This August, Chow Luck Club in partnership with Auckland central city's business association, Heart of the City, is delivering one of its signature dining event series for Auckland Restaurant Month 2026 - How We Eat.
The series is a specially curated dinner programme that celebrates culinary culture, traditions, and the art of storytelling through food.
Instead of just eating a meal, diners at various culturally rich city-centre restaurants participate in immersive dining experiences where they learn the history and customs of the cuisine and cultures of the people behind the plates.
How We Eat invites diners inside the rituals, traditions and communal moments behind the way different cultures gather, eat and connect, with experiences spanning Filipino boodle fight feasts, Korean street food paired with soju, Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, Vietnamese-style Hue cuisine and Latin American shared-table celebrations.
The series celebrates the people, stories and experiences shaping Auckland’s dining culture today.
"The spirit of exploration sits at the heart of this year’s programme, with new additions including How We Eat, curated by Chow Luck Club," Heart of the City says.
HOW WE EAT PROGRAMME:
• HomeCooked will host a Filipino Boodle Fight feast, with food served across banana-leaf-lined tables and eaten kamayan style by hand.
• Chè Viet: will present a Hue-inspired Vietnamese family-style dinner led by Chef Angela Nguyen and her mother, Mai Le, who is travelling from Vietnam for the event.
• Ongi will explore the evolution of Korean street food through a four-course dinner paired with soju, makgeolli and a modern K-cocktail.
• Addis Ethiopian Cafe will be bringing guests together around a shared gebeta platter, encouraging guests to eat with their hands, gursha, injera-making and even an Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
• Daikoku will stage a night of teppanyaki, sake pairing and the ceremonial Kagami Biraki sake-barrel opening ritual.
• GOAT by Sid Chopra will offer an intimate Indian dining experience tracing Chef Sid Chopra’s culinary memories, family influences and regional inspiration.
• El Origen will celebrate Latin American dining culture with shared plates, live entertainment and a lively, social table experience.
The lineup for Restaurant Month includes exclusive dining offers, one-off chef collaborations, cultural food experiences and special events at more than 100 city centre restaurants in August.
Taste of Japan: Eight plates and a Grand Buffet is another showcase series curated by Chow Luck Club for this year's restaurant month.
Every Friday and Saturday, Katsura Japanese Cuisine at the Grand Millennium will host an exclusive dinner serving an Omakase-style, multi-course experience featuring eight specific Japanese dishes alongside Katsura's signature grand dinner buffet.
Hosted in the private koshitsu dining room, the dinner offers an immersive journey into Japanese culinary traditions, history and culture while tasting some of New Zealand's world-class kaimoana led by Katsura's head chef David Foo.
Tickets are $159 per person and includes the hosted dinner and two hours of complimentary parking.
Running from 1–31 August, the 16th annual edition of Restaurant Month also brings together exclusive menus across participating restaurants, priced at $30, $45 and $55+, alongside 22 private events and culinary collaborations.
Another new initiative this year is Next on the Pass, which gives emerging AUT culinary students the chance to work alongside some of Auckland’s most respected chefs, developing dishes for real Restaurant Month menus and events, while bringing fresh perspective, personal stories and new talent into the city’s professional kitchens.
Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck says Restaurant Month continues to be a powerful showcase of the creativity and depth of Auckland’s city centre hospitality sector.
“Restaurant Month is one of the best ways to experience what makes the Auckland city centre special. The calibre of chefs, venues and experiences involved this year speaks to the strength and confidence of the hospitality sector, and to the role our restaurants play in bringing people into the city," Viv said.
"The inclusion of the next generation of hospitality talent will make this year's programme particularly memorable.”
For a full list of Restaurant Month events, and to view dates and make bookings, visit: HOTC Restaurant Month 2026
