Waiheke is a boutique floating marina and it’s fitting that it welcomes a boutique floating café, which opened last weekend. It will be the only café in Pūtiki Bay, which is the arrival point for Sealink ferries and a popular boating destination.
The owners, Kohei and Akane Yamashita, are experienced in the world of cafes and cuisine. They are widely travelled – Kohei has worked at Michelin starred restaurants internationally before spending time at the hugely popular Amano Café in Britomart, and Akane, who comes from the grape growing area of Yamanashi in Japan, learned the art of baking in her home country before perfecting the craft the barista at Ralph Laren, making the brand’s signature polo bear latte. In New Zealand she has worked with Stolen Summer and Hugo’s Bistro in central Auckland.
They’ll be taking the café’s development one step at a time. For now they will aim to open early and close mid afternoon 6 days a week, and cater for private functions as requested. On the cards in the new year will be an on-licence and longer opening hours.
Coffee is first on the agenda, and they sampled many roasts before choosing Espresso Workshop’s beans, from Orakei on the mainland, for the new Waiheke Marina Café. “We have been drinking coffee for a long time, and this is the one we liked most and chose,” says Kohei, who has Japanese and Irish heritage but learned to cook in France and Germany and has lived in Singapore, the US and Canada.
Their artisan bread will be made onsite from whole grain rice – an option they selected in order to create bread with a distinctive taste.
They are aiming for a flexible kitchen with a set menu of pastries, bakery food and sandwiches, and they will adapt to what their customers would like. Being a flexible kitchen means that with a couple of day’s notice, the café will prepare boxed lunches and dinners for your boat on request – just ask.
Photos / Gemeli
