• 3
• Cafe culture

I can imagine a high-schooler version of myself walking past Revel on Karangahape Rd and hoping that some day I will be cool enough to go there. Thank god I am cool enough now. Revel are so well appreciated by the Auckland vegan community that you could almost forget they serve any other food. This is the full gamut - you can expect sweet vegan mint slices, peanut-butter pies, tofu scrambles, cashew-cream-cheese and home-made jam on bagels... but the people at the next table might be eating bacon. It’s not because there’s a big menu, it’s just that everything is at one extreme of the spectrum or the other! Auckland has a fascination with “cafe culture” that continues as it grows. This is cafe culture. The art-saturated space, switched-on staff, the regulars hanging out like they live there, the cabinet of baked curiosities and the blackboard of meals made to order. All in a cramped, lively and briskly colourful environment with a mix of furnishings, posters for gigs and protests and community events, a noisy coffee machine and some outdoor seating on the front footpath. Revel is located, naturally, in the coolest part of town. It’s an easy to get to and has tonnes of stuff nearby. You’re likely to cross it’s path. When I go in, it’s usually for something sweet and a bowl of chai or a superfood smoothie. Verona across the road is a bit more spacious but similarly cool. When you’re in the area (and it’s likely you will be), drop in to both.