The Butcher Baker
Features
The Butcher Baker is from Reginaldo Richard, who’s been head chef at supremely popular Grey Lynn cafe Honey Bones on and off since its inception in 2017. Located inside a historic brick building on the main road in Helensville, his own cafe and restaurant is a worthy reason for central-city dwellers to venture further afield.
Originally from Brazil, he brings a South American tradition of cooking over fire to this project, along with his typical warmth and friendly banter.
The central focus of The Butcher Baker’s design is the open kitchen, with a hefty open fireplace that touches a lot of the menu. There’s a generous amount of natural light, and the space is rustic and inviting thanks to its textural white walls and high vaulted ceilings. There are touches of sophistication, too, including sleek marble benchtops and Scandinavian-style wooden tables. Local preserves and bottles of natural wine line the shelves.
The whole building is fronted by a large, sun-catching courtyard that’s peppered with beanbags and white umbrellas.
The day and night menus are quite separate, but a common thread is Richard’s farm-to-table ethos and inventive flavour combinations involving more than one style of cuisine. He spends his Mondays off exploring nearby farms to select ingredients for the coming week, meaning the menu changes weekly.
For brunch, you might eat folded eggs with ‘nduja butter and charred lettuce on ciabatta; an English muffin with whipped brie, anchovies, fig-leaf oil and a soft-boiled egg; or a breakfast bowl with puffed grains, coconut kasu foam and fruit sorbet.
Dinner-wise, there could be charcoal-baked pumpkin with jerk-seasoned wild mushrooms; zucchini flowers stuffed with crayfish and served with nasturtium aioli; turnip pappardelle with miso and buckwheat; and for dessert, fig compressed bananas with fennel.
To drink there is coffee from local Helensville roaster High Noon Coffee Co and a range of herbal teas, along with local and natural wines from Everyday Wine, cider, and craft beer in the evening.
Contact Details
Phone: No phone
We do not seek or accept payment from the cafes, restaurants, bars and shops listed in the Directory – inclusion is at our discretion. Venue profiles are written by independent freelancers paid by Broadsheet.
Share
