Napier eats well. The combination of excellent local produce — lamb, beef, stone fruits, seafood from the bay — and a wine region that encourages serious gastronomy has produced a restaurant scene significantly better than the city's size would suggest. Most of the best restaurants are in Ahuriri.
Mister D on Tennyson Street is a local institution for weekend brunch and lunch: inventive, seasonal, and usually full. Pacifica, also on Tennyson Street, is the most celebrated fine-dining restaurant in the region, with a focus on New Zealand seafood and local produce in a tasting-menu format. For casual eating, the Sunday Farmers' Market at Hawke's Bay Showgrounds (Saturday mornings, year-round) is excellent — fresh produce, artisan food, and local cheese.
In Ahuriri, Bistronomy and Mister D's sister operation Groove Kitchen both do well-executed bistro food. The inner harbour setting makes the outdoor tables particularly pleasant in summer.