The Bicycle Thief is an Italian restaurant at 12 Vernon Drive, Lincoln, in the Selwyn district south-west of Christchurch. It sits in a quiet semi-rural setting among fields and back roads, and serves wood-fired pizza and fresh handmade pasta alongside Italian wines.
### Cuisine and the space
The kitchen works with traditional Italian products and recipes paired with fresh New Zealand-grown produce, across wood-fired pizza, handmade pasta and Italian mains. Most diets are catered for, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free.
The dining room is built around booth seating that the restaurant brought with it to the Vernon Drive site to preserve an intimate feel. Each booth seats up to six people and is described by the restaurant as a way to have a private meal or entertain guests — practical for small board dinners or client hosting, though not a substitute for a dedicated private room. Overall seating capacity is not published.
### Events and catering
The Bicycle Thief offers a full catering service and markets it directly at weddings, corporate events and private parties across Lincoln and Christchurch, stating it caters from small tables of two through to large parties. Enquiries are made through an event enquiry form on its site that captures event type, guest count and requirements, with the restaurant responding with a tailored proposal. Per-head pricing and capacity ceilings are not published and need to be confirmed.
The restaurant also operates a dedicated events centre, used for its cooking classes — the location is confirmed with each booking. Those classes are a well-defined group activity: a two-hour session with Deep making hand-stretched pizza or fresh pasta, including full recipe and ingredients and a glass of Montepulciano, at $85 per person, Sundays 2pm to 4pm, with a minimum of 10 and maximum of 15 participants. That format translates directly into an incentive or team-building activity.
Dolly's fresh pasta — made in house from 00 flour, semolina and fresh eggs, with a vegan version on request — is sold by the 250g, 500g and 1kg for collection, in tagliatelle, pappardelle, fettuccine, spaghetti, rigatoni, pipe rigate/lumaconi and fusilli. A sister restaurant, Ratana, operates in Rolleston.
### Practical detail
Closed Monday; Tuesday to Friday 4.30pm to 9.00pm; Saturday 11.30am to 2.30pm and 4.30pm to late; Sunday 11.30am to 2.30pm and 4.30pm to 9.30pm. Tuesday is Locals' Night. Bookings, online ordering and gift cards run through the restaurant's own systems; phone 03 322 4731.
### Suitability for MICE
The hands-on cooking class, with its clear price, capacity band and fixed timing, is the standout for incentive and team-building programmes in Canterbury. Combined with an off-site catering service and booth seating suited to small hosted dinners, The Bicycle Thief is a useful option for groups based in Lincoln, Rolleston or the wider Selwyn district, or for a short transfer out of the city.
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