[As published in Summer 2025/26 BayBuzz magazine.]

BayBuzz asked our two dedicated local bon vivants to identify what they liked best about their favourite neighbourhoods — Lizzie Russell for Ahuriri and Jess Soutar Barron for Hastings CBD. Photos by Florence Charvin.

Lizzie Russell — Ahuriri
BayBuzz Deputy Editor Lizzie has called the portside seaside suburb home since 2022. And while she works in the CBD and loves doing business there, she wouldn’t want to live anywhere but “over the hill” in Ahuriri. 

Coffee recommendation

Uncle. The best way to caffeinate at the start of the day is a visit and kōrero with Uncle Ryan. In winter the compact pink coffee shop can be a little refuge from the wild weather, where hard-core walkers and runners and swimmers huddle in and warm up, but in the warmer months, Uncle really comes into its own. Sunny outdoor tables, moreish local pastries, perfectly prepared First Hand coffee, and the very best short and long-form banter with Ryan. If you don’t know this spot, it’s sort of opposite the Bluewater Hotel, at the bottom of the West Quay apartments, next to The Turmeric (really good Indian food) and Winifred’s (recently re-opened – hurrah!).

Dinner recommendation

Casa Ahuriri. Start with a Hugo or Limoncello or Aperol Spritz and relax into the warm hospitality of Sara and the Casa team. It’s pizza and casual bites upstairs, on the perfect outside deck for lunch to continue all the way along to dinner. Or tuck into the full menu downstairs. Italian by Italians, with all that gorgeous Italian style and zesty spirit, working with the best local produce – combinazione perfetta!

My favourite things on the menu include the whipped cod with squid ink rice crackers and the slow-cooked Matangi short rib tortellacci. Oh and the prawn spaghetti in crayfish stock. And the Diavola pizza. And the Romana with the anchovies. And the fish crudo. Stopping now to go book a table…

Cocktail / drinks recommendation

Mix’d. We were all excited and delighted when the refurb was finished, and this absolute beachfront cocktail bar opened in April. Fresh fit-out, extensive cocktail list, tasty food, and the sense that finally something worthy had arrived in this beautiful Ahuriri beach location. For those who haven’t been, it’s where Hot Chick was in the old days. Gutting for the Mix’d team and the locals, a fire in July closed the place down for repairs for a couple of months, but September rolled around and it’s back and even better. I recommend an end-of-day Martini or Negroni here, and also reckon it’s a great spot to take visitors to the Bay to admire the twinkly water (and cool crowd).

Also, Casa does a daily Happy Hour from 3pm to 6pm; Madame Social is pretty hard to beat on a sunny day; at East Pier the kids can play on the beach while the adults can sit and sip with an eye on them (plus they have Guinness on tap). And then there are the afternoon suntraps of the West Quay strip. We are blessed.

The ideal Ahuriri summer morning

Start early, slightly around the corner from official Ahuriri, with a 6am class at Gypsy Yoga. It’s in the Pacific Surf Club, just on the other side of the port. Let teacher Laura Jeffares guide you through an enriching hour-long reset, then get back on your bike, scooter or waewae express and head back to either port beach, little beach or main Ahuriri beach for a dip. By the time you surface and dry off, you’ve stretched, calmed your vagus nerve, seen the sun come up, had some saltwater therapy, been almost overwhelmed with gratitude, performed a bunch of mermaid flips and probably a handstand or two, and it’s only just coffee time. Coffee and a big or snacky breakfast at Milk & Honey or Ahuriri Street Kitchen or Crazy Good or Smiths or Morena or Adoro or Café Ahuriri or Miss Brown’s or Nosh or Bellatino’s (you’re getting the picture, right?) or, in my case, Uncle. Then home to prepare to take on the day, having just won the morning. 

The ideal Ahuriri summer evening

Go to Vetro (before 5pm). Select cheeses, olives, sourdough, salmon mousse, grissini, wine, Orangina or San Pellagrino, chocolate covered hokey pokey, chocolate covered raspberries, chocolate covered ginger. Take these to the beach with a rug and your favourite person or persons.

OR, if it’s so so hot and sticky – I am writing this before the height of the HB summer, but recalling and wishing for it – head to the Globe Theaterette for air con, pizza, cold white wine and a film.

Complete both of these options with either a quiet nightcap or a loud session of dancing and laughing at any of the spots along West Quay. 

Quiet gem

Beattie & Forbes. Not only is the bookstore also the post office these days, but Beattie & Forbes has a terrific selection of books, and Megan is great for recommendations and book chat. 

Pure fun / entertainment

Little & Fox. I mean, almost all of my picks and favourite bits of Ahuriri are fun and entertaining, because they are about the beach, food, beverages, and the people who create these experiences for us. But if I’m after some fun and entertainment in the form of visual pleasure and inspiration it’s got to be a trip to Little & Fox. The layers of texture, colour and pattern create a maximalist feast for the eyes and whether you’re working on a renovation, tweaking a room, looking for a gift for that very stylish friend, or just wanting to treat yourself, Asha and her team of pros can help you get it right. And if you’re trying to create the perfect summer set-up at home, the outdoor furniture and accessories here are definitely worth checking out. 

What’s on the wish list? What’s missing or needed?

While the earlier answers came easily to mind, I had to pause on this one, because I feel pretty well-served by the neighbourhood. But I guess we could do with more people…. More visitors to the neighbourhood eateries and bars and cafes. More customers at the beautiful retail outlets and service businesses. More cyclists and walkers on the trails and families visiting the beach and Spriggs Park to add to the vibe. So come on over – we’d love to see you! 

