Good Local
The Wise Boys making the best burgers
If you’re a burger fan and trying to eat less meat, Wise Boys in Grey Lynn is a great place to get your tastebuds primed. These burgers are, as chef Heston Blumenthal would describe, the perfect bite size. They are also totally delicious and filling, and while everything on the menu is vegan it’s not something they shout about.
Wise Boys co-founders and brothers Luke, 29, and Tim Burrows, 30, wanted the burgers to appeal on their merits and they certainly do that. “The word vegan can be quite divisive so we tried to stay away from that and get people to try them.
“Once they do they realise they don’t miss the meat and dairy and it’s an amazing alternative,” says Luke.
Luke and Tim grew up eating meat every day but after watching a few documentaries and learning about the effects of industrial agriculture they changed their diets accordingly to be vegan/vegetarian. It sparked a business idea for creating vegan food that was appealing to them, not just salads and smoothies.
And while they have both tried the scientifically created Impossible Burger, Wise Boys approach is different. Instead they want to showcase how satisfying whole ingredients can be. They use fresh local ingredients where possible and all their patties and sauces (their epic aioli and mayonnaise is now sold at Farro and Commonsense Organics) are a labour of love.
The most popular dish on the menu is the Crispy-Fried Chick burger, a fried chicken alternative made from chickpeas and gluten-flour. Other favourites include the Moroccan burger with a spiced kumara patty, and Smoke &
Fire organic tofu burger with a sensational satay sauce made with Fix & Fogg peanut butter. New to the menu are vegan Fish and Chips and a Quarter Flounder burger made from marinated banana blossoms generously coated in Garage Project lager beer batter.
Prior to launching, the boys built a food truck from recycled pallets and scrap metal, and did some recipe testing before launching their plant-based burger business in 2016.
“Wise Boys is not just about being vegan. It’s got to be healthy. There are some vegan products out there that are highly processed. And all our packaging is fully compostable. We are pretty much zero waste to landfill. From the start it has been about how we can create a business as good as it can be in every sense of the word.”
In October 2019 they moved into their first bricks and mortar joint, an old Chinese takeaway on Great North Road, Auckland, completely refitting and rebuilding it themselves and this summer they’ll be doing a pop-up in Takapuna with friends, Double Dutch Fries.