FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #18

ALEX - I'm on a little bit of a health kick at the moment (well, I'm trying to be) so decided to try out a place I had heard a lot about - Little Bird Unbakery on Summer Street in Ponsonby. Being a big fan of Korean, I went with the Kimchi pancake made with a chickpea batter, topped with watercress and radish salad. Everything is made from raw organic ingredients and what I had tasted amazing. So much so that I walked out with one of their chocolate brownies… delicious and with no guilty aftertaste.

  
CHIN - Spent the weekend painting. After hours of sanding, masking taping, accidentally stabbing my face with a pair of needle-nose pliers while trying to open the damn paint can, dripping paint on EVERYTHING and painting, I've finally finished (well, two coats anyway) now that I've spent an eternity washing paintbrushes. Got bright white walls now and it was strangely therapeutic.

  
DANNY - This hat. I'd been wanting a cappello romano forever and had this rabbit fur felt one made by Irons Kingan Hats (stocked at Wunderkammer) earlier this year. Now that we've hit full on winter weather I've finally been able to pull it out this week and wear it.

  
MINO - I love discovering new websites and although I've been tuning into this one for awhile now, I thought it was worth a mention. Focusing on just menswear (and not the boring variety), I love checking out the editorials and coverage of international shows. Make sure you check it out: http://fuckingyoung.es

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #17

ALEX - Last night we went to a potluck dinner where each of the guests was allocated a main or dessert and also allocated a flavour to incorporate into their dishes (lemon, honey, chilli, walnut or ricotta). I got the combo of dessert and walnut with no idea of what I could make. I had to google "walnut desserts" and ended up opting for afghan biscuits which at least have a walnut on top, which I placed on top of a chocolate mousse (which I had to make 3 times due to certain mishaps). I then decorated it the best I could to disguise the fact that my creation was much more chocolate than it was walnut. This is what it looked like.

  
CHIN - This week we did a hugely fun little shoot of one of our favourite NZ labels for our friends at Remix magazine. Here's just a tiny BTS snap. Can't wait to share the final results with you soon.

  
DANNY - This is a totally domesticated post as I also made a chocolate dessert this week, though I made no attempt to disguise the fact that the recipe called for over 1.1kg of chocolate. It's the Eight-Textured Chocolate Cake out of the cookbook from Sydney restaurant, Quay. It's literally eight separate recipes all put together in one cake. Texture one. Chocolate cake base. Texture two. Chocolate mousse. Texture three. Caramel, vanilla and chocolate ganache. Texture four. Chocolate and hazelnut dacquoise. Texture five. Milk chocolate praline discs. Texture six. Chocolate caramel cream. Texture seven. A dark chocolate top disc. Texture eight. Hot chocolate sauce to melt through the whole thing. Of course, as soon as I started on texture one I remembered that I'm really good at screwing up melting chocolate every single time. Surprisingly I didn't, until the last component, hot chocolate sauce, which I managed to completely write off three times despite it only having two ingredients and a four-sentence long recipe. Anyway, it worked out in the end and it was pretty awesome as you'd expect with that much chocolate in it.

  
MINO - The best kinds of invitations are the ones you can eat or drink so we were super happy to receive a bottle of Absolut Mango Vodka with a real life mango and an invite to the NZ launch. Needless to say, we cracked into it this weekend and it was goooood - the taste of a tropical summer that hopefully isn't too far away!

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #16

ALEX - Auckland seems to have a new eatery sprouting up every 5 minutes which is great for us as one of our favourite pastimes is to eat our way around the city. This week, I have been house/cat-sitting a house in Ponsonby and during a walk on Saturday morning, we came across Dear Jervois cafe. It was pretty busy but we thought we would try our luck at getting a seat. I had a the eggs benedict (which wasn't your average eggs bene). It came with bacon, spinach and hash brown and it was really good. Mino has the Soba Noodle salad (which seems to now feature on a few menus around town) and it was also really delicious. They also have Best Ugly Bagels and Six Barrel Soda on the menu so that's an added bonus.

  
CHIN - The four of us played Mahjong yesterday. While we can all now play the game, knowing how to properly score is still something else.

  
DANNY - Still on the same Memphis buzz as Chin, these Memphis Group x Adidas ZX 9000's are on my wish list. Available here.

