PLANT THE TOWN RED

You may recognise the name Red Eight Café – arguably one of Kaiapoi’s best-kept secrets, Stephanie Reeves’ iconic institution took out the winning votes for Best Café in 2019’s A List awards. 

This overwhelmingly positive response to her approach to food and coffee means Red Eight is a name synonymous with good fare. 

In recent months, Stephanie has added a new string to her bow – Red Eight Café at Portstone. This latest venture is a fantastic place to meet your friends and family for early brunch on a Saturday or Sunday whilst sitting in the sunshine among the delights of Ferry Road’s Portstone Garden Centre. 

Stephanie keeps it simple. “I love food that looks delicious and tastes fantastic.” 

She’s definitely earned her stripes. After retraining as a pastry chef about a decade ago, she went on to work at the Crowne Plaza pre-quakes. She also cut her teeth at famed French baker’s J’aime les Macarons before creating Red Eight Café in 2016. She mentions that Chris and Kate, the owners of Portstone Garden Centre, would come into the café in Kaiapoi regularly. After a few months of chatting about the possibility of taking over the café at the garden centre, Red Eight at Portstone was born. And now, with the original Kaiapoi café sitting with new owners, Stephanie is full steam ahead on putting Red Eight Portstone on the map. 

Everything on offer looks stunning and tastes even better, from classic eggs benedict stacked on crispy rostis to rhubarb and spiced blueberry pancakes with butterscotch sauce and gingernut crumb. The cabinet is adorned with even more options for those on the go, and the coffee is top-notch. 

Stephanie also mentions their lemon meringue tarts are so popular, to a point where they are struggling to keep up with demand, “which is understandable since they are so yummy!” 

Check out Red Eight at Portstone – brunch is available till 2pm.