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Eggs benny on a crisp, fried onigiri rice cake. Fenugreek potatoes with haloumi and your choice of bacon or salmon. Authentic Italian pasta dishes, winter warmers like boeuf bourguignon, and an award-winning barista behind the espresso grinder. If you’re looking for a tasty new take on cafe food and casual dining, look no further than Patiki Cafe and Bar on Patiki Road.
“We do cafe food with a twist,” says co-owner and Restaurant Manager Guru Singh Gill, who founded Patiki with Head Chef Gagan Chitchot. The business partners and longtime colleagues in the hospitality industry launched their cafe/bar just two months ago, and they’re keen to welcome RBA members through the doors to discover their wide-ranging menu.
“Our concept is picking up dishes from different cuisines and putting them on one menu,” says Guru. “Nice, quality food with a twist. People should definitely come and try us out.”
Guru and Gagan’s culinary creativity is supported by a solid foundation of professional experience. Head Chef Gagan has worked in the industry for over a decade; his diverse resumé includes stints at a busy Italian restaurant in Taupō, a top French cafe here in Auckland, and Mikano on Quay Street.
“He’s really good at pasta,” raves Guru. “He makes pasta in the real Italian way – it’s authentic.” Gagan is so skilled, in fact, that Patiki puts on “pasta night” every Thursday evening to treat diners to delicious Italian dishes. “We do fettuccine carbonara, spaghetti bolognese, lemon prawn linguine, and spaghetti pomodoro,” he says, naming but a few of the options on offer. “We also have the full dinner menu along with the pasta specials.”
Guru, who works with Gagan to develop the menu (“We’re always trying new things, every chance we get”) is also a seasoned hospitality veteran. Originally from Punjab in northern India, Guru arrived in New Zealand 13 years ago with a driving desire to make something of himself – and he wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get to work.
“I didn’t know anything about hospitality when I was in India,” he recalls. “When I came to New Zealand, from the very first day, I’ve been working in hospitality – I’ve never done any other job. First I started in the kitchen, and I learned about the kitchen, and then I moved to the bar and worked in a lot of bars in Auckland as a bartender.”
Eventually, the long hours and hard work led him to start drinking coffee – and a new passion was born. “Once I started drinking coffee,” he laughs, “I said, ‘Okay, let’s see how to make good coffee,’ and I became a barista as well.” (He even won the Kōkako Latte Art competition in 2015). Over the years, Guru says, he has worked alongside experienced restaurateurs and played a key role in opening nine other restaurants across Auckland. Then, for two years, he co-owned and ran Balter Bar and Kitchen in Carterton in the Wairarapa. “I learned something every day. This is the good thing about hospitality: it’s never ending. New food, new drinks, every day.”
Now, Guru is very pleased to co-own his own establishment here in the City of Sails. He and Gagan are keen to impress local fans of quality cafe fare, and Guru says that they offer an array of conveniences that pair temptingly well with their food.
“We can do most of the dishes on our menu as gluten-free,” he says. “We have vegan options as well, like the cauliflower fritters on our lunch menu. We wanted to create something really tasty that everyone could enjoy, even if they’re not vegan. The cauliflower fritters have a bit of everything: some citrus and sweetness, and they have a bit of spice as well.”
Patiki Cafe and Bar has ample seating and plenty of parking, too, not to mention high chairs and a dedicated kids’ menu for the littlest foodies. For patrons seeking breakfast on the go, their cabinet is stocked with “substantial” fare like bacon and egg butties and filled rolls (including braised beef, jerk chicken, and haloumi for vegetarians), and they offer a daily morning deal of coffee and a cabinet selection for only $10.
If an evening meal is more to your taste, Patiki is open late on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for a fully licensed dinner service with local and international wines. Saturday nights feature $27 steaks, and the full dinner menu includes entrees like dumplings and arancini balls, mains like pork belly and chicken burgers, and desserts like panna cotta or a hot chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream.
Guru says that he loves connecting with and chatting to his customers, and he looks forward to meeting more of his neighbours in Rosebank. “We’re doing good quality food, the same style of cafe and bar food people are looking for, but we’re doing things a bit differently,” he says. “Come and give us a try.”
Patiki Cafe and Bar is open from 6am – 3:30pm on weekdays and 8:30am – 3:30pm on weekends, and they’re open late for dinner (until 9pm) on Thursday, Fridays, and Saturdays. Visit them at 42 Patiki Road and find their full menu online under their Google listing.
Roundabout Magazine
This article was published in Roundabout Magazine Issue 209 (July 2024).