Tucked away in the elbow of a Remuera laneway, Spiga Pantry reflects the gastronomia of Turin. “A gastronomia is a place where you go and you buy fresh pastas, you buy the ham, the cheese, and also you buy some beautifully presented salads and much more using Turin ingredients,” explains co-owner Fabrizio Napolitano. “We have very beautiful old gastronomia there; you can still find them hidden in corners.”

Every product in this pocket-sized pantry tells a story, says Taryne, Fabrizio’s wife. And as it undergoes a relaunch with a refined visual identity and website, and a packaging refresh, storytelling will be paramount. Items – including pasta, olive oil, charcuterie, freshly made sauces and ready-to-eat dishes, jams, pickles, eggs, milk and cheese – will include a QR code which will take the buyer into the narrative, telling the who, where and how of each. Take, for instance, pasta from Mancini Pastificio: scan the code and you’ll see the field the wheat was grown in, what date it was harvested and when it was milled. From the map you’ll even see the pasta factory right in the heart of that wheat field. Fabrizio knows this because he’s been there, visiting producers, forging relationships and seeing for himself. “The choice [of products] is based on ethics, quality and friendship as well because I’ve been working with some of these people for 25 years,” he says. “Here is real Italian excellence that is really celebrated, because that makes us special and we want that.”

New for the relaunch will be homeware items, too, including blankets of New Zealand wool, soaps, glassware, linens and pasta tools. Taryne has worked closely with artist Nicola Bennett (whose work is displayed next door in the Spiga restaurant) on specially commissioned packaging for the pantry products and gift boxes.

So search out Remuera’s hidden corners, or go online for Spiga Pantry, where Italy meets New Zealand introducing old-school passionate suppliers from here and there and bringing it together. spigapantry.nz TRACY WHITMEY