Your mission: Eat your body weight in burgers
Miri Schroeter sets herself a festival challenge and fails, fortunately.
As I prepared to eat 123 burgers on the first day of Wellington on a Plate, I took all the right steps: loose clothing, skipping breakfast and a half-hour walk to the first burger joint.
I chose restaurants within a 1km radius to save time, left drinks to a minimum to save room, and I even arranged to halve each burger with a Wellington on a Plate fanatic so that I could try more.
Heading into Plum on Cuba St with a rumbling tummy, I relentlessly chowed down on a creole chicken burger with bourbon chilli pineapple.
One down, 122 to go on a mission to eat my body weight in burgers.
Next came meatballs in a bun from Scopa, then a crayfish and chorizo patty from Counter Culture, a lamb and haggis burger, angus beef burger, crispy pork burger, beef short rib burger, beef cheek burger, lemongrass chicken burger, chocolate brioche burger . . . burger, burger, buggered!
Ten halves with sides of fries and I was absolutely stonkered.
So, do burger fans have strategies to avoid missing out during the 17-day festival?
Festival fan and helping hand Megan Penno uses a spreadsheet which allows her to make choices based based on the type of patty, location and price.
Penno, who tries about 15 burgers and events every year, draws up a must-try list before the festival begins.
She’s also a chip connoisseur so she adds a section for burgers that come with fries.
The mysterious spreadsheet is one of several aids that make the rounds during the festival. It’s passed from computer to computer to help festival-goers cope with the ever-increasing range of choices.
While 123 burgers would be impossible, Wellingtonian Richard Neill manages one a day.
Out of pure appreciation of the bunned creation, Neill photographs and reviews each one – leaving friends from as far afield as Germany with their mouths watering.
Known as the ‘‘burger-man’’ among friends, he’s there as soon as the festival starts.
One burger daily was realistic, affordable and meant he didn’t get sick of them.
As much as he’d love to try every burger, having limited time added to the novelty, he said.
Plum director David Fenwick said patronage was up by 100 per cent on some days.
Best Burger 2016-winning restaurant Apache was so full on Friday it sold out by 2pm. Owner Le Minh said he hand-made about 100 buns on the first day, and they were gone within hours.
The festival turns slow winter days into a fortnight of madness as office workers come out in flocks, and tickets go fast.
Festival director Sarah Meikle said the quickest-selling event was full in less than two minutes. Overall 8000 event tickets had sold, and the number kept climbing.
Last year festival-goers munched their way through 70,000 burgers, and this year’s sales were well on track to top that figure.
Wellington on a Plate runs until August 27. It features 140 two or three-course menus, 117 events, 41 cocktails and 123 burgers and 19 food trucks in a food truck rally.