Capital 43

CAPITAL TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

BEER HUNT AU G U S T 2 0 1 7

Th e food issu e

ISSUE 43

GREAT BOIL-UP

$4.90 BRUNCH OUT

BEHIND THE BARC ODE

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CAPITAL

MADE IN WELLINGTON F

ood can engage on many levels other than the obvious ones of fuel and celebration. I was sleepily reading a memoir, The Arms of Time, by English writer Rupert Hart-Davis when I was jolted into alertness by a comment written in 1924... ‘I had three bumpers of Kia-Ora and a tongue sandwich.’ I had no idea of any such use of a Māori word as a brand in England, and was intrigued to discover, with a little searching, that Kia-Ora was a soft drink marketed in the United Kingdom from the early 1900s. It seems now to have disappeared. The ability of the English language to adopt and absorb the colourful and the exotic in magpie fashion is endless. Here, Wellington On A Plate has firmly established itself on the city’s annual menu, and food choices may well dominate conversations in August. It’s food time in Wellington and this truly is a bumper issue.

Although we are firmly focussed on food and beer, our regular features are all there. Additional foodie tidbits include a potted business history of some pioneering restaurateurs in Wellington, and a discussion of changes in the way we dine out. Three young food bloggers give their favourite selections for brunch, and see page 38–39 for a splendid photograph gathering as many of the foundation members of the Wellington restaurant scene as we could. Art director Shalee Fitzimmons and her team achieved a great image, and it wasn’t easy. If you want to set staff a challenge, ask them to bring assorted hospo characters together in one place on the same day at the same time and good luck to you. It was fun on the day, though, and we thank the chaps involved for giving us their time so willingly, and to Ian Hornblow whose great institutional knowledge of the Wellington scene helped us put together our initial list.

Beer writer and brewer Kieran Haslett-Moore convened the panel for our biggest ever annual beer tasting. I thank him and the judges for their sterling work on the day. Thanks also to the Occasional Brewer who hosted the tasting.

If you are feeling sated, we haven’t ignored our other interests.

Sarah Lang chats to Haami Whaiti about his work in the Wairarapa with Ngati Kahungunu towards a treaty settlement. And she enjoys a frank discussion with writer Lee Murray about literary cliques in New Zealand.

Those awkward talks with your children about sex occupy baby columnist Melody Thomas’ thoughts this month.

Indeed an August smorgasbord. See you next month.

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C O N TA C T U S Phone +64 4 385 1426 Email editor@capitalmag.co.nz Website www.capitalmag.co.nz Facebook facebook.com/CapitalMagazineWellington Twitter @CapitalMagWelly Instagram @capitalmag Post Box 9202, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Deliveries 31–41 Pirie St, Mt Victoria, Wellington, 6011 ISSN 2324-4836 Produced by Capital Publishing Ltd

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The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any losses due to the use of material in this magazine.

Copyright ©. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the prior written permission of Capital Publishing Ltd.

6

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CONTRIBUTORS

Staff Alison Franks Managing editor editor@capitalmag.co.nz Campaign coordinators Fale Ahchong fale@capitalmag.co.nz Griff Bristed griff@capitalmag.co.nz Haleigh Trower haleigh@capitalmag.co.nz Lyndsey O’Reilly lyndsey@capitalmag.co.nz Factotum John Briste d john@capitalmag.co.nz Art director Shalee Fitzsimmons shalee@capitalmag.co.nz Designer Rhett Goodley- design@capitalmag.co.nz Hornblow Editorial assistant Laura Pitcher laura@capitalmag.co.nz Accounts Tod Harfield accounts@capitalmag.co.nz Gus Bristed

Distribution

Contributors

FRANCESCA EMMS Writer

GRIFF BRISTED C amp ai g n C o- ordi n ator

Francesca writes things. The things she writes vary in content and length.

Sometimes people say the things she writes aloud and other times they look at the words. She is partly responsible for a lamb named Colin, enjoys tap dancing and gets car sick really easily.

Griff grew up in Mt Vic and after flying the coop several times, somehow finds himself working there now. He is a surfboard riding, rugby playing, plane flying salesperson with a love for adventures. Not to mention Harry Potter, food and dogs.