Photo taken from UBIQ

  
MINO - Kate Sylvester knows how to throw a party and on Friday night, we had the pleasure of attending the 21st birthday bash of one of New Zealand's most iconic and successful fashion brands, complete with a delectable feast including a whole pig that looked like it had just come of the spit, flowing champagne, a burlesque dancer that emerged from a cake and of course a loyal crowd of support that was there to celebrate Kate and Wayne's 21 years in what is a very difficult and fickle industry. Congratulations Kate and Wayne! We look forward to the next 21 years of amazing creativity.

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #15

ALEX - I spent the last week on a work trip in Seeheim, a small German town on the outskirts of Frankfurt with an awesome group of people from around the globe - London, Beirut, Tunis, Shanghai, Ghana, Vienna, New York, Indonesia and Washington. It was so interesting to me how we all interpreted and approached the issues we were talking about totally differently and to again realize how important understanding someone's cultural background is when dealing with different situations. Moral of the story? We all have room to be a little bit more understanding.
P.S. Why does NZ have to be so far away from Europe?!

  
CHIN - I baked these earlier this week. It's a pretty big deal because the last time I made biscuits was when i was 8 or 9. I used full fat butter, full fat sugar and full fat chocolate. Even though I accidently used baking powder instead of baking soda (an amateur mistake, I know), the result was a perfectly delicious cookie that was chewy and chocolatey.

  
DANNY - We went to The Capital this week, a pop-up city showcasing the best of Wellington. Highlights included catching up with our favourite Six Barrel Soda, super gimlets courtesy of Hawthorn Lounge featuring local Lighthouse gin, awesome burgers by Grill Meats Beer and Wellington Chocolate Factory's delicious and beautifully packaged chocolate. Also, bonus points for a pretty, pop-up invitation.

  
MINO - Continuing with theme of the menswear shows in Europe, here are a couple of other looks that I love, the first from Dolce & Gabanna, inspired by Spanish flamenco dancer's polka dots and the second by Carven, which I love the boldness and simplicity of.

Photos via Style.com

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #14

ALEX - I'm currently in Venice and all I can say is WOW! It is stunning! I spent the day wandering through the canals, climbing a million bridges, catching the Vaporetti (water buses) around the island and sitting and enjoying not having to do anything but soak in the sun and everything around me with a Spritz Veneziano in my hand. And I get to do it all over again tomorrow! P.S. Sorry about the phone pic - I forgot to bring the camera cord with me!

  
CHIN - I managed to find time this week to pop into Ciel PR's showroom. I saw this and pretty much forgot to look at everything else. The Panopticon bucket bag by Blue Blank features chunky tassels and a sunburst eye design. Everything looks better with sunbursts right? It's available at Children of Vision in Auckland, The Service Depot in Wellington and Company Store in Dunedin.

  
DANNY - My mum's in the process of a huge garage clean out and yesterday I got an ultimatum to pick up all the toys I'd almost forgotten about before they got dumped. So I did. Now my hallway is looking pretty awesome and I get to put off being a grown up for even longer. Plus it's a rainy day today so playtime!

  
MINO - With the Spring 2015 menswear shows currently happening in Europe at the moment, I have been excitedly scrolling through the latest collections on style.com and a standout for me so far was the collection by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. Here are some photos (via …..) of some of my favourite looks.

image via Fucking Young!

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #13

ALEX - So this week I have been on a bit of a health kick (and I thought I better post about it as it usually only lasts about a week!) Whenever this happens, I start looking for new gym gear which in my opinion always makes the gym a bit more interesting. I found these awesome shoes on www.theiconic.co.nz. I quite like these too.

  
CHIN - So I watched another Eighties movie this week. This time it was Ruthless People, starring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito. The highlight for me was this insane Memphis style set.

  
DANNY - I often go through really bad spells of not reading anything. To shake myself out of it I recently rediscovered the library and I've been working my way through a heap of books over the last couple of months. The last one was a biography of Cleopatra which was pretty insane. Up now is The Disaster Artist, chronicling Greg Sestero's experience filming cult movie, The Room. If you've seen The Room, often described as the worst movie ever made, you'll understand the potential for hilarity in this 'making of'. It's more of an insight into the mind of The Room's producer/director/writer/star Tommy Wiseau than anything else, so essentially reads as a surrealist comedy. If you haven't seen The Room, it occasionally screens at smaller places like The Academy. It's worth going to see it at the movies to really get into the atmosphere - plus you're usually given free plastic spoons which will make sense at the time.

