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:

  • Vin­tage → Hashigo Zake
  • Calyp­so → Elixir
  • Epic → Rhythm
  • Chow Cabaret → The Library
  • Par­adiso → Bet­ty’s (I insist on the apos­tro­phe)
  • State Opera House Espres­so Bar → Pol­lux

Some brand-new places:

  • Portofi­no (at Kumu­to­to)
  • Red Gin­ger (under­neath Hawthorn Lounge)
  • Lychee (in the wilder­ness of Arthur St)

A cou­ple of rumoured upcom­ing open­ings:

  • “Cuba” (replac­ing Zeal in Gar­rett St)
  • Yet anoth­er Irish pub, replac­ing New Orleans in Allen St

That leaves a hand­ful of recent fail­ures yet to be revived:

  • Herd St Brasserie
  • Sub­way at Chaf­fers Dock
  • Empo­rio in Chews Lane

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.