Return Restaurant.

07/09/2026

Slide up to the bar for a bite and a cocktail, where you can sit, dine and drink all week round.

In focus Fish & Chips and our Loose Cannon Cocktail - Dark rum, gunpowder rum, banana liquer & walnut bitters.

Bookings → return.nz

03/09/2026

Study of apples, miso caramel, frozen yoghurt.

It has an apple jam, lemongrass custard and a sauce made from green apple juice.

The dessert on our short and long story menus while we eagerly anticipate spring.

01/09/2026

Huge congratulations to our amazing sommelier, Jim Turner, for being named #22 on the Top 100 Sommeliers in New Zealand list and top 5 to watch!🍷✨ We could not be prouder of the brilliant w**e list he wrote for Return and the wonderful stories he shares with our guests every single day. We also want to thank the great mentors who helped guide him along the way. Well done, Jim. You are #1 in our eyes! WineLovers ProudTeam

25/08/2026

NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2026.

We are incredibly proud to have RETURN named Cuisine’s New Restaurant of the Year.

“Return has arrived with confidence, immediately establishing itself as one of New Zealand’s most exciting new dining destinations.”

Those words mean a great deal to us.

RETURN was built around a simple idea: to take everything Barbara and I have learned over our years in hospitality and bring it home — celebrating exceptional New Zealand produce through food, w**e and genuine hospitality.

Cuisine described the food as “refined yet deeply satisfying”, with “technical precision, bold, memorable flavours” and dishes that leave you “eager for just one more bite.”

But what makes us especially proud is that this recognition belongs to the whole restaurant. Cuisine spoke of Barbara and our front-of-house team’s “warmth, professionalism and deep knowledge”, and an experience where guests feel “relaxed, cared for and completely immersed from the moment they arrive.”

That is exactly what we wanted RETURN to be.

To our team — thank you. You have put an extraordinary amount of care, energy and belief into this restaurant.

To our producers, suppliers, friends and everyone who has walked through our doors since we opened — thank you for believing in what we are building.

And to Cuisine, thank you for an extraordinary honour.

“Return has set a new benchmark since day one.”

We’re only just getting started.

Matt & Barbara
RETURN

19/08/2026

PLEASE READ! THE RETURN TABLE

Good deserves something in return.

Starting next Friday, and every Friday after that, we’re setting aside one table at RETURN for someone in our community who deserves to be celebrated.

Not because they need it.

Because someone has noticed what they do.

Maybe it’s the coach who gives up their weekends. The teacher who always does a little more. The volunteer who keeps showing up. The person holding a club, team, workplace, family or community together. Or simply someone whose effort and generosity have made a difference to the people around them.

We’d like you to tell us about them.

Send us a DM with who you’d like to thank and, most importantly, why.

Each week we’ll invite someone to join us for Friday lunch, with our compliments.

There are no posts required. No photographs. No publicity. We won’t announce who receives the table.

They’re not our content.

They’re our guest.

We simply want to return a little of the goodwill they’ve already put into the world.

The RETURN Table.
Every Friday at RETURN.

Know someone?

Tell us why.

18/08/2026

A COSMO BY ANY OTHER NAME

A familiar drink, seen through a different lens.

Vodka infused with the classic flavours of a Cosmopolitan — cranberry, lemon and orange zest — with rose petals bringing a delicate floral note.

Fresh lime. A touch of sugar. Orange aperitif from Hastings Distillers.

Dry, bright and floral, with just enough familiarity to make it an easy friend.

A Cosmo, by any other name. 🍸Kelly Lauchlan

31/07/2026

We’re so grateful for this beautiful feature and for the kind words about our team. Every day, we’re proud to create a dining experience built on care, knowledge, and genuine hospitality. Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way it means so much. Thank you Cuisine Magazine

30/07/2026

You can also follow on Instagram to see more.

26/07/2026

Proud of what we are building.
Flying high on this one.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FinqSmpCm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Review: Return shows New Zealand’s priest-chef in full flight.

23/07/2026

Very late sharing this, but elated to read these kind words from Cuisine Magazine.

Thank you to our team for your efforts to create special moments, while delivering praise worthy ex*****on so early in to our young restaurants path into the future.

The essential reason to return to Ponsonby’s bustling dining strip.