At MenuMania, as you may have guessed, we’re all about restaurants, cafes, takeaways and eating out. You may be feeling a bit more budget-conscious this year, but don’t forget to show your local eating places some love.  You may not be able to spend as much on eating out as you once did, but when you’re making a decision about where to spend increasingly precious dollars, don’t overlook the eateries you cherish and respect most. Because if you don’t support your favourite restaurants today, they may not be in business tomorrow.

Is there a restaurant you couldn’t (or wouldn’t want to) live without? Let us know what it is – and why – in the comments sections below.

This weekend, sees an awesome gathering of gluten free food suppliers and manufacturers at the Auckland Gluten Free Food & Allergy Show.  Since the mid 1970’s when my mum was forced to read gazillions of books to make her own diagnosis of my sister’s Coeliac Disesase, due to a lack of understanding by doctors at the time . . . awareness of the gluten-free phenomenon has come a long way!

I will delight in taking my sister along this weekend to the show, so she can sample the vast array of sweet and savoury treats now on the market.  Choosing from a restaurant  menu, cafe or bakery for a person who’s gluten-free can be a bit like forcing a diabetic to choose something safe from the dessert menu.  So what’s on offer this weekend, will be like manna from heaven for Coeliac ’sufferers’.

It is thought that 1 in 100 of us has Coeliac Disease (pronounced SEE-Lee-Ack’), but 4 out of 5 don’t know it.

Tip-offs are: unexplained bloating, tummy troubles down below, tiredness & abdominal discomfort.

If you think you might be 1 in 100, ask your GP about it.  The first step is a simply blood screening test.

For more info, see www.coeliac.co.nz

Great news for the Hell Pizza chain – Warren Powell, Callum Davies and Stu McMullin, who first opened Hell Pizza during 2003, have re-purchased the New Zealand franchise back from the NZ owners of Burger King!

Meanwhile Tasman Pacific Food Group see potential to expand the number of Burger King outlets from 71 to over 100, so they say the deal with the Hell founders allows it to focus on the one business of Burger King now.

Hell founder Powell believed Tasman Pacific had tried to meet the market by offering lower prices.

The Hell trio would do the opposite, lifting quality and offering novelties like crocodile pizza.

Hell was never meant to be only pizza and in the early days they offered everything from curries to milkshakes. They plan to start integrating other products back in.

“You’ve got to educate the market, you can get great tasting food at home,” Powell said.

Over in Aussie,  Hell is able to charge about  of $25 for a pizza and the recession offered opportunities, they said.

“In New Zealand a lot of people who would normally go out and have a restaurant meal for $70-$80 will now instead go to Hell and spend $40-$50,” McMullin said.

Meanwhile many franchisees are happy to have the soul and passion of the original business back behind the Hell Pizza brand.

Source: NZ Herald 13/5/09

Thanks again to the wonderful Menu Mania community for all your competition entries.

Here are the winners for the last month:

Auckland Gluten Free Food and Allergy Show for April:  KS, Owen T, Iain H

Everyday Healthy Food recipe book for April: Sianee A, Victoria B, Ange A

Healthy Food Guide subscription from April:  Rochelle V, Fleur P

Roses Are Red Floral Treat Package: Lauren A

Three Nights Accomodation at Any Accor Hotel: Rochelle M

Em’s Power Cookies, pack of nine cookies: Sally W, Monique D, Darlen M, Donna N, Brenda G

Congratulations!