Aster

Nestled so perfectly within the Dunedin Botanic Garden that you'd think it grew there, Aster is a light and modern café that channels its surrounds into a particularly peaceful setting.

From the outside, the bulb-like pavilion might well have been planted among the terraces and glasshouses. Step inside, and bright red beams fan out overhead, while windows in matching frames nearly come full circle; comfortable seating invites visitors to spend the morning, and a curated seasonal menu paired with excellent coffee makes it a no-brainer. Set beside the iconic duck pond, Aster is both an ideal pit stop while exploring one of the city's most beloved green spaces, and a destination in its own right.

A collaboration with Arête Architects helped shape a space driven by its setting, pulling the palette from the gardens and using complementary red to frame the greenery like a painting. Handpicked fixtures and furniture, including scarlet antique stools from Roxburgh's Forfar Road Gallery, land somewhere nostalgic yet modern - and if the effect sounds familiar, it should. Aster comes from the team behind ADJØ, carrying the same cosiness and playfulness, though it's very much its own space in what had long been a dream location.

But back to that menu. Frequently changing, classic in concept and botanical by nature, every plate speaks to intention and care. Expect the likes of a house broth simmered for 48 hours on bones from local butcher Link's, pine needles turned into a dust for porridge or a syrup shaken over espresso, and a kids' egg and soldiers dressed with whipped bone marrow butter. Though the line-up shifts with the seasons, the philosophy remains: never pretentious or inaccessible, just a little bit special.

Fitting for its ecosystem, Aster has struck up a symbiotic relationship with the gardens. It enjoys plenty of passing trade from garden-goers, but it has also become the reason some people are visiting the country's oldest botanic garden for the first time in years.