New and approved: Cafe Saints, Auckland
It's a bavette baguette and you'll find it at Cafe Saints. (Photo: @cafesaints. Design: Tina Tiller, The Spinoff)
With a secondhand Subway fridge and a colourful fitout, this charming new lunch spot in Grey Lynn already has a legion of fans.
What is it?
A new entrant in the great Auckland sandwich wars, Cafe Saints slings superb sandwiches, juice and coffee from a sunny spot in Grey Lynn.
Where is it?
In that cluster of shops at the Great North Road intersection with Williamson Ave. Cafe Saints is number 566 and you can’t miss it (the paint job is high impact).
What’s new about it?
Everything! Except the furniture, most of that’s secondhand.
Who’s behind it?
A collaborative effort and many helping hands. The juice half of the outfit, Saints, is the brainchild of Maddi Strom. What started a year ago as a pop-up in the Whammy bar entrance, built on hard work and colourful plastic crates, quickly earned her a loyal following. Then came the opportunity to take on a lease and do something more permanent. She got the keys to the shop in April and opened at the end of August. All those colourful crates came too.
Joining her is Georgia van Prehn. The chef, who ran the renowned Karangahape Road restaurant Alta between 2021 and 2023, has now turned her innovative skill set to the humble sandwich – lucky us.
What brought them together? “I've always wanted to work at Tank, she's always wanted to work at Subway,” explains Strom. “The rest is history.”
What are the vibes?
Cheerful! Customers happily share tables and pass stools around, the staff are friendly and down-to-earth, and there’s a high chance there will be at least one dog running around. The fitout helps set the tone; Cafe Saints is visually upbeat and heavy on the colour. “We just wanted something loud,” explains Strom. “It was never going to look flash, so I just wanted it to look cool.” The exterior is painted sky blue, indigo and post-box red, returning some much-needed colour to the now-omnipresent white-and-grey buildings of Grey Lynn. Inside, the walls are purple and the tiling grout is blue (that was van Prehn’s handiwork).
It’s a far cry from what was a run-down old shop a few months ago. The renovation relied heavily on the generosity of family and friends, who mucked in to help get it done, and on what they could get their hands on for cheap or free. “We recycled heaps of stuff,” says Strom. The busted front of the store was replaced with glass bricks from Facebook Marketplace. Most furniture and gear is secondhand. Including the Subway sandwich fridge – that was a Trade Me find and a pivotal part of opening the business. “That was like the first thing that I had,” says Strom. “The rest just fell into place.”
What should I order?
A sanga and a juice. And a coffee. And maybe something sweet to finish. Sandwiches come on thick slabs of focaccia or crusty baguettes, baked by the excellent Beabea’s bakery in Westmere. The menu changes regularly, depending on van Prehn’s whims and the season, though deli meat is a staple.
Vegetarians are well catered for, with three varieties on the current menu. The smoked carrot “lox” sandwich comes with cashew caper cream, vinaigrette and crunchy dukkah; tender grilled eggplant is a delicious bedfellow for vegan mayonnaise, rocket and moreish harissa sauce; and the veggie loaf, made from beetroot, lentils, walnuts and black garlic, is wedged between chewy focaccia with sweet capsicum and crisp red onions. Herbs abound and so do textures, with crunch and smooshiness delivered liberally (both are critical to a successful sandwich).
The meat options, also numbering three, are all free range. The steak bavette special has proved popular – it’s piled high with caramelised onions, capsicum and lemon crema and eyed hungrily by queuing patrons. But I passed that up in favour of the chicken caesar baguette. A divinely portable spin on a classic, it marries chicken, ham and crunchy cos with the requisite umami kick of parmesan and some saucy anchovy bagna cauda.
Deciding between six sandwiches shouldn’t be hard but it is. The good news is that whatever you choose will be yum. Wash it down with a juice; I highly recommend the spicy pineapple, which is tart and packs a gentle punch thanks to Strom’s tajin spice blend. There are also smoothies (miso tahini or berry forest) and house-made fizzy drinks (pineapple skin and sage). Coffee is by Eighthirty.
Don’t leave without trying something sweet. There were some delightful soft-and-crunchy lumps of rocky road when I visited. It’s old-school caf fare, the kind of thing Strom and van Prehn want to embrace. “If somebody says they want a date scone, hell, we’ll make a date scone,” Strom said, confirming cabinet food is on the way. “We're just gonna give the people what they want.”
What’ll it set me back?
Sandwiches cost from $17-$21, juices are $9.50 and smoothies are $14. Coffees range from $5 for black to $7 for a mocha. Fluffies are two bucks. If you visit before 10.30am there’s a morning bun and coffee deal for $20, with your choice of BLAT or egg sandwich.
Cafe Saints
566 Great North Road, Auckland
Tues-Sat, 8am-2.30pm
Emma Gleason
Emma Gleason is a staff writer at The Spinoff and an award-winning fashion journalist. But it’s not just clothes that interest her, you’ll find her exploring tasty cheese, influenza outbreaks and more important things right here. She has experience with some of the country’s leading media outlets as well as the toaster in our kitchen.
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