Cookbook like a biographical journey

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The Quay to the Cove. The title sounds a bit like a travelogue but only if readers are cryptic minded.

Like any good freelance journo, Lindy Davis is ever on the lookout for a good story. After dining at Waipu Cove Cafe on several occasions and enjoying light conversation with co-owner Lloyd Rooney, Lindy followed her investigative nose which led her to some long lunches and the compilation of what she has termed a ‘lifestyle cookbook’.

The Quay to the Cove is certainly not your regular recipe book though it contains any number of culinary delights which are both on and off the menus at the, now, three eateries owned by Lloyd and partner Mike Fraser. Chef John Salsibury was also party to some of the new and exotic dishes contained therein.

“The book could be seen in three parts,” says Lindy.

It begins with a lower/middle class lad in the UK homeschooled by his Mother and learning his way around a kitchen. It follows his progression to a London pub wherin is fostered his passion for food and also interior design which shows up markedly in the refurbishment of The Quay in Whangarei.

The second part covers the standard travel to Europe but taking him further afield to Australia then landing in New Zealand and purchase of the farm at Wairamarama south-west of Pukekohe.

The final stage (for now) is the entry to the Northland dining scene, the challenges, the passion and the progress made over three short years.

“Food was always something I enjoyed and to run an English pub you need a passion for food and people,” says Lloyd. In time I learned companion cooking – what goes with what – and of course, a fair bit of experimentation, and it’s been a great ride.”

For Lindy, whose published works have mainly been junior fiction, writing recipes was sometimes slow and painstaking.

“I even had to re-write the recipes at one point when I realised, because the book is going to the UK and Europe also, that I couldn’t use measures like cup and tablespoon. They all had to be in both metric and imperial measures.”

A good read, it will still settle in nicely among other perhaps better known culinary engineers who may occupy your bench space, and it’s a handy gift to send to foodie friends here and abroad.

n WHAT: The Quay to the Cove (New Holland) available mid-December from the restaurants or good bookshops.

COASTAL CUISINE: Writer Lindy Davis has termed this a ‘lifestyle cookbook’.