  
MINO - This week I received these awesome House of Holland sunnies. Yes, it is Winter but how good is the sunny weather we have been having so far in Auckland this Winter (apart from that full on storm we had at the beginning of the week this is…that was crazy…) These are pretty cool too.

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #12

ALEX - A couple of weeks ago were were invited to pick a pair of sunnies from the range at clearly.co.nz. Here are our picks:
Mino: Ray-Ban Aviators
Alex: Ray-Ban Clubmaster
Chin: Alexander McQueen
Danny: Ray-Ban Clubmaster

  
CHIN - I've been on a big Eighties movies binge lately. This week's was the classic Working Girl starring Melanie Griffith who everyone had completely forgotten about... until the day after I watched it when her divorce from Antonio Banderas was everywhere (weird how this always happens, huh?). Here I celebrate her big achievement and by achievement I mean hair. Also, if you're ever stuck for ideas for make-up, let this movie be your guide.

  
DANNY - I can pretty much eat Malaysian food all day errday so I get pretty excited to discover new restaurants in my neighbourhood. Uncle Man's opened a little while ago on K Road and I checked it out yesterday. And again this morning. You should go try it out. The ambiance is authentically non-existent and the food is ace. And super cheap. Don't be put off by the weird European section on the menu, just pretend it's not there and head straight for the good stuff. The nasi lemak is pretty awesome, as is the mee goreng and roti canai (the roti is hand-made on site and super-fluffy, not the frozen stuff you get at some other places).

  
MINO - Every so often I get obsessed about a TV show and at the moment it's The Face Australia. It's awesome. I can't get enough of it and by it, I mean Naomi Campbell - direct, ruthless, strong, hilarious and in my opinion, fair. It's a must-watch! Wednesdays, 7.30 on FOUR.

P.S. We snapped one of the contestants Melise back in 2012 - click here to see the post.

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #11

ALEX - I had been meaning to try out RAD in Mt Eden Village for awhile as it's pretty close to home so checked it out yesterday with Mino and everything about it was good!! As soon as we walked in, we left suburbia and entered a bustling cafe with menu options that had us confused about what to order (because everything sounded great!). We are self-confessed over-orderers and between the two of us, we had the garlic prawn and mild chorizo on lemon linguine, the Vietnamese inspired beef lemon grass on vermicelli noodles, Grandma’s Pork Bánh mì, The Tang Tang juice and a coffee - all quite different dishes but all so great, I couldn't pick a fave. The service was great, the interior interesting and I will go there again with 100% certainty.

  
CHIN - Earlier this week, I watched the video of Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. A segment inspired by the movie Dick Tracy happened and it made me want a yellow trench coat. A butter yellow, double-breasted trench coat to be exact. I've searched the whole internet but can't seem to find one. But I did find this promo photo for the movie and the original one worn by Warren Beatty. I guess I'd find a flimsy version at a costume hire place or something but that's not what I'm after.

  
DANNY - I've had a sale alert on these for the past ever and yesterday a buzz came through on my phone. The Saks Fifth Ave sale is on. They're 30% off. They're still a whole giant load of money. Money which I don't really have because I'm supposed to be saving for a possible trip later this year. Plus you know, bills and stuff. But I really love them. Should I just get them? I'm leaning towards a rational, money-wise 'no', but I could be swayed.

  
MINO - While I was in Sydney a couple of months ago I discovered Ciroc Coconut Vodka on the rocks with lime. While this might be old news for some, it was good news for me - delicious! The only thing is, I don't know where to get it in NZ so when this bottle runs dry, I will have a good reason for a trip to Sydney.

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #10

ALEX - This week, we each ordered a pair of sunglasses from www.clearly.co.nz and it couldn't have been easier. They have a great selection, a very user-friendly website and I can't wait to see my purchase. More on this later.


CHIN - I'm thankful for the cooler weather. It's allowed me to look in that section of my wardrobe I've ignored for too long. Knitted from an Eighties Vogue knitting pattern, I rediscovered this gem of a woollen jumper given to me a couple of years ago by a friend.

