Eat your heart out New York
The Big Apple it may be, but Marlborough takes the cake when it comes to the number of food outlets, with more options per capita than culinary hotspot New York City.
The council makes the claim on its website, which, given the millions of people living in New York compared to only tens of thousands in Marlborough, could quite feasibly be true.
All up, there are 346 food outlets registered in the region. Crossreference that with the most recent census figures, and it works out to one food outlet for every 125 people.
Mayor John Leggett hesitated to call Marlborough the Big Apple of the south, however he did say there was definitely a cafe culture in Blenheim, and a diverse range of eateries.
‘‘There’s definitely a cafe culture, the days of instant coffee and boil ups in the office are pretty much over. It’s the consequence of having a lot of cafes to choose from,’’ he said.
Raupo owner Stephane Ughetto agreed. However, unlike the city that never sleeps, he bemoaned the fact many Blenheim cafes closed on the weekends, depriving people of options.
‘‘There’s been quite a big growth recently, in the last three years there’s been cafes popping up everywhere, and that doesn’t include the wineries,’’ he said.
As well as a cafe culture, more people are hopping into trucks, parking them up and serving food. Council figures show, of the 346 food outlets, 36 were mobile food operators.
Husband-and-wife team Jonny and Jodie Keen operate the newest food truck business in Marlborough, JJ’s, which made its debut in the Briscoes car park, in central Blenheim, on Friday.
After they bought their vintage 1975 Trail Lite campervan, Jodie Keen posted on Facebook asking for suggestions about what food people wanted to see. She was overwhelmed by the response.
Loaded fries, nachos and macaroni and cheese topped the list, all of which were on the food truck’s menu, catering to late-night pub goers and shift workers.
Jodie Keen said the couple had a long-standing dream to open a food truck, partly inspired by tales of the old pie cart that used to be outside the Blenheim post office some 50 years ago.
She, like the couple that owned the Tealicious food truck in Blenheim, Hendri and Indah, liked the flexibility and freedom of food trucks. Plus, they were cheaper than setting up a restaurant or cafe.
‘‘Obviously we’ve got our own overheads, but it’s nothing compared to owning a cafe. It’s the flexibility I like, you can go anywhere within reason - it’s on wheels,’’ Jodie Keen said.
Hendri and his wife started their food truck in November 2015 to share the cuisine from their home country of Indonesia.
‘‘I think they’re becoming more and more popular. Before we started our food truck we went to Nelson a few times and saw lots in the CBD, which inspired us,’’ he said.