A patisserie is not an obvious lunch destination, which is fair. But there is a decent argument that the people who make the pastry should also be the people making anything wrapped in pastry — and it means you can have lunch and dessert in the same sitting without moving.
Here is the savoury half of the menu, which gets considerably less attention than it should.
The quiche, and the thing nobody expects about it
Quiche Lorraine is the benchmark, and it lives or dies on the crust. Dhi makes a pastry that shatters properly rather than going soft under the filling, and fills it with a rich savoury custard, premium bacon and melted cheese.
There are two more in the range: a mushroom and blue cheese for anyone who wants something sharper, and a caramelised onion that is the best of the three if you like sweetness against salt.
Here is the part worth knowing: all three quiches are made without added gluten. Not one token option on the end of the menu — the whole range. If you have spent years being handed a salad while everyone else has lunch, this is the section to read twice. There is a fuller account in our guide to eating gluten-free in Christchurch.
The Brazilian corner
Sfiha is the one to try if you want something you probably have not had before — soft golden dough filled with melted cheese, juicy tomato and aromatic pesto. It arrived in Brazil with Levantine migration and has been thoroughly adopted since.
Brazilian cheese scones — pão de queijo — are the thing regulars order without looking at the menu. Golden outside, soft and chewy inside, served warm with hand-whipped butter and sweet guava jam. Made with no added gluten, because they are made with cassava rather than wheat, and the savoury-sweet combination is unreasonably good.
There is also a cheese and spring onion potato bread if you want something more substantial.
Made fresh to order
Our Croque Monsieur is built when you order it, on a choice of two bases — soft buttery brioche for comfort, or our flaky croissant for a crisper contrast against the filling — then baked until golden and bubbling. It is the most substantial thing on the savoury menu and it is worth the wait.
Everything else sits in the artisan savouries range, including a sausage scroll baked into a brioche roll with mozzarella, and made-to-order savouries for the things we cook fresh.
One honest note on the no-added-gluten items above: our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
What to drink
Everything here was designed around our espresso bar. If coffee is not your thing, there is organic New Zealand-grown Zealong tea, an authentic masala chai, or New Zealand-made juices in the fridge.
Then, obviously, dessert
You are in a patisserie. Order a slice, or something from the mini dessert cabinet — much of which is also made with no added gluten, including the Ferrari Rocher and the lemon tart. If it is cold, our made-to-order dessert menu is the better call — see our guide to warm desserts.
A note on wording: New Zealand labelling rules mean we say "no added gluten" rather than "gluten free". Our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
Making a proper occasion of it
For something more structured, our Full High Tea Experience is a 90 to 120-minute sit-down lunch at $65 per person, savoury through to patisserie with bottomless Zealong tea, booked 48 hours ahead and with a no-added-gluten menu selectable at booking. Details on the high tea page. Otherwise just come in — we are inside The Welder on Welles Street, open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on Saturday.