Jess Soutar Barron — Hastings CBD
Longtime BayBuzz contributor Jess Soutar Barron works in Napier but lives in Hastings and has been a massive fan and advocate for the city – especially the East Side – since arriving almost 20 years ago.

The ideal summer morning in Hastings

The ideal summer morning in Hastings begins at home…

Then I set off for a walk and arrive at Hastings’ institution Westerman’s to enjoy a cappuccino (cinnamon not chocolate thanks!) in the sunshine. 

There’s nothing faddy or flash-in-the-pan about this iconic tearoom. It’s where you can take your Nan, your teen and your toddler and everyone in between, and still feel 100% at ease. The tearooms have been here since 1911. Nowadays it does excellent cabinet food with a huge range of hot, cold, sweet and savoury, and very reliable coffee. There’s something so satisfying about sliding the tray along the pass and loading that classic white tearoom plate with a mini-potato-top and a custard square. 

From there I enjoy an arts and culture feast for free, from the public art collection (do a self-guided walking tour from the Russell Street Gallery) to the City Art Gallery, from Ngā Pou to Waiaroha. From here to Toitoi, a mooch around this end of town takes all morning and includes sculpture, murals, toi Māori and installation works, as well as interesting architecture spanning a century and some inspiring landscape design.

Before I head off I visit the library. We tend to take civic staples like libraries for granted, but there are riches within these walls, not just books but Scrabble clubs and special interest groups and talks from visiting brainiacs. Libraries are free and librarians are some of the nicest, kindest people I know. Any city you visit anywhere, if you need help or advice, or a map, or a breather, or even just the conveniences, find the library. Same goes for our own city, love your library and centre your city adventuring there.

Brunch then more coffee

If I need brunch – and I will if the night before landed me at 495 eating potato donuts and drinking Mike Henley’s recommendations – I hanker for hangover rice from Rosina. There are plenty of lunch options in Hastings, but for anything before 11 this is the go-to.

My secret coffee spot is too secret to share but I’ll give you a hint: a certain legendary coffee maven has handed on his cafe empire but still roasts his beans behind Warehouse Stationery. Follow your nose and you’ll find it (and tell Chris I said Hi). 

Quiet gems

Hightail it to Little Red Bookshop for some P&Q. The collection is curated by the brainiest, brightest, most brilliant bibliophiles in the ‘Stings. They only have quality reads and it’s all reasonably priced so be warned, your tsundoku problem is about to get a whole lot worse.

Across the road from The Little Shop is The Big Room, which really rounds off Hastings’ arty persona. This is a fun place to hang out and be inspired. If you are buying, there’s a high chance a real-life artist will be on hand to give you a bespoke floor talk.

Pure entertainment and fun of all kinds

My idea of fun isn’t everyone’s. Fun is in the eye of the beholder after all. For me, I get a kick out of watching bakers make croissants at Ya Bon or pizzas at Bambina or focaccia at Sazio. It gives Hastings a tiny echo of some bucolic villagio where everything’s handmade by peasant artisans who learnt their craft at the knee of their Nonna.

Entertainment for me is my weekly Italian class at Decibel where we may or may not finish off whatever’s left from the day’s tastings. 

Word on the street, and I have to take their word for it because I am no runner, is the Lost Puppies Run Club is the latest hip happening everyone’s clambering to join. It’s a ‘fun’ run leaving from Aspyre Gym at 11.45 every Sunday morning and heading up to Havelock and back. I told you one’s fun is another’s faff!

Best place for dinner

New kid on the block, Ari, is the place for dinner right now. With its Lebanese origins and its fresh contemporary edge it’s a delight … every dish, delicious. (Especially the prawn bun!) 

Best sip

The very best cocktails, and most of the elements in them, are made by the alchemists at Hastings Distillers, which is a mash up of a freemasons’ lodge and an apothecary. If it’s hot I sip a Sweet Gala, if it’s blustery then I’m negroni bianco all the way. 

My perfect summer evening

This will evolve from a quiet bevvy with a friend to a pub crawl with half the neighbourhood. 

One thing I love most about living in Hawke’s Bay, and why I’m here and not in my home town of Auckland, is how close everything, and everyone, is. We’ll start in the Atrium outside Brave with a Bottle Rocket, then head to Craft & Social to sit in the Toitoi laneway and sip whatever Martin suggests, then down to Fun Buns for a Fuzzy Navel Teapot, then on to Common Room to enjoy the garden bar, then – if we can still walk – we’ll head to The Olde Saloon to drink Whiskey with DJ Sneaky. Chances are I’ll be at 495 for potato donuts before the night is done. If Mike’s still there I’ll have a night cap.

The things we don’t have

Japanese food. We have the wonderful Tumeke Don, which we stole from Napier a few years ago and I thoroughly recommend. I would also love a yakitori bar, a sushi train, izakaya or omakase or teppanyaki, or somewhere with flights of saki and tasting plates of sashimi.

And what we really, really need are places for creatives to produce work – cheap studio spaces that bring life to empty shops, and support local makers, crafters and artists. 

It’s something Hastings could be known for. Imagine wandering past a place where people are devising a theatre piece, or weaving a kete, or shooting a stop-motion film. If, like me, you like watching dough being worked, think how much you’d enjoy watching glass being blown or pots being thrown, or routines being choreographed. 

We have the suppliers of quality materials (think Humanities) and we have the outlets to sell the wares (Coco and Co) and we have the venues to stage the productions (Toitoi or Theatre HB). 

We’ve tip-toed into this domain before. What it takes is building owners, authorities and regulators, funders, punters, politicians and artists to share the vision, remove the barriers and stick with it.