My Fat Puku is a garden café set in relaxed surroundings in the heart of Great Barrier Island at Claris. The menu is fresh, seasonal and built on the chef's love of food and organic produce, covering breakfast and lunch seven days a week, brunch on weekends and stat days, and wood-fired pizza from a personally built Pompeii oven all year round — pizzas cooked in about a minute over open flame. The pizzeria opens Friday and Sunday evenings from 5pm to 7pm for dine in or takeaway.
Drink-wise, the café pours Organico organic coffee — hand-crafted Italian-style coffee from a pioneering NZ roastery led by Derek Townsend, the inventor of the flat white — and is home to Puku Brew, a micro-brewery whose beer is exclusive to My Fat Puku. The range spans Pale Ale, Pilsner, Lager, Stout (including a smooth coffee stout), Cider and Alcoholic Ginger Beer, with the Hazy Pale Ale now a fixture on tap. Real Fruit Ice Creams keep families happy, and kefir and kombucha are flagged as the next healthier options.
Owners Brett and Julie took over in 2022, moved their caravan in beside the property, and gave the space a full face-lift — a wooden feature wall and revamp inside, orange umbrellas and new signage outside, and a garden bar with artificial grass, rustic wine barrel tables and a dedicated stage for live music. The result is, in their words, the gem of the Claris Centre: warm, family-friendly and a world away from the hustle. EFTPOS, Paywave and credit cards are accepted.
On Aotea, Great Barrier Island, My Fat Puku has become something of a landmark in Claris — a garden café where organic coffee, wood-fired pizza and hand-crafted beer share top billing, and where the welcome is as warm as the Pompeii oven. Set in the heart of the island at 129 Hector Sanderson Road, it serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week, adds a brunch menu on weekends and stat days, and fires up pizza nights on Friday and Sunday evenings. It is also home to Puku Brew, a micro-brewery whose beer pours nowhere else.
Behind the counter are owners Brett and Julie, whose path to the island reads like a holiday daydream that got out of hand. Brett's first visit was in March 2020 and, by his own telling, he fell head over heels — the raw nature, the relaxed atmosphere, the breathtaking beauty and an unmistakable feeling of home. Years of sacred annual visits followed, and when My Fat Puku — the café the couple visited religiously on every trip — came up for sale, the universe, they decided, had given them a sign.
In 2022 they bought the business with, as Brett cheerfully admits, absolutely zero history in hospitality. They parked their caravan right beside the property, made the café their literal home, and set to work. Inside came a wooden feature wall, a personalised coffee machine and a full repaint; outside, vibrant orange umbrellas, extensive new signage and a garden bar upgraded with lush artificial grass, rustic wine barrel tables and a dedicated stage for live music. They built a boutique brewery and studio next door, added a spa pool — despite the island's spectacular natural hot pools lying a gentle 35-minute stroll into the bush — and, in their words, made the café the gem of the Claris Centre.
The kitchen's promise is fresh, seasonal food built on local and organic produce wherever possible, served with a warm smile. Breakfast and lunch run all week; brunch joins from 9am to 1pm on weekends and stat days. Families are well looked after, with Real Fruit Ice Creams now on the counter for ice cream lovers young and old.
Pizza is the headline act. The personally built Pompeii oven burns wood at intense heat and cooks a pizza in about a minute, producing what the team reckons is the best pizza on the island — available all year round. The pizzeria opens Friday and Sunday evenings from 5pm to 7pm for dine in or takeaway; no booking is needed, though large groups and special occasions should phone ahead.
Coffee drinkers are in good hands too. My Fat Puku pours Organico, a New Zealand roastery with more than 30 years of history, led by Derek Townsend — the coffee fanatic behind the legendary DKD café and the inventor of the flat white. High-quality Arabica beans, roasted with an intuitive approach, put the hand craft back into Italian-style coffee.
Then there is Puku Brew, the house micro-brewery Brett taught himself to run, designed to blend seamlessly with the café. The line-up covers Pale Ale, Pilsner, Lager, Stout — including a smooth coffee stout — Cider and Alcoholic Ginger Beer, all exclusive to My Fat Puku. A guest Hazy Pale Ale arrived one summer, proved so popular it is now a fixture on tap, and kefir and kombucha are flagged as the next healthy horizons.
The whole point of My Fat Puku is ease. There is no need to book a pizza — just arrive — and EFTPOS, Paywave and credit cards are all accepted. Bring your friends and family, settle into the garden bar with a house-brewed beer, and let the island do its work; in summer, when the courtyard overflows, the team describes the energy as absolutely electric.
Brett and Julie promise a smile and friendly, efficient service, and a place with genuine ambience and flavour. The island, they note, is only a 30-minute plane ride from the mainland yet a world away from the hustle. Come for an organic flat white, stay for a wood-fired pizza and a Hazy Pale Ale, and you will quickly understand why two self-confessed townies decided this rock was home.