Grey Lynn Library

15/10/2026

Thanks to local author Alexa Johnston and her attentive audience of 30-plus people at our Auckland Heritage Festival event this month. "Ladies, A Talk" focused on New Zealand's domestic baking history as explored in Alexa's fabulous books, including Ladies, A Plate. We enjoyed an engaging talk and great questions. The associated book display was popular and our glass case display of loaned culinary heirlooms continues.

14/10/2026

A shout out to the choir of St Paul's College, Richmond Rd, for their singing of our national anthem at Saturday's Bledisloe Cup match, Eden Park. www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1062863103229262

13/10/2026

We're very happy to have contributed to these region-wide holiday sessions!

12/10/2026

X, Y, Z end our ABC of local foodie history, and we've had to be inventive. X is for X-***ED! We can't say what refreshments, if any, were served at West Lynn shops' Alladins Bath House (c. 1990s, by the dairy on the Richmond Rd/Francis St corner). Behind K Rd's Vegas Girl, you could at least get a drink at the Las Vegas St******se and Bar.
Y is for YEAST FACTORY: Dominion Compressed Yeast Company produced this and vinegar at its Williamson Ave/Pollen St/Crummer Rd-bounded premises, from the 1920s. Louvre windows provided ventilation for the pungent manufacturing process, local historian Tania Mace writes. DYC, as it became, closed the factory in 2006. In the subsequent long-awaited redevelopment, Vinegar Lane recalls its history.
Z is for ZORKA RADONICH, who with husband Petar ran Three Lamps Fish Shop, 1962-97. Ponsonby history book Urban Village credits them with astutely adapting to changing clientele over the decades.
Photo: Crummer Road, Grey Lynn, towards Ponsonby Rd, with Dominion Yeast Co (DYC) vinegar factory at left, 1965. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 580-11503.

10/10/2026

V-W today, near the end of our alphabetical local food history tour. V is for VERONA, K Rd, opened by Hilary Ord and Janet Sergeant in 1992. Auckland Elemeno P's 2003 song “Verona” told of meeting a girl there. The bar and cafe's April closure follows financial losses, with Auckland Museum salvaging its sequinned sign. This Verona was preceded in the '70s by the Verona Coffee Lounge; both were named after their 1923 building, itself named for the site's earlier Victorian private home that became a boarding house. Lots of history here! W stands for WESTMERE PANTRY, one of the many pātaka kai that have sprung up around NZ to share food and other items with people in need. The 86 Garnet Rd pantry is tirelessly supported by local Annie Amazon. Photo 1: museum staff carefully remove Verona's sign - Auckland Museum page. Photo 2: Westmere Pantry, pictured on Westmere Community FB page.

10/10/2026

09/10/2026

To T and U in the library's A-Z local food heritage list. T is for TARO, grown abundantly in Grey Lynn gardens in the '80s when your scribe pounded pavements. (Do you have some in yours?) It also stands for TART BAKERY, founded by Philippa Stephenson 15 years ago and, from 2014, completely vegan. U for the Grey Lynn branch of UNCLE'S FOOD BAR, now Newton Fish and Chippery, in Great North Rd. From the '70s to the '80s, Uncle’s takeaway joints stood out with their striped red, white and blue decor and "Love at First Bite" slogan. Photos: Taro displayed at Yin's Fruit Supply, Portland Buildings, Kingsland, 1989. Miles Hargest, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 273-HAR029-04. Tart Bakery at the Grey Lynn shops.

08/10/2026

S, in our A-Z of local foodie icons, is the SURREY HOTEL. The establishment on both sides of Great North Rd close to the shops is not the first: "Surrey Hills" was an early name for part of Grey Lynn, and a (different) Surrey Hotel closer to today's Newton repeatedly failed to get a liquor licence in the 1870s. The present Surrey's fame has spread thanks to the writers residency that books journo Steve Braunias has promoted there for 10 years. The Surrey offers Mock Tudor as an art form, Sunday roasts, warmth towards library staff who meet there... need we say more? www.thesurreyhotel.co.nz/about-us

07/10/2026

TODAY: Enjoy a special evening at the library with home-baking history buff Alexa Johnston. We're in for a treat!

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