In the little town of Inglewood, you’ll find a cosy spot serving up top-notch pies, decadent doughnuts and coffee as good as any you’d get in the big smoke.

Sixteen kilometres southeast of New Plymouth, under the shadow of maunga Taranaki, lies a little rural town by the name of Inglewood. With a population of 3580, it’s surrounded by farmland and intersected by rushing rivers as they journey down the slopes of the mountain towards the wild west coast. 

It’s an industrious town. Fun Ho! Toys, famous for its brightly coloured die-cast toys, still manufactures its products there. Remember those red, black and yellow trikes every Kiwi kid gets for their first birthday? Yip, they were manufactured in Inglewood too. It’s a small rural community with a lot of spirit and, if you’ll take my word for it, the best pies, doughnuts and coffee this side of the black stump! 

In 2005, Craig Williamson and wife Sue bought Oscars, a little fish and chip shop in the heart of Inglewood. Craig was a trained chef, earning his qualifications in the army in Waiouru. While business was good and they loved their new place in the community, Craig felt an urge to diversify, spread his wings and experiment in the kitchen. More specifically, he wanted to make and serve the best pies and doughnuts he possibly could. 

Space was limited, so after five years in business the duo decided to move next door to a corner site, giving them more space in a prime location. Oscars then became Oscars Kiwi Kafe and daughter Tessa took the reins. Tessa used to take the bus straight to the cafe after school, and learnt all she could under the guidance of Craig, finding she too shared a love of good food. So it was that the new doors opened and Craig’s dream of serving pies and doughnuts was at last realised. 

The team at Oscars are proud of their place, their tūrangawaewae. Tessa speaks fondly of her customers and the relationships she’s built with them over the years. In the middle of the shop there’s a long communal table where customers cosy up by the fire, sharing good coffee and company. 

The Oscars team source local produce where possible, teaming up with the fine folks at Green Meadows Beef to ensure a steady supply of top-quality beef to fill their pies. Green Meadows also supplies their small goods, including burger patties, so you can be assured you’re getting quality. There’s always a pot on the stove out the back with one cut of meat or another simmering away in anticipation of the next batch of pies, of which there can be 15 or more in the warmer at any time. 

Not only have they perfected the good old Kiwi classics like mince and cheese and steak and onion, Oscars also make pies that deliberately challenge the status quo. Inspiration for some of the more interesting flavour combinations comes from Craig and his love of hunting and fishing. Rabbit pies, duck pies and even thar pies make an appearance in the pie warmer when these game meats are available. If you’re feeling a little seedy, then the hangover pie is just the ticket. Filled with hash browns, eggs, bacon and baked beans, it’s guaranteed to soak up last night’s sins. 

The day I visited, I had a beef and blue cheese pie – a firm favourite among customers. As with all Oscars pies, the pastry is golden brown and beautifully flaky, generously enveloping the filling within. On first bite the beef, tender and slow-cooked to perfection, reveals itself along with the tangy blue cheese. The sweet spicy cheese marries perfectly with the richness of the beef and before I know it my plate is empty and I’m considering picking it up and licking it. 

Now that I’ve polished off my pie I figure it’s only polite to indulge in one of the doughnuts Craig worked so hard to perfect. I’m not disappointed. These are donuts the way they used to be made. No garish sickly sweet icing or rainbow sprinkles in sight. These bad boys are crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside and filled with exactly the right amount of lightly whipped fresh cream, finished off with a lick of raspberry jam and a snowy dusting of icing sugar. Perfection. I order a coffee to finish off. I drink mine with coconut milk and, as always, it’s excellent. Beautifully presented, just the right temperature and expertly extracted. 

Yes, Taranaki is off the beaten path for many, but if you’re in the neighbourhood, be sure to swing by Oscars – just make sure you’re there before the lunchtime rush, or you might arrive to an empty pie warmer.

Previously

Why I love: Billow Bakery, sensational sourdough and a sense of community

Why I love: Cielito Lindo, mind-blowing Mexican food next to the dump

Why I love: Gogo Music Cafe, Chinese food and good beer in the heart of Balmoral

This December, with the help of other generous food businesses, Freedom Farms will deliver 40 Christmas hampers to women affected by domestic violence. 

“What’s this?!” I hear you cry. “A Christmas story at the beginning of October? Madness!”

I know, I know. But look, someone has to be first. Better you be eased in gently with a nice story about The Aunties than caught off guard when a Christmas carol comes on at your local cafe or you catch a shimmering glimpse of tinsel at the mall. 

