Poderi Crisci is an Italian restaurant and 7.7-hectare vineyard at the end of a country lane on Waiheke Island, founded by Antonio Crisci — who arrived in New Zealand from Naples in 1991 and previously opened Auckland restaurants Toto and Non Solo Pizza. The vineyard was established in 2008 and the restaurant opened in 2010, and the business represents four generations of the Crisci family's food and wine background.
The kitchen serves traditional Italian food with modern technique, drawing on its own kitchen garden, and is known for its multi-course "Italian Long Lunch" and an eight-course degustation menu served on Saturday evenings. The estate grows all the fruit for its wines, hand-harvested and aged 18 months in French oak in an underground cellar.
Function spaces span the main restaurant, a cellar Barrel Room, and outdoor decked and garden areas, accommodating 10 to 140 guests, with marquee options for larger events, weddings and corporate functions; there is also a helicopter landing pad. The restaurant was a 2014 Metro Top 50 listing and appears in the Cuisine Good Food Guide, and it produces New Zealand's only Waiheke-grown Arneis.
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