Bestsellers: An eclair like no other

Thursday, 4 June 2026

Stationgrill, 46 Lyon St, Kihikihi

Gourmet pies, colourful salads and delicate macarons - Stationgrill combines home-style cooking with the owner’s perfectionist streak when it comes to petite desserts.

Diana Chow-Bowmar has had a passion for food since she was a kid, growing up on her father’s cattle ranch and meat export business. Originally from Zambia, she and her Kiwi husband moved to New Zealand 17 years ago.

“My father was Malaysian Chinese and that scene is very much about the food, so ever since we were young, we were encouraged to come into the kitchen and have a play and that was our social thing because Dad was working a lot.

Stationgrill serves up gourmet pies alongside delicate desserts. Pictured is a vanilla macaron, banoffee pie eclair and strawberry chocolate moose cake.

“So that time was special because that is when he would teach us and our time together was spent like that.”

Alongside the cafe, Diana Chow-Bowmar has a catering business, Cosana.

When she first moved to New Zealand, she worked as a radiologist, but eager for a foodie challenge she started a macaron making business and sold them at local markets.

Catering and food truck business, Cosana, followed. It has has been running on and off for about 14 years now in between time at home with the kids. These days, her 17 year-old son and his friends run the food truck, while she makes the food.

The banoffee pie eclair is the best selling item at the moment.

“In the beginning, they were very shy, but now they are so confident, it’s done wonders for them, so I run the truck mostly for them.”

Her latest adventure was opening Stationgrill about a year ago, and it’s been going so well she is now considering opening another store closer to Ōtorohanga. She continues to run Cosana on the side, catering for weddings and private parties. She does almost all of the cooking for both businesses herself and everything is made from scratch.

“The majority of the recipes have come from my own grandmother. I pick and choose what goes with what based on my experiences and what I’ve eaten when I was younger.”

Tell us about the bestseller:

Their gourmet pies are popular and alongside their cafe food, they also offer ready to heat meals.

The best seller during winter had been the banoffee eclair, which is made with salted caramel, fresh whipped cream, fresh bananas and Whittaker’s chocolate. All ingredients, down to the salt, are from New Zealand and the eclairs are made fresh each day.

Why is it so appealing?

She reckoned banoffee pie was a kiwi favourite and the rustic look of the eclair is what finally won people over.

“I’m quite a perfectionist and I wanted my eclair to look exactly like the French ones. Not a single bump and a mirror glaze on top. For seven years, I was perfecting this recipe and then they didn’t sell.

The carrot cake, pictured, was Diana Chow-Bowmar’s favourite treat.

“One day my daughter was making them and put them in the oven straight away and they came out quite large and bumpy. I put them out, not wanting to waste them, and sold out.”

Who buys them?

Farmers on their way through town and rural mums on the way home after Saturday sports were the key customers.

How much?

$10.

What’s your favourite item?

She loved sitting down with a cup of coffee and a slice of their carrot cake.