Actress, writer and filmmaker Ana Chaya Scotney. Photo / Nicola Sandford
In this Herald on Sunday series, we ask well-known Aucklanders for their favourite spots in the city. This week, actor, writer and filmmaker Ana Chaya Scotney takes us on a tour of her top places.
Favourite beach?
My home beach, Hamilton Beach Reserve. It’s seven minutes walk from my house and I love that it is tucked away from the street, beneath pōhutukawa trees protruding out over the water. Swimming down here on a calm night at high tide is magical and super lush.
Brunch spot?
Seabreeze Cafe in Westmere. I am known to The Girlz who work there as “Diva Diva”, lol. [This is the name they gave me on my tab last week!] The food is amazing, it’s close to the moana, and it feels like a true neighbourhood cafe, catering for dog walking whānau, joggers, tradies, grandparents having hot chocolates with their grandkids. They also have up to date editions of The New Yorker and they make a killer green juice: a treat to indulge in both, before ripping into mahi for the day!
Best restaurant for dinner with friends?
Pici in St Kevin’s Arcade was a spot where my best friend Timmie and I went twice in a week, the first to celebrate my birthday, and then again, just because we’d loved it so much, when she was home from Sydney and in Auckland for Laneway recently. The pasta is so mean, the ambience is stunning, and the crew who work here are lovely.
I also love Kiss Kiss in Balmoral before a film at The Capitol.
Special shoutout to The Frog on K Road, not so much for dinner, but for a gorgeous chilled red, and some beautiful rosemary roast spuds to snack on with mates, whilst we kiki about the world at large, and the happenings in our lives and times.
The place to take a visitor to?
Rangitoto island.
Such a special and radiantly beautiful landform; holding its own so majestically beside the Sky Tower, in its chill and stoic way. To me, Rangitoto is the geographical heart of the city, and feels quintessential to the volcanic and oceanic features that make Tāmaki special, and unique.
In how many cities in the world, can you have a prosecco on a ferry ride to a geologically young volcanic island in the middle of an isthmus, sat right in the middle of the city, ascend that volcano through native bush, appreciate the mean urban views and a change of pace for an afternoon, only to be back in the middle of the city, for a show or a dinner, that very evening?
Pretty spesh.
Best spot to finish a night out?
Goblin, especially if mates are DJing.
Best coffee?
My favourite places to caffeinate are Handpicked Coffee in Mount Albert because they do the most exquisite coffee art on the tops of their flat whites. I’ve had a seahorse, a unicorn, a bunny rabbit.
Closer to my home turf, I love Bambina on Ponsonby Road, where I had a birthday mimosa and a strawberry lamington with my home girl Anneke visiting from Pōneke, and I love Ozone for a focused work session and reliably incredible coffee, whilst I work away on laptop-based admin.
Favourite fish-and-chip shop?
Toby’s seafood if I’m out west, FishSmith chippie on Jervois Road, for a bougie fish and chip moment! Being my local and next door to The Elbow Room, my local watering hole, I enjoy their fish of the day and a couple of deep fried scallops, super yum!
Hiking trail?
Being a Tūhoe uri, I try and get out of Auckland and into the hills at home in Te Urewera for a big hīkoi, or to my Pākehā family’s place down in Wānaka, to be in Ka Tiritiri o te Moana, or to the West Mātukituki valley, to really go for a mish.
As far as central Auckland hīkoi go, I love cruising along the Westmere coastal walk, after my coffee and kai at Seabreeze, to catch up with homies and tell secrets! Once I saw a flounder whilst on the boardwalk through the mangroves with my friend Nikolai.
Venue for a gig?
Q Theatre, and specifically Rangatira, as an auditorium. This is where I recently watched Oli Mathiesen’s dance masterpiece The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave, and honestly I’m still thinking about it.
Rangatira is where I saw Shane Bosher’s versions of Angels in America, both part’s one and two. I flew up to Auckland to watch these works when I was still a student in Wellington. It’s where I did my first collaboration with Silo Theatre, in Mr Burns. Rangatira is a very versatile performance space with a really high stud, so everything feels epic, and it asks a lot of the actors / performers, to fill.
Best spot for a bargain?
The Elbow Room on Jervois Road. They do $10 pours of Peroni on Sundays and Mondays.
Or Freida Margolis, which is like my second home, at the moment.
There’s always a yummy chilled red for a mellow price point, and the gang who work at Freida’s are angels, and make everyone feel relaxed and welcome.
Ana Chaya Scotney performs in Silo Theatre’s Playfight on 14-30 May at Silo Hall, 3 East Street. Book at silotheatre.co.nz.