A little goes a long way (+recipe)

Alia de Jaltasyrras, owner of The Little Grocer in Grey Lynn. Photo / Doug Sherring

Strictly speaking, it's not a grocery at all. That word, after all, applies to a merchant who sells in bulk (it's related to "gross" which means 12 dozen; ask your grandparents). But if you call yourself The Little Grocer you are allowed to do things on a small scale.

On a busy corner halfway between Harvest Wholefoods and a Woolworths supermarket, in premises once occupied by a corner dairy, The Little Grocer occupies a gastronomic ground somewhere between those two extremes as well.

It specialises in delicious foods to go - everything from salads and pastas to brownies and brioche (this last is a specialty of the house).

But owner-operator Alia de Jaltasyrras decided that "grocer" was better than "deli" as a name for her boutique food market which has become a little hit in its Grey Lynn neighbourhood.

"I wanted it to be more than a deli," she said. "I wanted it to be a local corner store where you can buy tomatoes and bread and eggs and milk and cheese.

"But all that stuff, if it doesn't move we can put it through the kitchen."

Thus dishes made fresh each day will be packaged up as frozen takeaway meals.

But the place also caters to home cooks: small pottles of ingredients that some might find intimidatingly exotic are on sale for just a few dollars: quinoa, polenta, couscous, juniper berries.

"It's small enough and cheap enough for somebody to flick four dollars and try something new."

The philosophy of the shop, which opened in January, is perfectly in tune with the times, as an increasing number of consumers turn away from the supermarkets' economies of scale, which have a profound hidden environmental cost. Shopping locally is becoming more than just a convenience: it's a political statement.

De Jaltasyrras (her name reflects a Mediterranean parentage but she's Kiwi-born and bred) started in the food business as a waitress and managed Fusion Cafe in Herne Bay before striking out for a tour of duty in Los Angeles.

There she did a spell in Greenblatt's Deli on Sunset Boulevard, where "you order the meat in your sandwiches by the pound but where the food is so fresh and tasty".

Back home, she did six years of "dressing rooms", preparing food for touring rock bands and other entertainers.

"You name them," she says. "Anyone who came through between 2000 and 2006. It was a strange and diabolical life."

The Little Grocer also offers weeknight take-home meals for between $14 and $22: the menu changes monthly according to what's in season and there's only one choice each night - stuffed chicken breast, lamb curry and lemon fishcakes are on the November menu, De Jaltasyrras says they are popular with busy locals "although with daylight saving people don't think they're hungry until we are closed".

Pomegranate carrots

These sweet carrots have quickly become famous among The Little Grocer's customers

1kg carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm discs
2 oranges, zested and juiced
2 tbsp Carotino cooking oil or rice bran oil
6 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Preheat oven to 200C. Toss the carrots in the oil, juice and 3 tbsp of the molasses.

Roast for 15 minutes or until the carrots just begin to blacken on the edges.

Remove from oven, pour the remaining molasses over hot carrots and garnish with orange zest.

Can be served hot or cold. Any citrus can be used in this recipe, so if you'd like a tangier dish use lemons or limes.

Optional garnish: finely chopped kaffir lime leaves.

* The Little Grocer, 311 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn