Juno is a wine and cocktail bar on the ground floor of The Greenhouse, a new apartment building in Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s owned by John Yip and Jamie Yeon, who used to have a wonderful little yakitori wine bar on Dominion Road called Omni, which we miss very much.

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Juno is not a restaurant: it’s an all-day kind of place that serves coffee by day, and will – eventually – switch over to wine and cocktails at night. “The concept was a cocktail wine bar, with a hotel-lobby feel,” says Yip. “We wanted it to have a big-city atmosphere.” They serve excellent snacks, but don’t run a full menu: the other day Yip deftly assembled a tartine of seeded sourdough with egg and pickled carrot. “Light, nourishing, things we want to eat,” he says. “Just simple things done well. It wasn’t just about the food, it was about the feeling of the space.”

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Yip and Yeon have had their eye on this space for a couple of years. It’s pulled back from the hubbub of Ponsonby Road and it has a high stud with big airy windows looking out to the street. The space is divided in two by a structural wall which breaks up what would otherwise be quite a large room.

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When they got the lease, they called designer Katie Lockhart to create a fitout for the space. “I always said that if we were going to do something else, it had to be Katie,” says Yip. “It was just a matter of finding the right space.”

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Lockhart ran with Yip and Yeon’s brief, designing an elegant fitout that combines pale grey walls and Marmoleum floors with walnut cabinetry. Through the middle of the space around the structural wall there’s a big open bar in a U-shape – drinks on one side, food on the other – with seating at a high counter. Wooden booths further break up the space.

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To this, the trio added softer touches, mostly contributed by friends – Lockhart’s partner Darryl Ward made the spectacular built-in speakers, while two paintings by artist Seung Yul Oh sit on a high wall. The coffee cups are made by another friend, ceramicist Lucy McMillan, and you can buy these too – along with flowers at the front door. “It’s all our community,” says Yeon. Continues Yip: “Everyone got involved.”

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Juno at The Greenhouse

20 Williamson Avenue, Grey Lynn, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

junoauckland.com

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