1941 days ago

Local food heroes celebrated at Canterbury hospo awards

Jake Kenny Reporter from Community News

Whether you're into fine dining, fast food, beer and wine or eating sustainably, Christchurch has the place for you.

The city’s reputation as a hospitality hub is steadily growing as new food spots crop up while established spots continue to prosper.

The latest batch of outstanding hospitality venues were recognised at the Canterbury Hospitality Awards on Monday evening.

Popular wine bar Cellar Door was named supreme establishment of the year; barbecue joint Smokey T's claimed the people’s choice award; Child Sister won the outstanding café award and OGB won best bar for the fourth year running.

The Vagabond Chefs won the community award for their efforts following the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown. They contributed regular donations of resources and food to Christchurch City Mission and KidsCan to help those most in need.

In the individual categories, Inati eatery chef Simon Levy took out outstanding chef of the year, Charles Guillotine Gillet of The Last Word claimed bartender of the year, whilst barista of the year went to Fumihiko Takai of Espresso Studio by Fushoken, in Riverside Market.

Click the 'Read more' link below for the full list of winners.

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More messages from your neighbours
2 days ago

🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…

The Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

Do you think you know the answer?

Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.

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3 days ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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1 day ago

Poll: Canterbury is thriving on paper... but are you seeing evidence of Canterbury's improving economy?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

As reported in the Press, Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman recently gave a shout-out to our region, calling Canterbury a "stand-out" for how we recover from tough times. With tech firms growing and exporters investing, the business side of things is looking bright!

👉 But we know that "business growth" doesn't always mean the weekly shop gets any cheaper. While the city expands, many families feel like they’re just trying to keep their heads above water.

We want to know: With the business buzz of 2026, do you feel like things are finally looking up for your household, or does it still feel like a climb?

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Canterbury is thriving on paper... but are you seeing evidence of Canterbury's improving economy?
  • 16.7% Yes
    16.7% Complete
  • 60.4% No
    60.4% Complete
  • 22.9% In some areas ...
    22.9% Complete
48 votes