanal breads, deli goods, honey, and other edible bounty. Over the years, the event has served as an incubator for many now well-known gourmet brands.
With live music drifting across the market square, visitors wander from stall to stall, sampling wild-fermented apple ciders by Justin and Cynthia Oliver of Bohemian Cider, plant-based spreads from The Hemp Butter Co., and Beach Booch hard kombuchas in flavors like peach-chili and grapefruit-ginger. Matakana Village is also home to the original outlet of <a href="https://www.honestchocolat.com/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Honest Chocolat</a>, where jewel-like bonbons sit beside single-origin bars and jars of rich hot chocolate. Among the bestsellers are local macadamias coated in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.
“Whatever you eat or drink in Matakana,” says Peter Hamdy, co-founder of tour company Auckland &amp; Beyond, “there’s a good chance it comes from within a few kilometers.”
A 10-minute drive to the south near Snells Beach is another venture by the Didsburys: <a href="https://www.brickbay.co.nz/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brick Bay</a>, a boutique vineyard with a standout restaurant called the Glass House. Seeming to float above a pond, the glass-sheathed pavilion serves seasonal dishes such as beef cheek with miso puree and chili-glazed cauliflower. The estate’s wines are exceptional too. First planted in 1995, Brick Bay was among the first vineyards in the region to grow pinot gris; today, its portfolio also includes chardonnay, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec, and petit verdot. Although the wines (fewer than 1,500 cases annually) are made at a partner winery an hour away, the essence of the vineyard’s terroir—northeast-facing slopes swept by sea breezes and rich in clay-loam soils once used for brickmaking—can be tasted in every glass.
<figure id="attachment_162067" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-162067" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-162067" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Sea-View-from-Brick-Bay-Vineyard-and-Matakana-Village-Market-Vendors.jpeg" alt="A view of Kawau Bay from the Brick Bay vineyard; vendors at the Saturday farmers’ market at Matakana Village." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Sea-View-from-Brick-Bay-Vineyard-and-Matakana-Village-Market-Vendors.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Sea-View-from-Brick-Bay-Vineyard-and-Matakana-Village-Market-Vendors-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Sea-View-from-Brick-Bay-Vineyard-and-Matakana-Village-Market-Vendors-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Sea-View-from-Brick-Bay-Vineyard-and-Matakana-Village-Market-Vendors-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-162067" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: A view of Kawau Bay from the Brick Bay vineyard; vendors at the Saturday farmers’ market at Matakana Village. (Courtesy of Brick Bay; Courtesy of Matakana Village)</figcaption></figure>
Geography also shapes the flavor of every jar of honey produced by <a href="https://www.nzhoneytasting.co.nz/?DestinAsian=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beetopia</a>, a beekeeping education center created by local apiarist Grass Esposti. In a garden where she and her family have planted nearly 10,000 native flowering trees—among them, kanuka, tawari, and the more famous manuka—Esposti introduces guests to the vital ecological role of New Zealand’s tiny native bees, barely half the size of a European honeybee. Visits conclude with tastings in the honey shed and a chance to browse a line of pure beeswax candles.
Nearby, <a href="https://www.sawmillbrewery.co.nz/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sawmill Brewery</a> is a small but purposeful operation owned by former Cantabrians Kirsty McKay and Mike Sutherland. Beyond its commitment to homegrown ingredients, Sawmill is also New Zealand’s only B Corp–certified brewery, operating, as Sutherland puts it, “right at the reality end of sustainability.” In the brewery’s cozy timber-walled restaurant and tasting room, the menu showcases local farmers and growers in dishes like steak skewers with bone marrow aioli and sardines on sourdough toast. These can be washed down with a range of craft beers, including the flagship Sawmill Pilsner, made with Canterbury-grown malted barley and hops sourced from a growers’ cooperative in the Nelson Tasman region.
Farther down the same country road is the retail outlet of <a href="https://www.matakanaoysters.co.nz/?DestinAsian=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matakana Oysters</a>, an unassuming green shed where mollusks harvested in nearby Mahurangi Harbour are shucked and packed for sale. What began as a shoestring drive-through operation has evolved over the years into one of the region’s most popular seafood stops, drawing visitors with fresh Pacific oysters at remarkably modest prices: half a dozen cost about US$7. It’s worth the trip alone.
<figure id="attachment_162066" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-162066" style="width: 1800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-162066" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior-.jpeg" alt="Riverside at Matakana Village." width="1800" height="1200" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior-.jpeg 1800w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior--300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior--1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior--768x512.jpeg 768w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior--1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Matakana-New-Zealand-Matakana-Village-Exterior--1568x1045.jpeg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-162066" class="wp-caption-text">Riverside at Matakana Village. (Courtesy of Matakana Village)</figcaption></figure>
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">August/September 2026</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Meet You in Matakana”). Buy a single issue or subscribe <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Savoring the Homegrown Flavors of Matakana