A Social Network for Coffee Drinkers
Hey, this is Wellington, the town that’s run on coffee and is generally savvy enough to be online and connected.
We probably need this (Coffeenatic) like an extra hole in the head … but then again that’ll just make getting the coffee in quicker!
(thank you Web Worker Daily for noticing this for us all)
It’s Wine Time
I know we talked about this last year, when we made fun of John McGrath (you know, just for a change) but I feel the need to remind y’all that the Wairarapa Wine Harvest Festival is coming up again.
And now I can say for certain that it really is the most kickass day ever. Just $25 gets your ticket into the shindig, and you can get a shuttle from the train for $15. Taste wines from all kinds of boutique winemakers around the Wairarapa, many of whom don’t have a cellar door. Laugh as the man from Maebus describes his favourite Pinot Noir as tasting “like angels fornicating in your mouth” – and try and get in his good books in case he really is in with Google. Watch my parents try and win half a case of wine with their awesome dancing skills again. But one suggestion: don’t try and walk on rolling barrels. You will just fall off, hit your head and cry.
Rustic Mexican
Well we rushed down to the new venue for Viva Mexico this evening and thoroughly enjoyed that they’d almost completely run out of stock!
Luckily they agreed to sell us what they still had… which was some pretty good enchiladas.
Something fishy going on
Which waterfront restaurant, famous for its seafood, is unlikely to be telling its guests that their special fish de jour Sole is actually frozen, not fresh?
Mo’ Ho?
Some have accused Mojo of becoming Wellington’s answer to Starbucks, but according to one blogger, maybe they’re more like Hooters. Apparently, “All the female staff have their shirts buttoned down to the lowest feasible button meaning that any movement will expose a little more breast than your average cafe.” Is this a new moral low for coffee marketing? Such a major incident required fearless investigative reporting, so a fly was dispatched to Mojo to find out…
Drinking in the streets
The Masked Barfly has joined the problem drinkers in Cuba Mall. No, I haven’t started quaffing meths or wrestling diners for their steaks (it’s all a filthy lie): Good Luck have gone overground and now have an outdoor drinking area in the middle of the mall. I suppose the local retailers don’t mind people drinking in the streets as long as we’re paying them $15 a pop for the privilege.
A couple of us flies were still buzzing after the Ornette Coleman gig, and after a quick stop at Kazu to fill our abdomens (and to sup on salt-rimmed sake & tonic – so wrong and yet so right) we headed off to Happy for the rumoured “after party”. Well, it was definitely afterwards, and I suppose it was a party, but unless we left too early (the Newtown bus was calling) there was no sign of Mr Coleman or even one of his myriad bassists. Oh well, a Chris Knox sighting will do for now.
So, “El Toro” is it? It seems all things Mexican are hot right now, and while it’s not exactly a tequila bar, Viva Mexico from the much-missed Wakefield Markets will be making a welcome return. It opens this Friday at the back of the Left Bank, complete with old favourites like Divorced Eggs and new hipster-friendly Dios de los Muertos décor.
Speaking of comebacks, Herd Street Brasserie is apparently set to reopen next month. Let’s hope that the new owners are more savvy than the original ones: though let’s face it, that wouldn’t be hard. And the Masked Barfly also hopes that they continue an emphasis on alcohol as well as food: all together now, “Oh I do like to drink beside the seaside…”
Introducing: The Masked Barfly
Who (or what) is The Masked Barfly? Maybe the primly pinstriped connoisseur sipping Viognier at Arbitrageur? The earnest beer geek debating Saaz hops and top-fermented ales at Bar Edward? What about the tight-panted hipster knocking back deeply ironic cask wine at Mighty Mighty? Or perhaps all of the above and more?
We at the Wellingtonista have never been shy about our love for the delicious demon drink, but now we can introduce to you our newest and most disreputable writer: The Masked Barfly. She, he or it (it’s hard to tell with invertebrates, especially when they are inveterate inebriates) will be brought in as a specialist correspondent to bring you the latest hospitality news, the hottest drinking tips and the most salacious gossip that the libel laws will allow.
The fly has eclectic tastes, so expect everything from decadent new cocktails to cheep beer nights, with even the odd morsel of food and coffee info thrown in. It will be buzzing around the city, bringing the news on boozing in the ‘burbs as well as the fleshpots of Courtenay & Cuba. And of course if you have tips to share, or vile unsubstantiated rumours to spread, send them our way and we’ll make sure it gets to our new correspondent.
Eva Dixon’s to get the boot from the Zoo
The DomPost reports that Eva Dixon’s Cafe is being given the old heave-ho from Wellington Zoo. The contract for the running of the Zoo’s cafe came up last October, and, as co-owner John Heald said…
We were under the impression it wouldn’t have been a problem and were waiting for the paperwork to come through …
But no! The Zoo weighed up their options, and have decided to go with faceless, characterless corporate catering outfit Spotless.
Says Karen Fifield, chief executive of the Zoo…
We wanted to make a commercial decision which was going to result in value for the zoo.
Given that Eva’s is ‘predominantly family-run and locally owned’, and Spotless, well, aren’t (and hardly have a, err, ‘spotless’ reputation with regards to treating their staff well), it might be argued that the Zoo is flying in the face of one of their own stated goals, which is to “generate lasting community support by raising the profile of the Zoo and making the Zoo relevant to all Wellingtonians.” (Admittedly, it does fulfill their goal of increasing “…financial sustainability by increasing revenue…”).
Whatever the case, if you’d like to vent your opinion on this particular issue to someone who has some sway in the Zoo’s affairs, drop Celia Wade-Brown a line – she’s the WCC Councillor in charge of the Zoo Trust.
If you can use some exotic booze…
…there’s a bar in Cuba Mall. Okay, so that doesn’t swing quite as well as the original, but those with a longing for outrageous costumes and hard drinking, but who can’t stomach the Sevens, ought to know that it’s Tiki Bar weekend at Matterhorn.
That’s right: you have one more night to savour concoctions based on classics by Trader Vic and Beachbum Berry; bar staff dressed as Hawaiian deities; bubbling cauldrons of lethally refreshing punch; and some of the cheesiest slices of lounge exotica ever committed to vinyl.