With "à la carte" meaning ordering individual items off a menu, this documentary explores Auckland's booming restaurant culture, back in 2003. Host Ginette McDonald (of Lynn of Tawa fame) visits and works in many eateries, from Chinese to Italian to a humble fish and chip shop. There are insights into how the other half lives, with Simon Gault (pre-Masterchef) cooking for an unnamed Hollywood producer aboard a luxury yacht — for a total rental price of $5,000 a day! McDonald also visits a chef training school, a teppanyaki restaurant, and joins revered Auckland chef Judith Tabron at the fish market.