DANNY - My workplace currently has this 20 kilo wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano sitting in the fridge. Just because my work decided that a 20 kilo wheel of cheese was a very good thing to have. You know, for just in case. I think the pit we've made in it so far is adequate evidence of a good week.

  
MINO - 3-day weekends are the best. I had the perfect end to the week in Matarangi in the Coromandel with 11 of my closest friends. We ate (a lot), drank (a lot), laughed (a lot), played board games (it got pretty competitive -you know who you are…), and just walked along the beach enjoying the fresh air and good company. Does it really have to be Monday tomorrow?

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #9

ALEX - On Monday night (yes, Monday!), we found ourselves at Sky City celebrating the fabulous Colin Mathura-Jeffree's 42nd birthday. Colin always manages to throw a great party and the theme of this one was James Bond and guests were asked to "dress to thrill" which most did, including one guy in a full wetsuit! Thanks Colin for the amazing night and for making 42 look so good.

Image by Norrie Montgomery
  

CHIN - One of the highlights for me this week was high tea at The Langham. I recommend the Silk Road Blend tea with it.

  
DANNY - Meet the newest addition to my household. It’s a robot vacuum cleaner. Indulgent right? It was actually a many times combined birthdays/Christmas gift from family, but I still feel a slight twinge of guilt at owning one.  I feel like future historians will either look upon these kinds of things as the pioneering first steps towards a brilliant future or the thin end of the wedge of decadence that brought about the end of our society. I’m hoping for the former, because it’s pretty awesome. We’ve named her Lupe in honour of Lucille’s downtrodden housekeeper in Arrested Development.

  
MINO - This week (Friday) was my birthday and while some people don't like the celebrations that come with a birthday, I make my birthday more like a birthday week! On Friday, I had the pleasure of dining at The French Cafe which I have heard so much about but until now had never tried…it was one of the best meals of my life! We had the tasting menu; a 9-course meal with matching wines that took almost 4 hours to complete - 4 very enjoyable hours! I enjoyed every single mouthful but a couple of highlights were the roasted quail with wild mushrooms, chestnut, bacon, croissant and truffle butter and also the Buttermilk Granita with feijoa, apple cream, blueberries, elderflower and meringue. The service was perfect and the food was to die for. Can't wait for my next visit!

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #8

ALEX - Happy Mother's Day all you mothers out there! My mum is not a big fan of days that make you celebrate certain things but Mother's Day is one that my sister and I always make sure we celebrate with her because she more than deserves the recognition to have put up with the two of us for so long. This morning we checked out Villa Maria Vineyard (close to Auckland airport) and it was good.

P.S. If you are ever stuck for a gift for your mum, Country Road always seems to be a hit.

  
CHIN - I found these Raf Simons for Adidas sneakers on the internet and am pretty sure they will make me walk faster. Available here.

Image taken from SSENSE

  
DANNY - The Caker aka Jordan Rondel officially opens her new space tomorrow and we popped along to the launch event on Friday to sample some of her most excellent baked goodness. The space on K Rd will serve both as kitchen and be open by appointment for private parties/high teas etc.

  
MINO - Stores dedicated to luxury brands in Auckland are few and far between so when Coach opened on Queen Street last year, it was a welcome addition to a street that is not usually high on my list of destinations. We had the pleasure of being invited to the store again this week to take a look at the new collection. I quite liked this clutch in this beautiful soft pink. Mmmm, decisions!

P.S. I miss you mum!

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #7

Last week, FOUREYES TURNED 3 YEARS OLD! We've all been so busy that we only realised this yesterday! We made a pact early on that we would celebrate these small achievements and although it's late, we will still be celebrating! We can't remember a time when we were not snapping street style, but the last 3 years has flown by and we just wanted to write a quick note this week to thank all of you for your support, encouragement and of course for letting us photograph you! The last 3 years has been an adventure, full of projects that we never dreamed would be possible (our book) and we are super excited for what the future will bring. Thanks again to everyone for being part of this journey!

ALEX - It's always exciting to find our work in different publications so when a friend texted me to tell me our work was in the latest M2 magazine, we had to check it out.

We also chatted to viva.co.nz about our favourite places to visit on weekends in Auckland - check it out here.

