Pete with La Marzocco

Run by Peter Chapman, the Piha Store is an institution.The original beach store, it was opened in 1945 by the Pople family. Since then, the Store has been the centre of the Village. The place where you get milk, the newspaper, groceries, ice creams, soft drinks, and in recent years, wonderful breads, pies and pastries that come out of the Store kitchen.

One of the first things Pete did when he bought the store was install the Rolls Royce of espresso machines, the La Marzocco. Teamed with Allpress coffee, you cannot beat the coffees from Pete’s Store, and for many of us, it is THE way to start the day. The paper comes in about 10.30 am when Greg arrives, so a long slow start to Saturday is a good way to adjust to the weekend.

Pete has also upped the anti with food. His pies are world famous, full of chunky zizzy bits, and his sandwiches are also very tasty. The brioches with a custard slug in the middle are a great treat.  His almond croissant and muffins are top quality.

The fridge now also has a small selection of good quality fresh products if you run out of things. There are frozen curries, and often some sausages and steak. So even if bach owners leave all their food packages back home on the kitchen bench, they won’t go hungry.

Hours: 8.30am-4.00 am or later daily

Paper arrives 10.30am, a bit earlier Sunday