Auckland\u2019s Michelin-selected restaurant Ragtag is opening a second location on Karangahape Rd. Owner Daniel Freeman speaks to Varsha Anjali about what to expect.<\/p>\n
\n When Daniel Freeman biked past the vacant site among the row of white terraced buildings on Auckland\u2019s Karangahape Rd about a month ago, he wondered why no
\n one had taken it.\n <\/p>\n
He looked around. He had promised his wife, Hazel, he wouldn\u2019t get a second restaurant while she was busy with admin for the first, doing her MBA and working as a theatre manager at a private hospital all at once. She looked around too. Then he had an inciting thought: \u201cAh, s***, this is really good.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t going to do it unless it was perfect,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cIt seems pretty perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n
The couple have been busy since opening Ragtag in the affluent suburb of Westmere in 2022. The \u201ctiny\u201d restaurant, which is named after the way Freeman fondly describes his teams, has become a vibrant neighbourhood favourite. <\/p>\n
Daniel Freeman says Ragtag’s Westmere restaurant has been busier than ever. Photo \/ Jason Dorday<\/p>\n
For three years, Ragtag has been on Viva\u2019s Top 50 Auckland Restaurants list, and in June, it was recognised by Michelin in the inaugural New Zealand guide. Now, it is opening a second location at 409 Karangahape Rd, previously home to Peruvian restaurant Madame George before it closed in 2024.<\/p>\n
With construction yet to start and plenty more paperwork to complete, Freeman can\u2019t give an opening date but expects it will be at the end of the year. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust based on how long it took to do the first one, it looks like it will be sometime in December,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Freeman says the second restaurant will be \u201cnot too far removed\u201d from the original, which touts duck fat flour tortillas as the main event alongside flavours of Taiwan, Southern barbecue and pub food. However, there will be a fundamental difference for punters: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to do tortillas this time … all the food\u2019s going to be different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ragtag in Westmere will continue the laborious task of making tortillas, which Freeman says they love doing. However, he explains the team are at capacity for how many they make and a factory operation would be needed to produce more. When Ragtag had a pop-up with Depot in July, he says the team pressed \u201cover 2500 tortillas in two days\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new branch\u2019s menu will be inspired by ideas Freeman\u2019s chefs have wanted to try but couldn\u2019t in the small space.<\/p>\n
The restaurant has been the \u201cbusiest it\u2019s ever been\u201d this year. But its small size \u2013 it has a capacity of 60 seats, including 28 inside \u2013 has been inhibiting, pushing the decision to expand.<\/p>\n
Lamb with tortillas cooked in duck fat at Ragtag restaurant in Westmere. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s lots of stuff we wanted to do, but we\u2019re just restricted by space,\u201d Freeman says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s not really anything else we could do. We could add more seats outside … but the kitchen is just so small. It\u2019s a miracle what we\u2019re doing at the moment with our current size.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything we put on is a real push on the menu and on the team, so we\u2019re trying not to go too crazy … every year it just keeps getting busier and busier, and I think, oh, it can\u2019t possibly get any busier, but we somehow find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeman says the new restaurant space and kitchen will be twice as big. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to have a much bigger dining room,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd a really long kitchen bar, so we\u2019ll be able to see everything going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the second restaurant won\u2019t be \u201cfancy\u201d, but \u201cwe\u2019re probably going to have some white tablecloths\u201d.<\/p>\n
The point is to get creative. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be just another opportunity to cook some different kind of food and try different things, which is the main reason for doing this,\u201d Freeman says.<\/p>\n
The cool, eclectic character of Karangahape Rd was appealing as a location. What may have sealed the deal, however, were trains. <\/p>\n
Freeman says the newly opened City Rail Link is going to \u201cchange the game for everyone\u201d.<\/p>\n
He says from where he lives in West Auckland, catching a train to the new K Rd restaurant location will be more convenient than driving or taking the bus. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo if our lifestyle\u2019s about to change, I imagine a lot of other people\u2019s are about to as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeman, a competitor in the first season of My Kitchen Rules New Zealand (MKR) in 2014, says he feels excited about the move and creating a new menu. <\/p>\n
But he feels impostor syndrome as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou always get this fear that you just got lucky with the first [restaurant]. Maybe it\u2019s just a fluke that it\u2019s going really well … maybe it\u2019s nothing I did; it just happens to be a really good location or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the Michelin Awards ceremony in Auckland in June was a strange experience \u2013 being recognised alongside former MKR judges Ben Bayly and Gareth Stewart, who eliminated him from the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re getting the same awards that they\u2019re getting … Feels great, but also feels like what the hell? How did this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ragtag is expanding at a time when economic conditions have forced many restaurants to close. According to data published last month by the Credit Bureau of New Zealand, more than 2900 hospitality businesses have closed shop within the past 12 months, while another 422 have entered liquidation. <\/p>\n
Businesses in high foot-traffic areas were not immune, with closures on Karangahape Rd this year including Verona Cafe & Bar, Sri Pinang and Charlie\u2019s Bar.<\/p>\n
Knowing this, Freeman admits expanding feels scary. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents are not chuffed that we\u2019re doing this,\u201d he says, adding they caution him to be careful.<\/p>\n
He accepts everything is a risk; this is another one he is willing to take. But doubt does creep in. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe this is a terrible decision; who knows? Let\u2019s find out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done lots of little trials of different things over the past couple of years and bookmarked things and tried different stuff … Hopefully everyone trusts us.\u201d<\/p>\n
More food & drink<\/p>\n
A diner\u2019s guide to good Auckland eating<\/p>\n
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the Herald. She is based in Auckland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland\u2019s Michelin-selected restaurant Ragtag is opening a second location on Karangahape Rd. Owner Daniel Freeman speaks to Varsha…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1443,43755,3952,2546,18829,156,19338,7808,14442,39084,296354,111,139,425,69,90,5493,10521,2738,2642,122963,2539,8466,17213,61,43754,241976,6923,4276],"class_list":["post-601241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-about","tag-anjali","tag-aucklands","tag-awardwinning","tag-daniel","tag-entertainment","tag-expect","tag-freeman","tag-karangahape","tag-location","tag-michelinselected","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-now","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-open","tag-opening","tag-owner","tag-rd","tag-ragtag","tag-restaurant","tag-second","tag-speaks","tag-to","tag-varsha","tag-westmeres","tag-what","tag-why"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}