Heart of the City

KIWI MUSICIAN ANTHONIE TONNON is probably best known for his acclaimed 2021 album Leave Love Out of This and for being the operator of Whanganui’s much-loved Durie Hill Elevator. But the singer/songwriter is also a passionate advocate of his adopted home of Whanganui, so we asked him to take us on a tour of one of his favourite parts of the city - Drews Avenue.

Small but perfectly formed, Drews Avenue has grown into a vibrant, communal hub that may well just sum up what Whanganui is all about.

“Drews Avenue is like our tiny K’ Road or tiny Cuba Street,” Tonnon says. “It’s quirky and colourful, with a lot of people there who are passionate about the city or - like me - who have recently moved here, and that brings a special energy.”

“Whanganui, like my hometown of Dunedin, was a town that was quite bustling till about the 1920s, and in many ways the urban landscape has stayed in a pre-WW2 form, which means it is very cyclable and walkable, with great heritage buildings. And Whanganui has escaped the tendency to sprawl - it’s still quite centralised, you can walk or cycle or take a bus to anywhere you need to go and I think we should be really making the most of that.”

Which is exactly what Drews Avenue is doing. A spate of renovations and new businesses have made it a model of urban activation - fashionable without pretension, busy without the bustle, just a really great place to be. So what are Anthonie Tonnon’s picks for a day out on Drews?

“Definitely make sure you pay a visit to SourBros Bakery. John the baker there is religious about bread, as are his pastry and pizza chefs. They do fantastic sourdough and eclairs during the day and from Thursday to Saturday they do really great pizza.”

SourBros is also conveniently located directly below Teal Lounge, which is Anthonie’s next recommendation. “I was really surprised when I moved to Auckland that there were not many really small, intimate bars. The fashion in Dunedin had been for those, and I think they make for great spaces, with different interactions, and Teal Lounge is a great example of how to do a cool little bar. It seats only about 15 people, has its own brews on tap direct from the kegs, and also does great cocktails.”

And - wait for it - you can get pizza from SourBros downstairs to take up to Teal Lounge for the perfect marriage of fresh artisan pizza and craft beer. Genius.

But if you are visiting Drews Avenue prior to beer-o’clock, fear not. “Article Café is the originator,” Anthonie says. “It’s in the old Whanganui Chronicle building, which is really a treasure, with music studios on the second floor, and creative offices. Owner Jack is a really dedicated barista who trained in Wellington and he takes his coffee very seriously. It was the first place opened on Drews Ave in the ‘rejuvenation era’.”

You can live just like you do in Auckland, with a great city vibe but without all the stresses.

Another Whanganui institution is undoubtedly Porridge Watson. Like the fabled six degrees of separation, everyone and everything in Whanganui seems to be somehow connected to this iconic bar sooner or later. Great nights are had there, cunning plans are hatched there, and you really need to go there.

“Porridge Watson is like the nighttime equivalent of Article. It’s a large space and Tony who runs it has done a great job of collecting pinball machines, a shuffle board, and unusual stuff from second hand stores to make it quirky but really well thought out. There is always something weird and wonderful going on, and there is now a cocktail bar called Angry Fox and restaurant called Easy Tiger. Issac who runs Easy Tiger is currently specialising in burgers - he’s an amazing allround chef but something he does really well is a homage to the best fast food imaginable! It’s like the idealised version of the best burger you’ve ever had.”

And for dessert Anthonie? “Frosty Moons ice cream shop is one of the newest additions to Drews Avenue, and it’s something completely different. Things in Whanganui generally aren’t open late, and one of the things I like about Frosty Moons is how brave they have been in challenging that. It requires someone to have a bit of faith and to maybe be a little crazy to push the envelope and open an ice cream shop for the same hours as the neighbouring bar! I wasn’t sure how that would go, but it’s amazing how often you’ll be walking down Drews Avenue on a Sunday night and seeing a family coming in at 10pm to get ice cream!”

“And that’s how a small town becomes a great city. It’s like how Porridge Watson started opening on Monday night, and for a while it was pretty quiet, but now it’s one of the best nights out. And that kind of sums up Whanganui. For someone like me who likes urban things with lots going on, it’s so liveable and affordableyou can live just like you do in Auckland, with a great city vibe but without all the stresses. And that brings more likeminded people here and it just gets better and better - I really recommend coming to see it for yourself.”

And to see it for yourself, start on Drews Avenue.

There is always something weird and wonderful going on.