Revelling in good food and fine wine
"A few exhibitors had to restock for Sunday, which is a really good sign." Renee Murray, event organiser
Fine wine, good food and live music had crowds of people braving the cold winds to eat and drink their fill at the Awapuni Function Centre.
The Central District’s Food and Wine Show, on Saturday and Sunday, attracted plenty of visitors, despite some colder weather over the course of the weekend, event organiser Renee Murray said.
The expo had 80 exhibitors selling food and wine, craft beer and kitchen gadgets as well as food trucks and cooking demonstrations – backed by a soundtrack of live music.
‘‘We haven’t got a visitor count yet, but there were always plenty of people going through. A few exhibitors had to restock for Sunday, which is a really good sign,’’ Murray said.
Mark and Louise Baynes, and their 12-year-old daughter Josephine Baynes, stopped by the show while on a family day out.
‘‘It was a really nice atmosphere. You can tell we enjoyed it, because I’ve spent a fortune on food and drink to take home,’’ Mark Baynes said.
Baynes and his wife had picked out a selection of wines from New Zealand vineyards they hadn’t had a chance to try before.
For Josephine, it was all about the food. She’d been around almost all the food trucks and had found a stall with some great bierstick samples.
Her favourite flavour of the day was the pesto samples from Levin’s Genoese Foods - so she made sure to leave their stall with a couple of tubs.
Carol and Tony Smith had come up from the Ka¯piti Coast, and were looking forward to seeing a live cooking demonstration from celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen.
Carol Smith said she hoped to pick up a few recipe ideas to try with the Wairarapa cooking oil she’d purchased at the show.