Peter and Sarah Wren from Bambina cafe open their home to Viva. Picture / Babiche Martens.
Meet a couple who epitomise the term "local", walking between their home and work, a cafe they set up almost two decades ago. It was 1996 when Sarah and Peter Wren decided to open Bambina cafe on Ponsonby Rd as a way to combine their love of good food with their deep affection for their neighbourhood.
Back then, Ponsonby wasn't as flooded with cafes and restaurants as it is now and it could have been seen as a brave or stupid decision to give up their reliable jobs to start their own venture, but they vow they've never second-guessed the move.
Today they feel lucky to live with their two daughters, Harri, 15, and Beanie, 9, in a stylishly renovated villa a mere stone's throw from their cafe.
I catch up with the couple at home before Sarah and I take the short walk to Bambina to talk food, design and how to exude an air of relaxed sophistication.
The design of your home has the same "feel" as Bambina - light, airy, stylish yet relaxed. How much have you changed the house since buying it?
We didn't renovate at all, just added some touches. We were interested in this site a few years back when it went on the market as a very original and basic sort of villa. A developer beat us to it and we're pleased he did. He has planned the space and the use of all this wonderful light and sun beautifully. We stayed in touch with him and though he did insist on going to the market, we became the successful new owners not long ago. This home is a suntrap and a fun, safe and happy haven for our family. We're very lucky.
What are your favourite objects at home?
Our Eric Bonnin dinner plates. Bonnin is a ceramicist based in Tribeca, New York. He also made my bird on the coffee table.
Our art is a favourite, for example my snapper painting by Joanna Braithwaite. Pete commissioned Joanna to do this for my 40th birthday. She is an absolute favourite artist. I love her painterly, textured, delicious style. I could go on...
The Bill Hammond working sketch was another present from Pete. This happily has a coffee stain on it. How perfect for a lover of coffee.
Above the sofa is a J.S. Parker painting. This was a joint purchase and is a joint love. The layers of colour constantly change with the light and weather - wow.
The Yellow Tolix table, from Madder and Rouge, was love at first sight. I enjoy it when just putting things together that you love works.
Interior of Sarah and Peter Wren's home.
Pictures / Babiche Martens.
What advice do you have for others with regards to collecting and arranging objects and art for their home?
They don't need to match or fit a theme - just let them happily mix and mingle.
You really do epitomise the "live local" label, with Bambina and your home just a few minutes' walk from each other. What's on your list for the best haunts in Ponsonby right now?
• Everyday Needs, our wonderful neighbour, for inspiration, treats for our home and special pressies.
• Douglas and Bec. More inspiration and home treats.
• Workshop's Ponsonby store is great for T-shirts for Pete and Isabel Marant for me.
• D&M Hair Design.
• Orphans Kitchen for dinner.
Describe the concept behind Bambina and why you think it continues to be so
successful in a crowded and competitive market.
Pete and I have never really had a huge, ambitious plan other than to share our love for good food and coffee with our neighbourhood, really. In fact, I was eight months pregnant with our first daughter when we moved Bambina from its original, tiny premises next door (now Allpress) to the bigger current space.
You could say it was a bit chaotic but we took it in our stride. Harri spent much of that first year sleeping under the big table while Pete and I ran the cafe. But it felt very natural to us.
Pete has a background as a chef and has also worked in customer service training - a fine combination for our business - and I was working in marketing, advertising, publishing, food writing and styling.
When we met, Pete was head chef at Dr Duddings near the beach in Takapuna in the 80s - quite the place in its day - and I was the young waitress, all of 17 years old. We share a huge love for food, and for people enjoying food, so eventually setting up our own cafe was a good choice for us.
Bambina cafe; Interior of Sarah and Peter Wren's home.
Pictures / Babiche Martens.
What sets Bambina apart from other cafes?
When we started out there was obviously not nearly the competition there is now but we always wanted to offer a place that felt casual yet refined and uncluttered, somewhere that was like a sanctuary away from your own home but where you felt connected to your community.
How did you achieve that vision in the design?
We were one of, if not the first, to introduce a communal table. The one we have in Bambina Ponsonby is massive and it takes up a significant amount of the room in the cafe, but we don't consider the excessive table top area wasted as it provides a certain restful aesthetic.
What other features in Bambina are you most proud of?
Our maple ply wall. The brief to our architect, Geoff Richards, was to make it timeless and this is proof that the brief was well and truly met - the wall has been there since the beginning. Thanks Geoff.
More recently, we installed new lighting over the big table. They are Caravaggio P by designer Cecilie Manz.
And we love our new sign. It's hardly surprising that after so many wonderful years our Bambina logo needed a refresh, and designer Phil Marquet gave us just what we dreamed of.
The menu at Bambina is quite sophisticated for a daytime cafe. Who is responsible for its evolution?
Pete and I both develop all the food at Bambina. Lunch is my favourite meal of the day and it's certainly proving to be the new brunch.
We're very fortunate that we both have the skills to develop new dishes and we work well together in the kitchen. Even more fortunate is that the work takes place mostly in the home kitchen. It is just a very normal part of our lives to develop and test as we go about eating our way through the week of dinners.
Sarah and Peter Wren at Bambina cafe.
Picture / Babiche Martens.
Where does the inspiration come from?
We love to go to Sydney. It has such a vibrant cafe culture and they take lunchtime dining seriously. We always leave with fresh ideas.
One of our favourite spots there is Cho Cho San in Potts Point for Japanese-influenced food with that wonderful modern crisp and bright Australian way. Fratelli Paradiso, also in Potts Point, is another. It's a very dark, handsome, Italian experience and good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
We've just returned from Hawaii and that was a real treat. For the best food we discovered, take a 10-minute taxi ride from Waikiki to the old Honolulu area Kaimuki. There you'll find Town restaurant. The menu changes daily based on the availability of local and mostly organic ingredients. They say, "Local first, organic whenever possible, with aloha always." Now that is gorgeous. It was super casual but sophisticated and experienced at the same time.
Describe the typical Bambina customer.
Open, adventurous, sophisticated.
We have such loyal customers, many of who come in every day. We started with a vision for Bambina becoming a "community" and it has. So much so that regulars have "their own table" and we sometimes have a quiet chuckle when newcomers to Bambina unwittingly crash the party and sit where they please, not knowing that's where "Frank" usually sits. But of course it's all very relaxed and friendly, and nobody minds, but it shows just how much Bambina is an important part of the fabric of someone's day.
- VIVA
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