And for many, Christmas planning is in full swing. Freedom Farms, for example, is already getting inquiries about hams, and they’re also busy organising festive hampers for The Aunties, the Auckland organisation that supports women who are living or have lived with domestic violence.  

In 2018 Freedom Farms delivered 36 hams to women with whom The Aunties work, and this year they’re throwing eggs, bacon and sausages into the mix, making up 40 hampers that will also include festive products donated by other businesses.

“We identified that there were an awful lot of food producers who make amazing food and want to share it with people, but they either don’t have the resources to organise distribution or they just don’t know where to start,” says Freedom Farms general manager Hilary Pearson. 

So far, they’ve secured ham glaze, pavlova, chips, orange juice, ginger syrup, chocolate and other sweet treats, Christmas crackers and paper napkins from companies including Farro Fresh, Proper Crisps, Whittaker’s and Molly Woppy.

“For a long time we had been doing piecemeal charity support,” explains Pearson. “We get contacted pretty much every week by someone who wants support and they’re all fantastic causes, but I sat down and looked at what was the most good we could do – how we could leverage what we had to have the biggest impact.

 “Hams are a big part of what Freedom Farms is all about, so the opportunity to share that with people who probably wouldn’t otherwise get to experience a delicious Christmas dinner was the obvious thing, really.”

Pearson got in touch with Jackie Clark, founder of The Aunties, and offered up some hams.

“She cried on the phone – she’s really cool to talk to because she’s so open about what they need,” says Pearson. “With a lot of other charities it’s quite hard to understand what their needs are, but it was clear that we could do something really beneficial with The Aunties.”

Christmas can be a tough time of year for the women they support, says Phil Warin, who works closely with Clark at The Aunties. “It’s a very expensive time, not only for presents, food and items like that, but often when kids aren’t at school they need entertaining, and all those costs add up.

“Then there’s the added pressure of having family and friends over, and a lot of businesses shut for Christmas so there’s no income for many of the women.”

They struggle to make ends meet every day, and Christmas is no different, says Warin. “There’s no putting $5 away each week for Christmas, because there’s not $5 each week available.”

Last year, on a rainy day just before Christmas, Pearson and a couple of colleagues delivered the hams to women around Auckland. “I got home at the end of that delivery day and had a big cry because it was just so overwhelming,” she says. “Part of it was just feeling pissed off that there were families living in these situations – you could see that they were just scraping by, and Christmas is not a time when anyone should just be scraping by. 

“And part of it was the incredible hugs I got from the women. There was just so much gratitude.”

Last Christmas The Aunties, through fundraising, spent $15,000 on presents and groceries – including some festive treats thanks to an extra-generous donation they received towards the end of the year.

It’s a burden lifted for the women, says Warin. “It means they can relax, they don’t have to worry quite as much. Everyone should have the chance to have a chocolate for breakfast or pop a Christmas cracker, to have something that you don’t have every other day of the year.” 

One of the women says The Aunties’ support last Christmas allowed her to “rest and heal”. “I was off work and my last maternity pay was on Christmas Day. Having had several DV [domestic violence] events leading up to it, if it wasn’t for The Aunties my children would have had no Christmas at all. Even the Christmas dinner and food for the weeks up to New Year’s was all because of The Aunties. 

“It meant I wasn’t stressed over trying to make nothing stretch, and I could rest and heal and not go into a deep depression again. In a real rough time for my family, being able to treat and see my children with things they really wanted made me feel that someone cared about us, that we weren’t alone hiding behind closed doors. It was quite a big thing at the time to feel like we had whānau.”

As for the kids, it makes Christmas a special day – “not just another day of the year, which for a lot of kids it would be otherwise”, says Warin. “We had one child last year who was given a present and didn’t actually know what to do with it, because he had never received one.”

“So it’s just making them feel special and showing them that they’re loved, not only by their families, but that other people in the community love them as well.”

It’s also about making them feel like regular kids, she says. “When they go back to school in January, they’ve got something they can talk about, they’ve got something they can share with their friends.”

For details on how to support The Aunties, click here. Phil Warin and her mother Robyn are shaving their heads to raise money for The Aunties and breast cancer charity Sweet Louise – see their Givealittle page to contribute.  

If you’re a Kiwi food producer who would like to donate something delicious to 40 of The Aunties Christmas Hampers, please get in touch with the team at Freedom Farms by emailing us@freedomfarms.co.nz. No tinned tomatoes thanks! 

This content was created in paid partnership with Freedom Farms. Learn more about our partnerships here.