Step through the front door of Maison Vauron, and it’s as if you’ve stepped through a portal into France.
The sun soaked café counter is replete with cheeses, pastries, preserves and all manner of treats. At the counter, you’ll be greeted in French, a treat for Francophiles and French expats alike, and good luck choosing from a menu on which every item is as lusciously tempting as the last. Of course, a café au lait, pain au raisin and Croque Monsieur (or madame!) is always a great choice to make you feel as if you’re in a café on the streets of Paris.
At the cheese counter, you can revel in the cheese-enthusiast heaven that is the café’s L’atelier du fromage – a deli home to many sought-after cheeses that you probably won’t find anywhere else in New Zealand: Le Campagnier, Epoisses from Berthaud and the decadent Brie a la Truffe from the wonderful Madame Rouzaire If you’re looking to put together a truly impressive cheeseboard, this is the place to come.
And it just keeps getting better—upstairs you’ll find a veritable maze of a wine cellar. On wooden shelves, with tasting tables in between, you’ll find wines, apéritifs, digestifs, ciders and even beers from all over France. Their selection is so hallowed that many of Auckland’s restaurants buy their vino from this very cellar. Of course, Maison Vauron also does tasting nights, where you can sip wine from a chosen region and be regaled with tales, and tasting notes of the wine – always by French wine experts and sometimes by the winemaker themselves.
Just when they couldn’t get any more French, they are doing a newsletter following the Tour de France (sign up on their website!). This gem of an Auckland café is French down to its very soul, so if you’re craving a trip to Burgundy, Paris, or Cannes, you needn’t go further than Newmarket.
mvauron.co.nz
5 McColl St, Newmarket
