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Kia ora everyone and thanks for taking an interest in what we do!

My name is Jen and the maker behind The Driftwood Kitchen is my partner John and as the title may suggest we live in the beautiful but not too remote Piha :)

We can proudly say that most of the wood we use comes directly from our local beach or the waterfalls and rivers of the area so that everything you see in our store was probably floating around as driftwood at some point.

John grew up on the coastlines around Auckland, he loves the bush but more than anything he loves the ocean.
He took an interest in cabinet making when he was young and became fascinated with the multitude of shapes, colors and patterns that wood has to offer.

Over time he got in the habit of hunting for his own material with the same dedication of a collector. Every storm is a chance for new discoveries. Every piece of driftwood is the testimony of a long slow growth in the past of the native bush and a journey of sand,mud and water afterwards.
It takes time, dedication and a good boots to go hunting for timber and every recovery is indeed a challenge on his own :)

Along many other projects John started designing and making kitchen utensils a long time ago just for his personal use. Occasionally they became gifts for friends and since people kept asking for them he ended up joining the local network of art and craft markets. He's constantly experimenting with new designs and shapes and takes great pleasure in his work.

Our personal experience of lockdown had a lot to do with food and cooking, it was a healthy way of dealing with the stress and a comforting use of our time.
We couldn't help but to note that we were not the only ones hunting for yeast :)
All our friends were suddenly getting very busy in the kitchen and this is why we decided to take our first steps online.

Cooking with handmade wooden tools is something that we love and we hope you will appreciate our work as much as we do!