Join the party as VWOAP turns 10
Wellington will become party central during this year’s Visa Wellington On a Plate and for good reason.
It’s a decade since VWOAP began and there will be plenty to celebrate during the 17-day festival, which runs from August 10-26.
‘‘We’ve taken ‘party’ as the theme being it’s our 10th birthday, so the city will be buzzing with banquets, fiestas, soirees, and shindigs as local chefs team up with international superstars to celebrate,’’ says festival director Sarah Meikle.
Classed as New Zealand’s biggest food festival, VWOAP attracts thousands of people to the city and this year will be no exception.
Wellington’s restaurants, venues, laneways and carparks will offer up special set menus, burgers, cocktails, events, popups and ticketed events.
More than 200 eateries, food trucks and bars will serve up dishes and drinks with an eye to winning a Festival Award in the Dine Wellington, Burger Wellington or Cocktail Wellington categories.
Back-track 10 years to the very first VWOAP in 2009, which comprised 30 events and 43 Dine menus.
Fast forward to 2018 and there’s a total of 145 events, 179 burgers, 63 cocktails, 99 Dine menus and 267 hospitality businesses taking part.
‘‘I am very proud of what we have achieved in the last decade – what started out as an idea to enliven Wellington’s hospitality sector in the dead of winter has grown into the country’s largest food festival,’’ says Sarah.
‘‘And it’s one of the most eagerly anticipated events on New Zealand’s foodie calendar.’’
As VWOAP’s profile has grown, so too has the attraction of prominent national and international talent, such as Shanghai’s Jenny Gao, Australianbased Ben Shewry, Sydney’s Dan Hong of Mr Wong and Ms G’s and London’s celebrated chef Anna Hansen.
‘‘It has been amazing to see the collaborations between these chefs and our much-loved Wellington restaurants,’’ says Sarah.
Of the restaurants featuring in this year’s programme, 16 have been involved since day one.
They include Beach Babylon, Bistro 169, Boulcott Street Bistro, Cafe´ Polo, Capitol, Chameleon, Hippopotamus, Logan Brown, Monsoon Poon, One80, Pravda, Shed 5, Sojourn, The Tasting Room, Trade Kitchen and Vivant.
Lydia Suggate, co-owner of new south coast eatery The Botanist, remembers those early years clearly.
‘‘I’ve been involved right from the start 10 years ago at Beach Babylon – we jumped onto it in its first year, which was also our first year of business, and it has been amazing to see how phenomenal the growth has been.
‘‘Since then every other cafe/ restaurant/bar I’ve been involved in has always done VWOAP too, in fact I’ve just done the maths and see I’ve been involved in 27 now!’’
Lydia has always enjoyed the creative process involved in preparing for the festival.
‘‘All the tweaking to get that wow factor, and it’s great for the chefs to experiment and do something interesting in what would normally be a quieter time of year.’’
Burger Liquor owner Dan Haycock is another who has been a part of VWOAP since it began. For the past four years Burger Liquor has entered the Burger Wellington competition, but before then he was part of the Boulcott Street Bistro team.
‘‘In those early days there were only a handful of restaurants involved, it’s amazing to see how big it has got – it is still just as exciting and as much fun as it was back then.’’
Shaun Clouston, executive chef and partner of the highly successful Logan Brown Restaurant, says the festival has taken a giant leap in a decade.
‘‘We jumped on board back then because we all wanted to see Wellington become a foodie destination, and now it attracts people from everywhere.
‘‘You’ve got chefs coming in from all over the world, people from all over the country, and locals have to get in pretty quick or they miss out on events!’’
While Logan Brown is participating in all three categories – Dine Wellington, Burger Wellington and Cocktail Wellington – it is also on the event schedule with Frankie Goes to Wellywood.
‘‘We’ve got Frank [Camorra] from the very famous Melbourne restaurant MoVida joining us to create Spanish-style dinners over two nights and it sold out in seven minutes, it was unbelievable!’’
Shaun also loves the fact that his suppliers and producers are just as excited about the festival.
‘‘Our suppliers and producers get to promote their products, we get the challenge of coming up with some cool events and dishes, everybody involved does a fantastic job, Wellington really does put its best foot forward.’’