Remember a few months ago, when doom and gloom dominated the hospo news? Well, there certainly have been a lot of closures in central Wellington, but many of those places have re-opened, and we’ve even got a few brand-new bars and restaurants to celebrate.
Here’s a list of reincarnations:
Some brand-new places:
A couple of rumoured upcoming openings:
That leaves a handful of recent failures yet to be revived:
If anything, the industry looks to be healthier than a few months ago, and a few of the new places (Pollux, Hashigo Zake and The Library in particular) are among our new favourites. If this means that consumers have stopped spending on Plasma TVs while still dining out, then I applaud their good taste. Of course, it could mean that we’re all committing kuidaore (a Japanese term roughly meaning "to ruin oneself through extravagance in food"). But what a lovely way to go.
Three bucks fifty to eat lunch at Logan Brown!
That got your attention right? Well, the fine print is you have get educated about climate change first and click on a few links, then you will be in the draw to win one of 40 lunches for two (for only three fiddy) at Logan Brown.
Click through to the 350 Aotearoa site to find out how the Wellywing of 350 Aotearoa is part of a global movement pushing for action on climate change and enter the competition. They have undertaken a bunch of stuff since December 2008 and are ramping up for an international day of climate change action on the 24th of October.
Wellington being Wellington it is *the* place to come to make some noise politically and try to directly influence decision-makers. Some choose the traditional ways with a hikoi, some placards and a loud hailer; others use their purchasing power or womanly charms to push things gently in the direction they would like to see the world go. A good source of contacts and ideas for those interested in sustainability is the social network Intersect, they have a meet up for Wellingtonians on the last Tuesday of every month at Mon Ami. Expect a report back soon from this Wellingtonisa about what it is like to "Intersect" in person with these sustainability types.