PLANT PARADISE
On the West Coast, where pub food is king, Alisha McIntosh has created a healthy haven in the tiny town of Hari Hari.
Gatherer, a ‘wholefoods coffee house’ in an unassuming black cottage an hour south of Hokitika, has become a hub for locals and tourists alike, with its library of cookbooks to peruse, garden seating area and array of plant-based meals and raw desserts.
“It’s such a treat seeing people’s eyes light up when they walk through our door, and hearing them comment on how happy they are to have stumbled across us in Hari Hari or – as so many of them put it – ‘in the middle of nowhere’,” says Alisha.
Small beginnings
Originally from Taranaki, Alisha has
