The Nocturnalists series shines a light on Auckland after dark. Chefs, comedians, performers and punters – Nocturnalists are spirited members of Auckland’s nighttime scene. In this series, they take us on a tour of their favourite spots and what this city has to offer after 5pm. Today: chef Jono Thevenard.
Chef and restaurateur Jono Thevenard has an appetite for life in Auckland. “I love Tāmaki, and there’s enough here for me,” he tells Emma Gleason. The two caught up at Bestie to talk about what makes St Kevin’s Arcade so special, where to go for an unforgettable night out and why the city’s like an omelette right now.
Photos by Sophie Miya-Smith shot on location at Pici Wine Bar and Whammy.
Emma: A couple of people I’ve interviewed for this series mentioned Pici as a favourite restaurant in Auckland.
Jono: Oh woah, that’s nice.
Where do you live, and how do you get to work?
Grey Lynn. I’ve got an electric bike, so it takes me about five minutes to get to work. It’s actually less hassle than driving my car.
After you finish a shift at Pici, what do you do?
It depends on the night. I might go home, but if we’ve had a big week and it’s been a hot sweaty night, we might all go out… I’ll see what gigs are on. We’re pretty tight with people at Whammy, so you can slip down to a gig after work if there’s something you want to see. We’ve got a pretty tight community. We pretty much know everyone at hug-status down there. We’re all good mates, same with Bestie and Gemmayze [Street], we’ll kind of bounce off each other. Sagrado [Cantina] has been a great new addition – honestly, their food is really good, it’s legit Mexican food. My favourites are the carnita tacos and the agua fresca hibiscus.
There’s definitely a sense of energy in St Kevin’s Arcade at the moment, and with the Double Whammy renovation. Obviously, it was always popular, and Wine Cellar was beloved, but seeing it amp up capacity as a gig venue is really cool.
It’s a great space. You can have a real show down there – some big shows, a good rave. And it’s got those steps, so that’s a good hack; you can go stand up the back and see over everyone, which is cool.
And you can still just go for a drink. Any night of the week I’ll go and there’s probably someone I know there, and it’s been like that for 15 years or longer.
That’s it. And even though it’s Public Bar [now], which I love, it’s always still Wine Cellar in my brain. And it’s cool because Rohan [Evans, who owned Wine Cellar] is still around.
Have you been to any memorable gigs at Whammy?
Yeah, the Mokomokai gig was life-changing. The energy from the crowd was awesome. And there was Pulotu Underworld, which I went down there and thought, “this is amazing”.
What about when it’s not a big gig night, where do you go?
If I’m wanting to eat somewhere, lately it’s been Tempero. In terms of owner-operator stuff, and food, it’s so legit. He’s straight out of Brazil, super emotionally involved in his food; it’s awesome. We had their flan the other day. It’s like a condensed milk caramel jelly situation from Brazil, and it was just amazing.
What desserts do you serve at Pici?
We do the baked cheesecake, slightly Japanese style, baked in a loaf and sliced. We serve it with olive oil and sea salt. And we do a chocolate semifreddo, also in a loaf, with caramelised pistachios and salted chocolate sauce.
Oh my god. So you can come in just for dessert?
Yeah. You can also come to Pici Wine Bar for dessert too, or antipasto – so if you’re out on K’ Road, and maybe not drinking, don’t sleep on that one.
As a non-drinker, I appreciate that you can get a coffee at No.7 after dark. It reminds me a bit of Peach Pit, kind of.
Yeah, exactly. No.7’s such a good spot – they’re a good late-night spot – and they do great coffee. Not many places do past four o’clock. We physically don’t have the space for it behind the bar.
OK, not coffee but alcohol, what’s your favourite drink?
We actually have a really good non-alcoholic cocktail called the Pici Spritz. It’s one that Steph, who’s been with us [for years], she came up with it. I can’t give away the recipe completely, but it’s got hibiscus flowers and other bits and pieces. And obviously we’ve got a natural wine selection of pretty much all New Zealand wines, who we’ve got really close relationships personally, and then some Italian wines.
I was here in St Kevin’s a few weeks ago, having dinner at Gemmayze Street, and had one of the best desserts I’ve had in Auckland – the knefe.
I’ve got so much respect and love for Samir [Allen] and those guys, they’ve been there forever. We actually went to chef school together, he worked at The Grove just after me. We’ve known each other for a long time. I used to pop down to [my neighbours] Bar Celeste and Candela, they’re my mates as well, just to see them and be like ‘got any stracciatella?’. They’ve closed now, but new things are opening in those spaces.
Do you have any favourite characters in the city?
Christy [Tennent] from Open is a great friend of mine. Also Tane [Williams] who used to own Bestie, Barber Dan is a good mate. It’s just nice being able to go up and down the street and see your friends, pop in.
I love what Open has done with Open Late.
Open Late is so cool… and such a community vibe. Christy is such a magnet for community; she really is part of the glue and the fabric that keeps everything together.
Alright, so if you’ve got a night off, where would you go for dinner in the city?
If I’m wanting to go really fancy, I’m going to go to Gilt. You want to get the steak and frites, and raw fish with tuna, salmon and kingfish and the crab pasta. Glen [File] is a great chef. The wine list is really good. The whole team is top tier. And even though it is next level, it’s definitely not pretentious. It’s cool. And they’re always stoked that hospo people are coming in.
If you had someone in town, say friends from Melbourne, and you wanted to impress them, where would you go?
Probably No.7, and then I would go to Open Late, have fun with the community. A lot of it is the offering, but a lot of it’s who’s there and people you want to interact with, and the kaupapa.
What about cheap eats, takeaways or secret spots? Anywhere you recommend?
I went to a place on Lorne Street recently, Sue’s Dim Sum, and had those dumplings that are filled with soup.
Lorne Street is really vibing at the moment.
It’s kicking off. There’s amazing Asian food down there. I’d say what Auckland isn’t celebrated enough for is our multiculturalism. If you think about it we’ve got Satya right here, and you go down to Sandringham and Dominion Road and any place will probably blow your mind.
Even just here on Karangahape Road, you’ve got It’s Java, Uncle Man’s, Dosa Corner.
Taste of India’s really good too.
How do you feel about Auckland’s vibe shift?
It’s been so great to see the city revitalised. I feel like, the way the whole city has been completely dug up and our whole culture here revolves around cars, that we’re in a real growing-pain period where there’s nowhere to park, but the travel infrastructure is about to be upgraded. And the economy has been struggling. But I just feel like we had to do it. We had to break a few eggs to make an omelette, and we’re about to get served that omelette. And I tell you what, the city is just smelling it and going “pleeeeease”.
I can’t wait to get that train up K’ Road.
I think it’s going to be great. And apparently the trains are going to go late into the night.
Because that’s critical, having that late train, so you know you can get home.
Exactly. People can just zoom into the city. And it’s only going to be a few minutes from Britomart up to here.
And the fact there’s a station up here just spitting people out on Pitt Street and Mercury Lane, it will be so different.
I think the one constant of K’ Road is that it’s always changing.
