Look out Ponsonby, someone’s moving into the famed spot of 198 Ponsonby Road (ex-Little Easy).
Situated at the intersection of Franklin X Ponsonby Road, lies an exciting multi-concept F&B establishment brought to you Adam Neal and Jason Rosen, the brains behind the Auckland Viaduct’s cocktail hotspot of Parasol & Swing and Brolly.
These lads have taken over and transformed the famous space at 198 Ponsonby Road, into four newly renovated, different spaces, under two main brands (one for each level). Owners Adam Neal and Jason Rosen share with us a little more about their exciting concepts that they’ve been working on during lockdown.
The lower level is known as The Broken Lantern, essentially a beer hall (or tavern, if you will) at its roots, decked out in style, offering the high standard of product known for at Parasol & Swing. Yes, this means exceptional cocktail creations with a variety of bespoke ingredients and a huge selection of local craft beers (10 on tap), a wine menu focusing on natural and organic wines (5 natural wines on tap), and of course an exceptional food menu to match created with by executive chef Olly, who's been with the team for the last year and a half, and the mastermind behind the seasonal, changing menus at Brolly.
A Space For The Arts
The decor at The Broken Lantern is being done by 'The Art Department', who are bringing a complete revamp to the building, by taking a touch of inspiration from its 100 year old Victoria roots, then modernised, with a hint of Lower East Side New York street vibes thrown in to spice things up a little. You might recognise ‘The Art Department’ from some notable 'Choice Hospo' pop ups (images below) such as “A Taste of Smugglers Cove at Hyderabad Hotel”, “Build a bar at 39 Ponsonby Road”.
One of the most unique features of The Broken Lantern is that one side of the main room will boast a wall dedicated to a local artist who will be creating murals based on a theme, and that theme will change every six months with the season. For the most part, the menu will stay the same, but part of the main room’s energy will sing in tune with the season, with nuances of the theme coming to life in the food and drinks as well.
The Broken Lantern will open with “A Touch of Spanish”, heralding flavours of Spain and South America in the food and sherry-based cocktails and wines of Spanish grapes such as Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Albarino. We trust it will be something different and a concept like no other, these guys share with us potential themes for the future such as Scandinavian food and mythology, Vintage Japanese Cinema, Brazilian Festival life, Pacific Island culture and more. In turn, allowing numerous opportunities to work with and showcase the work of all the artists they’ve worked with through a physical and digital (on the website) space as well.
Not forgetting, as we come into the season of sun (and fun!), what’s a restaurant or bar without a courtyard of some sort? The team are hard at work at building a large, glorious, sun-drenched garden, perfect for those long, balmy summer days with a glass of choice cocktail in hand.
But that’s not just it, remember how we said at the beginning that there’s two main brands? The upper level will see an exclusive-esque member’s pool room/theaterette, and high calibre cocktail lounge of fine spirits. Due to the ongoing and ever-confusing Covid-19 restrictions, Adam and Jason will be launching The Broken Lantern shortly after moving in Red, with the upper level launch later in December. You'll want to stick around for that in the weeks to come...
The Details:
The Broken Lantern 198 Ponsonby Road Ponsonby 1011, Auckland
Opening on: Friday, 10 December 2021 from 7pm to late
Please note: Guidelines for Covid-19 traffic light "Red" will apply in F&B/hospitality venues.
Image credit: Adam Neal & Jason Rosen, Choice Hospo