Wellington
Sorry Melbourne laneways, we’re going here instead, writes JOHN CORBETT
IFthere’s one thing you can guarantee about New Zealand’s cool little capital, it’s surprises. Already a food lover’s mecca with its annual Visa Wellington on a Plate festival each August, destination restaurants such as Hiakai by Monique Fiso (one of Time magazine’s 100 Greatest Places of 2019), and more cocktail bars and cafes per capita than New York City, the city now has a new hospitality hot spot in the urban district of Te Aro, a stone’s throw southwest of the waterfront and CBD.
A former red-light and skid-row district, Te Aro has drawn a growing number of entrepreneurs in recent years to its big supply of empty and underused storefronts. The area’s urbanscape, a mash-up of down-at-heel Victorian, workaday weatherboard and a big dash of ’70s Brutalism, wins no prizes for looks and its residential mix of affluent Baby Boomers, art students, office and shop workers and homeless people is pretty diverse as well.
But stroll around the 12 or so blocks centred on Cuba St and you can’t fail to notice the area’s humming vitality; right now, it’s probably Australasia’s liveliest urban precinct (sorry Melbourne laneways). Te Aro in Maori means The Stream or The Place, and these days it is very much that.
TIME FOR A TIPPLE
Denzien, Wellington’s first inner-city urban distillery, well and truly proves that gin is the new craft beer. Located in the smart setting of Lombard St (designer fashion, a neighbouring eatery that serves gin-inspired dishes), Denzien produces a range of innovative beverages to delight gin aficionados. Its flagship offering, Te Aro Dry Gin, includes New Zealand botanicals such as kawakawa and horopito and, in the view of this drinker, tastes better than Bombay Sapphire. denzien-urban-distillery.business.site
TIME FOR LUNCH
Highwater at 54 Cuba St is a smart, new, all-day eatery with a commitment to seasonal and ethical food and sustainability. A long rectangular space with banquette and table seating and welcoming bar seats near the door, Highwater churns its own butter, bakes its own bread and makes its own bacon and sausages. Highwater’s decor complements the organic leanings of its menu with finishes of natural timber and concrete. Blink and you could be in Melbourne. highwatereatery.co.nz
TIME FOR A TREAT
One of the culinary delights of Singapore is its many cake shops selling delectable kueh (dessert cakes and pastries). At 6/100 Tory St, expat Singaporeans Andrew and Mariah Grace of Grace Patisserie offer an irresistible combination of Asian flavours and French techniques (Andrew trained as a patissier in France). A wonderland of macarons, eclairs, friands and glossy glazed mignardises (tiny sweet dessert bites), Grace is an elegant spot for morning and afternoon teas.
Need more treats? Visit the Wellington Chocolate Factory at 5 Eva St and adjacent Fix and Fogg for amazing flavoured peanut butters including Smoke & Fire and Fruit Toast. gracepatisserie.nz, wcf.co.nz, fixandfogg.com
TIME FOR PEOPLE-WATCHING
In France, pretty much every neighbourhood has a homely coffee shop and bar where you can drift in, order a drink and a snack and watch the world go by.
Le Samouraï at 45 Tory St continues the tradition, from morning croissants and croque monsieurs to after-dark aperitifs, with $3 coffee. The name and the spare aesthetic of the place may or may not be a nod to the 1967 neo-noir movie starring Alain Delon, but you’ll feel très français as you sample Le Samouraï’s fare (quiche Lorraine, rillettes, charcuterie, cheeses) and knock back a Pernod or Lillet.
The windows, open wide to the street yearround, make for great people-watching. lesamourai.co.nz
TIME FOR A DRINK
Just around the corner, at 31 Courtenay Place, is one of the city’s coolest new drinking and eating establishments. The theme of Lulu Bar and Restaurant (open daily from 4pm) is Pacific island/oceanic; its underwater-type pinky-blue, lighting also lends it a SpongeBob-type vibe that draws a hip young crowd.
The spacious result of two storefronts knocked into one, Lulu Bar has a snazzy long bar, serves Pacific-themed starters and mains, and offers an open-to-the-elements smoking area with (genius touch) heated concrete seating. lulubar.co.nz
AND THEN ...
If you fancy bar-hopping, Night Flower at 55 Ghuznee St reworks old-fashioned cocktails with botanical flair. Blair St near the harbour is lined with restaurants and cafes including Squirrel, a pared-back, New York-style eatery. Field & Green at 262 Wakefield St offers classic European comfort dishes and 17 flavours of house-churned ice cream.
Last but not least at 2-4 Roxburgh St is El Culo Del Mundo, a Latin American restaurant and bar whose menu includes fried grasshoppers. The polite translation of El Culo’s name means boondocks or backwater and, until recently, Te Aro fitted that description too; stroll its streets today, though, and you can taste the whole world.
facebook.com/nightflowerbar, wellingtonnz.com/discover/eat-and-drink/squirrel, fieldandgreen.co.nz, elculodelmundo.co.nz