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Good food, great company and a beach stroll to finish? That’s an outing worth putting in the diary! Auckland FEAST powered by Mastercard starts today and is giving us all an opportunity to get out and have some fun. From culinary cruises and bottomless BBQs, to late-night cocktail dinners and one-off chef collaborations, you’re bound to find something you’ll love. FIVE Takapuna eateries are joining the FEAST celebrations. Gather your favourite dining companions and make a date with our local food scene. Explore the entire festival’s restaurant listings. Benny’s Takapuna: bring your burger appetite Sometimes the occasion calls for a burger and a generous stack of napkins. Benny’s delivers American-inspired smash burgers made with New Zealand beef, plus chicken and vegetarian options. With poutine, tacos

Regatta relaunches in Takapuna with ’60s coastal glamour, a wood-fired menu and private cabanas Takapuna beachfront venue Regatta reopens today following a complete renovation. Inspired by the golden era of 1960s and ’70s, Regatta’s revamped menu is built around wood-fired cooking, seafood and seriously good drinks. Designed by Studio Tatami, the interiors draw on the holiday lounges of the era and Takapuna’s history as a seaside escape. High-gloss mahogany trims meet marble counters, and speckled blue bar tiles are paired with blue and red velvet booths, and florals by Greenpoint Florist. Made for special occasions and sunset drinks alike, Regatta is just as ideal for a dozen oysters and a glass of Veuve Clicquot at the bar as it is for a leisurely afternoon spent

Project Employ officially opens its purpose-built Flourish Café in new Takapuna location, creating even more opportunities for neurodiverse young adults. Pictured: Hannah Sykes and Sarah Dann-Hoare A café with a purpose has opened its doors in Takapuna as Project Employ officially celebrates the opening of its new Flourish Café on Anzac Street. More than just a place to enjoy great coffee and food, the purpose-built training café is creating opportunities for neurodiverse young adults to build confidence, develop valuable workplace skills and take meaningful steps towards paid employment. The official opening brought together supporters, community members and Project Employ ambassadors, including Shane Cortese, Angela Bloomfield and Black Fern Atlanta Lolohea, to celebrate the achievements and potential of the young people at the heart of the

Fresh from the ocean not the freezer, Takapuna Beach Cafe’s Fish & Chip Shop returns with its most diverse catch yet. On Thursday 15 October, Takapuna Beach Cafe’s Fish & Chip Shop makes its highly anticipated return. This season, the beachside pop-up is doubling down on what it does best: taking one of New Zealand’s favourite summer rituals and making it better. Since it first started, Fish & Chip Shop has served fish that’s fresh rather than frozen and sustainably longline caught. For season three, it’s going a step further by putting a greater variety of lesser-known, underutilised local species on the menu alongside the classics. “We’ve worked closely with sustainable fishers Kiwifish since 2020, and we’re really proud of that relationship,” says Takapuna Beach

Takapuna’s business community is entering a new chapter, with a fresh identity and new leadership for the local business association, which represents more than 600 companies and 300 commercial properties in Takapuna. The former Takapuna Beach Business Association has officially become the Takapuna Business Association Incorporated, with a new public-facing brand, Takapuna Business, designed to better reflect the town centre’s evolving identity and ambitions. The new name and branding were unveiled to members at the Association’s annual general meeting on 7 October, where long-serving Association board member and commercial property specialist Janet Marshall JP was also elected chair. The rebrand is the first major initiative under the Association’s Strategic Plan for 2026–2031, approved by members last year, and will be rolled out over the coming

Mortimer Hirst Eyecare & Eyewear is celebrating 75 years of clinical eyecare, a milestone built on a pioneering start. The practice grew out of a partnership between optometrist Douglas Mortimer and Eugene Hirst. In 1943, Hirst accepted a challenge from an Auckland ophthalmologist to make a contact lens for a patient with keratoconus. With no lathes available, he moulded the lens over a stone cast taken from an impression of the eye and shaped the optics by hand using small brass laps. It is recorded as the first contact lens made in New Zealand. That pioneering spirit shaped the decades that followed. Hirst Contact Lens manufactured hard and soft lenses in a laboratory that occupied three floors of the 9 High Street building until 1978,

Looking for easy, family-friendly ways to keep the kids entertained these school holidays? Takapuna has plenty of winter holiday fun to fill a morning, an afternoon, or a whole day out. From playground adventures and beach walks to sweet treats, shopping stops and cosy lunch spots, there’s something for every kind of school holiday mood. Use our handy list below for inspiration, or check out our activities page for even more fun things to do with the kids these holidays. Why not make a day of it? Start with a run around Takapuna Beach Playground, then warm up with lunch somewhere relaxed and whānau-friendly. Grab some fried chicken and a shake from Cousin Scott’s, or a burger from Benny’s Burgers, share some snacks or the