Restaurant Review: Alimento

On the menu: Cabinets bulging with all sorts of rustic tarts, gourmet pies and quiches, fresh salads, salmon hash cakes, risotto cakes, wraps and filled breads, scones and muffins; a sweet table that will have you wanting one of everything; and a new blackboard brunch menu that covers all the basics, but not as you know them.
Sure there's French toast, but Alimento's version uses cinnamon-sprinkled brioche, and along with the grilled banana and streaky bacon, there's maple syrup and homemade berry and rhubarb compote.
There are also French toast fingers - chocolate-filled homemade bread served with lemon curd and wildberry sauce ($12.50).
And yes, there are pancakes but they're oatcakes and they come with mixed berry compote, syrup and mascarpone.
The Thai plum chutney which comes with the corn fritters is their own and the tomatoes haven't just been sizzled in a pan, but roasted with pesto.
I'll have: A salad, but which one?
The pork, fennel, and nectarine looks tempting, but so does the chicken and lentil.
I go with the chicken, which with the addition of roasted red pepper and raisins, plus the kick of chilli melded with a subtle cream cheese and white wine dressing, is incredibly moreish.
He'll have: The brunch wrap, a delicious mix of scrambled free-range eggs, spinach, ham and cheese, served in a warm spinach tortilla, is set off to perfection with a big dollop of spicy beetroot and horopito relish (like the other condiments and jams served here, it's also for sale to take home).
Let's share: More indecision.
It's a toss up between the apple strudel (served with icecream), the chocolate truffle cake, or the lemon tart.
The citrus gets the thumbs up. Actually, no, it gets two thumbs up.
The dense, eggy filling is exactly as it should be tangy, ultra lemony, fight-over-able.
For the adventurous: The avocado, rockmelon and smoked salmon stack ($12.50) that comes drizzled with avocado oil and lemon juice sounds divine.
Value for money: Given the quality of the ingredients and the dedication of owners, Janet and Ian Walker and daughter Carly Ward, to provide food that's a cut above, pretty much anything here is a good deal.
If you're looking for an unfussy breakfast before work, try the toast - you get three slices of your choice of either chunky five-grain, thick fruit, or white with conserve (options include raspberry and vanilla and peach), marmalade, honey or Marmite for $6.
For lunch, the savoury scone scroll (stromboli, $4.50) with a glass of white would do me nicely.
Bigger eaters might like the smoked chicken, sundried tomato and potato rosti, served with garlicky aioli and a green salad ($9.50).
The coffee is: From Wellington roasters Supreme.
Give that barista a gold star - the latte is perfect, ditto the flat white, which I go back for the next day.
To drink: Alimento is licensed and has a small, but perfectly formed wine list.
My pick would be a glass of that Mills Reef Gimblet Gravels merlot malbec ($8).
The staff were: Great. Attentive but not overly so, calm under pressure .
The buzz: It's Sunday so there's some live entertainment courtesy of young guitarist Abbie Smith, and a casual, laid-back but busy vibe.
On a sunny day there's nothing for it but to settle in for the morning at one of the outside tables. Customers today include couples, families, cyclists and singles.
The verdict: This lot know the meaning of added value.
Alimento does what the best cafes in Wellington do; they know their food, they know their coffee and they do both extremely well.
Where: 72 First Avenue, Tauranga
Phone: 579 5990
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-4pm; Sat, Sun and public holidays 8am-4pm
Price range: Depends on what you're after. You can have a melting moment for $2.50, a bagel from $6.50 or the works (The Grill) for $17.50