NZ Visual Diary - entry 383
kitchen staff - Cafe BBQ Duck
Cafe BBQ Duck is a Chinese cuisine restaurant located on High Street in central-city Auckland. The restaurant deserves its own shout-out, but my knowledge of it is only second-hand. I have not eaten there. The large street-side window, however, offered a perfect photographic view of the kitchen — of busy chefs and steaming kettles.
On the other hand, I know High Street quite well. It is one of my favourite places in all of Auckland Central. With a physical footprint of a 400m (.25miles) in length, from its northern gateway at Southland Street to Victoria Street East at its southern boundary, and width of 10-12 metres (including footpaths and carriageway), the street might more properly be called a lane. Indeed, its human-scale proportions, with a movie set ambiance, is key to its charm.
High Street is illustrative of the history of lanes and alleys in urban centres. As the first street to the east of Queen Street — Auckland’s modest version of NYC’s Fifth Avenue — High Street had its origins as the service lane for the shops and residences along Queen Street’s eastern promenade at the heart of the city centre. From trash collection access-way to goods delivery conduit to site for storage sheds and horse stables, the diminutive thoroughfare of High Street served a host of important utilitarian functions throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was the discreet service entrance in support of the upscale commercial and residential activities along its public face to the west.
Today, in the era of the horseless carriage, gentrification and urbane sophistication, High Street sports an array of boutique shops from fashion & gift to books (new and used) to culinary & spirits delights. It also serves as the pathway to Freyberg Place, one of my favourite public squares in the central city.
At Victoria Street East, my charming laneway becomes Lorne Street, an equally upscale ‘petite street’ that, at its southern end, showcases the central city branch of Auckland Libraries.