  
CHIN - I finally got to visit Federal Delicatessen, aka The Fed. I haven't been to an actual New York City deli but I imagine it to be just like this. I tried their chicken salad sandwich, pastrami hash and poutine - all perfectly delicious. The creaming soda by Six Barrel Soda washed it all down nicely too. I left MORE than satisfied. Next time I'm trying this:

  
DANNY - This weekend we all checked out Semi-Permanent and left feeling creatively recharged. It's nice to hear speakers from such a broad range of creative fields and the stand outs for me weren't necessarily the ones I had expected to appreciate the most as a graphic designer. Creative Director of AQKA, Ian Wharton opened the event with a great talk on youthful thinking that provided the creative kick up the arse I'd expected. But Nat Cheshire's enthralling talk on building the future of Auckland was perhaps even more thought-provoking. Without doubt the heaviest talk of the two days, that by photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson, was also the one that resonated with me the most. It's so easy to become dulled by the constant exposure we have to news and imagery of war that the world is in a perpetual state of. There's nothing like hearing the human stories behind his images of violence, horror and grief to make you question your own priorities and values, and the meaning or pointlessness of your own work.

  
MINO - In the last couple of months I have found myself drawn to the kimono silhouette and I found the perfect trans-seasonal jacket by Helmut Lang that I just had to have. The love simplicity of it and the leather detailing at the back. Available at Zambesi.

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #6

ALEX - About this time last year, the four of us were all here. If I can't be there this year, can I at least have these? That's all.

CHIN - These Officine 904 bow ties arrived for us from the good people of Issimo in Christchurch earlier this week. I knew immediately they'd make a pretty photograph. They are little, leather, Italian, unisex and remind me of farfalle.

  
DANNY - New New Zealand gin company Rogue Society sent us a bottle to try which inspired us to try and recreate the gin, sake and orange martini from Masu, another of this week's highlights. Maybe not quite the same, but I was pretty damn impressed with my mixing skills. At least enough to neatly arrange all of the components for this photo. You should try them. Two parts gin, one part sake, splash of Cointreau, stirred with ice, strained, orange peel garnish.

  
MINO - A group of us went to Masu Japanese restaurant on Friday and it was good! I am a big fan of Japanese cuisine and this place was no exception. Highlights on the menu for me included a selection of generously portioned and super fresh selection of sashimi, the spicy Tuna Maki roll, a melt-in-your-mouth black Wagyu beef sirloin (that I think I could probably eat everyday of my life) and black cod dish. The service was also awesome. I was too busy eating to take a photo for you but this place is worth a try!

FOUREYES ON THIS WEEK #5

ALEX - What better activity on a rainy Easter Sunday than explore a newish cafe in an area that you don't normally frequent? This morning Mino and I checked out L'Oeuf cafe in Mt Albert and it was definitely something a little different (in a good way!). With names like "The Architect", "The Queen", "The Cambodian"and "The Peasant", the menu was a really interesting read and it made it almost impossible to choose what to have. We opted for "The Nest" (pictured below), sunflower seed crumbed soft-boiled eggs in a pastry nest with beetroot ketchup and rocket salad, "The Geisha", a soba noodle dish with sesame dressing which was so good, a couple of coffees and an orange and mango lassi. Everything was so tasty that we got greedy and ordered a Banh Mi, a chicken filled roll which was equally as good! Switch up your usual eggs benedict and try something new at L'oeuf - 4a Owairaka Ave, Mt Albert.

  
CHIN - I've owned a bathtub for over 4 years now and have only ever used it once. This evening I felt compelled to use it a second time. A pretty neat way to deal with the cold and wet weather that's happening in Auckland. It was nice and it looked like this.

  
DANNY - It's a long weekend. A really long, long weekend. We've been away so much in the last couple of weeks, it's been great to spend it in Auckland, catching up with visiting friends and getting domestic at home. My whole house has been tidied. And I baked bread. Actual bread, not in a breadmaker. Ciabatta. OK, so it's a disfigured unique shape and heading towards the burnt side of well done, but it tastes pretty good and has holes and everything.

  
MINO - I always make a point to also check out the "girls section" of the stores I go into as you never know what you are going to find - I saw this coat on our recent trip to Sydney in the Acne store and fell in love with it. It's easy, it has awesome volume and layering potential and I can't wait for the weather to get a tiny bit cooler so I can actually start wearing it.