Waihi Beach Deli's Nicky Mowat has cooked all her life. As a girl, she kept assiduous notes of friend's and family's best recipes, like Mr Turner's Tamarillo Red Cabbage Salad; as a teenager she perfected her cake baking during a summer stint as cook for a high-country shearing gang; in her twenties she opened her own seafood restaurant in Akaroa, and then went on to cook for Peter Gordon at the legendary Sugar Club in Wellington. Now she and husband Paul Weaver have opened the Waihi Beach Deli, filling a need that they detected - first as bach owners, and then as locals - for seasonal, local deli food to go.

After more than 20 years in the trade, Nicky's simple philosophy for successful food is to deliver maximum flavour with minimum fuss. Drop in and see Nicky and Paul on Wilson Road, Waihi Beach, to try the best of Nicky's NZ heirloom recipes, from Mr Turner's Tamarillo Red Cabbage Salad, to Dr Sandley's snapper pie, high-country orange and pumpkin scones, or organic ham off the bone, then browse their extensive range of pantry-fillers like Peter Gordon's chutneys, and locally made fruit preserves.