Cinque Terre is a handcrafted Italian food stall run by Sonia and Raimondo, a couple from the Ligurian region of Italy. They arrived in New Zealand in December 2018, settling first on Waiheke Island and working in restaurants alongside chefs from around the world, before relocating to Christchurch at the end of March 2023 to start their own food venture bringing a taste of Italy to the city.
Rather than operating from a public storefront, Cinque Terre serves customers at local farmers markets and community events, and also offers catering with a broader range of Italian dishes tailored to specific occasions. Their commercial kitchen is not open for public walk-in retail — pickup is available by pre-arrangement for online and phone orders only.
Cinque Terre is the food venture of Sonia and Raimondo, an Italian couple from the picturesque Ligurian region who brought their love of food to New Zealand. They landed on these shores in December 2018, making Waiheke Island their first home, where they worked in well-regarded restaurants alongside food professionals from France, Germany, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Argentina and beyond — an experience they say only deepened their passion for food.
At the end of March 2023, their travels around New Zealand led them to Christchurch, where the city's energy and warmth sparked the idea for a new adventure. They made the decision to relocate and start Cinque Terre, aiming to bring a genuine taste of Italy to their new home — something both novel for some customers and nostalgic for others with memories of Italy.
Cinque Terre operates as a distinctive Italian food stall, bringing traditional flavours to local markets and events rather than running from a fixed storefront. Everything on the menu is handcrafted by Sonia and Raimondo themselves, with ingredients sourced from local businesses to support the community and keep sustainability at the centre of what they do.
Their core street food offering includes home-made focaccia sandwiches with seasonal fillings, and an Italian deep-fried pizza made calzone-style and filled to order. On the sweeter side, they make tiramisù choux buns and Sicilian limoncello cannoli. For special events, they also create dishes tailored to the occasion — among them a porchetta sandwich made with slow-roasted, whole deboned pork belly and loin, marinated in Italian herbs and served fresh.
Alongside their regular market stall, Cinque Terre offers catering with a wider range of traditional Italian dishes that can be tailored to a specific event, occasion or request. Their commercial kitchen itself isn't open for public walk-in retail — pickup is available, but only by pre-arrangement for online and phone orders.
Reviews consistently single out the focaccia sandwiches — particularly the porchetta filling — along with the deep-fried pizza and the tiramisu cream puffs and lemon custard bites. Customers describe the food as authentic and full of flavour, and note the warmth Sonia and Raimondo bring to talking with customers at their stall.
As a market-based business, the best way to try Cinque Terre is to catch them at one of their regular market stops, or to get in touch directly to arrange catering for an event.