Residents of Elizabeth Towers and locals alike have another reason to get excited about the Thirty Eight Elizabeth development with another stunning food and beverage terrace offering.

Café and unique design concept, Philia, will be a place to refresh and grab a leisurely bite to eat from a menu of nutritious local whole foods from nature, including sea, land, and forest. There will be numerous vegetarian and plant-based options available.

The café itself has a grand entrance opening into the new Thirty Eight Elizabeth | Elizabeth Towers development and another dining options alongside new eatery Picnicka.

Philia owners Sangeeta and Gurwant Dhot are looking forward to treating Tauranga to a very unique experience.

'Philia is a fresh, nourishing, exciting, and innovative food offering with an emphasis on vegetarian and vegan options using unprocessed products," says Sangeeta.

"We will be utilising local, sustainable, and mostly plant-based products. Sustainability is at the heart of our business, not just with food but as a whole concept for the entire business.”

The couple are planning to provide a full immersive hospitality encounter with their food, interior and design choices.

They are passionate about food, nature, sustainability as well as contributing to the community.

Sangeeta and Gurwant say their goals are to ensure a warm and welcoming atmosphere, source and use local ingredients and bring together the pure taste of good food together with their teamwork and commitment.

The café will be open for breakfast and lunch. A range of cabinet style food as well as selection of beverages including coffee, smoothies, shakes, and fresh juices will be offered.

The holistic philosophy and the Dhot's love of food is reflected in the name of the café.

Philia is one of the four ancient Greek words for love. It is often translated as the 'highest kind of love”. A love of life or living things.

'The word is also embraced in Philia's biophilic design concept, used within the building industry to increase connectivity to the natural environment and echo our love of nature,” says Gurwant.

Philia will be a comforting place to be in contrast with the bustle of inner city, a space to rebalance, reflect and share time with friends. Large spaces and high ceilings cultivate interaction through clean spatial relationships.

The design is comforting, with the addition of natural elements, planting, and nature, improving our sense of wellbeing, qualities ever so important in a frantic high energy world.

The development's shopping and dining precincts are set to transform Tauranga CBD. The north-facing food and beverage terrace will bask in all-day sun and add an exciting new dimension to the city's burgeoning foodie scene.

Thirty Eight Elizabeth | Elizabeth Towers project manager Brett Nicholls says Philia joins Picnicka in a premiere food offering.

'We are excited to have secured a beautiful café, along with Picnicka – the brainchild of Clarence restaurant owners Kim and Noel Cimadom.

'The shared community space and streetscaping beneath the terrace, including tree planting and greening, is also really taking shape on Elizabeth Street thanks to Tauranga City Council. The outlook looks bright and we are excited about launch in early 2022.”

The development was due to open this year thanks to extra investment to keep to an ambitious schedule for the project.

But Tauranga's lockdown and the closed boundaries with Auckland and Waikato have seen a delay. Brett says a new schedule is being put together, which should be available early next year.

'It's been a challenging time in terms of keeping to the ambitious self-imposed deadlines we set for this build. A build of this size would normally command a much longer schedule for completion. It's incredible to think how quickly we have come to this point with hard work and dedication from our teams since 2018 when the first sod was turned,” says Brett.

'There is no question that we would have been now open for business with the residences on the market had Covid not got in the way. But like everyone else in New Zealand, we are dealing with an evolving set of circumstances and making the best we can of it all.”

Brett says, now the borders with Auckland and the Waikato have opened the completion of the build will progress more rapidly.

'We built up a lot of momentum in the lead up before lockdown and this helped. We are now starting to see some of the expertise we need from Auckland to be able to bring the development to completion and are working very hard to land on a new set of firm dates for opening the retail, food and beverage terrace, and residential offering, in that order. We will announce these new dates as soon as possible.

'The end is certainly in sight, and we can't wait to throw the doors open, not only to our development, but to the transformation and revitalisation of Tauranga city.”