SU E K E D G L EY O pi n i on c olum n i st

K I E R A N HA SL E T T- M O O R E B e er c onvenor

Melody Thomas | Janet Hughes | John Bishop Beth Rose | Tamara Jones | Joelle Thomson Anna Briggs | Charlotte Wilson | Sarah Lang Bex McGill | Billie Osborne | Deirdre Tarrant Sharon Stephenson | Francesca Emms Sharon Greally | Craig Beardsworth

Stockists Pick up your Capital in New World, Countdown and Pak’n’Save supermarkets, Moore Wilson's, Unity Books, Commonsense Organics, Magnetix, City Cards & Mags, Take Note, Whitcoulls, Wellington Airport, Interislander and other discerning region-wide outlets.

Ask for Capital magazine by name.

Distribution: john@capitalmag.co.nz.

Submissions We welcome freelance art, photo and story submissions. However we cannot reply personally to unsuccessful pitches.

Thanks Tim Ward | Ian Hornblow | James Gilberd Claudia Lee | Jenny Ruan The Occasional Brewer

Sue Kedgley is a writer, columnist, media trainer, consumer advocate and a Wellington Regional Councillor. Formerly a Wellington City Councillor and Green MP (1999-2011), she has lived most of her life in Wellington and is a mother. Earlier in life she spent seven years working at the United Nation Secretariat in New York, promoting women’s issues.

8

Capital beer writer, North End head brewer and former Regional Wines and Spirits beer specialist, Kieran is a regular judge at the Brewers Guild of New Zealand Beer Awards and the National Homebrew Competition.

Proud Supporters of Wellington’s Producers & Growers

moore wilson’s

For Recipes, Supplier Profiles, What’s On & What’s Hot visit moorewilsons.co.nz

Food Issue Aug 2017.indd 1

6/07/2017 11:01:45 AM

17 August, 7pm Entry by koha museumswellington.org.nz Part of Experience Wellington.

Principal Funder Wellington City Council.

20 August, 9pm $20 / Bookings essential museumswellington.org.nz Part of Experience Wellington.

Principal Funder Wellington City Council.

CONTENTS

12 LETTERS 14 CHATTER 16 NEWS BRIEFS 18 NEW PRODUCTS 21 BY THE NUMBERS

22

TALES OF THE CIT Y Jane Adcock and the Capital: A Love Story.

24 CULTURE

30 THE FINAL C OUNTD OWN

38

T H E G R E AT WELLINGTON BOIL-UP 12 movers and shakers in the Welly Hospo scene dish up a buffet of tales, tips and triumphs.

‘Exhibition as marae’ opening in Wairarapa celebrates treaty settlement win.

32

45

HARD TO SWALLOW

B RU NC H I E S

We want to know where our food really comes from.

Three of Wellington’s best food bloggers have got your next 15 brunches sorted.

35 36

A SMITH OF WORDS AND CLAY SPORTS BRIEFS

MORE THAN JUST FISH AND CHIPS VEGAN BURGER $12 Quinoa, vegetable and chick pea patty HALLOUMI BURGER $13 Grilled Zany Zeus Halloumi PULLED PORK SANDWICH $13 Slow roasted free-range pork MT VIC CHIPPERY 5 MAJORIBANKS ST, MOUNT VICTORIA

CHICKEN BURGER $13 Southern Style

THORNDON CHIPPERY 10 MURPHY ST, THORNDON

CONTENTS

58

52

BA L A NC E D DIET

BEER NECESSITIES

Kitchenware for the topsy and the turvy.

We're going on a beer hunt in our annual craft beer guide.

62 66 69 70

FASHION BRIEFS LIFESTYLE BRIEFS FISHY BUSINESS EDIBLES

75 78

LIQUID THOUGHTS

BY THE BOOK

80

88 90 92 94

WELLY ANGEL TORQUE TALK BABY, BABY CALENDAR

NO ENTRY

72

SHEARERS’ TABLE Herb crusted blue cod with spicy broth and crispy noodles.

Award winning speculativefiction author Lee Murray on being excluded.

84

JUST ADD FURNITURE

96

GROUPIES Local’s night at the Mornington Golf Club.

The Dunshea’s have perfected the art of renting – in style.

THORNDON CHIPPERY

PICK-UP DELIVERY / CATERING / DINE-IN THECHIPPERY.CO.NZ

CHAMBER MUSIC NEW ZEALAND presents LETTERS

2017 MUST-SEE CONCERT

HAYDN • ANTHONY RITCHIE WEBERN • DVOŘÁK FRIDAY 4 AUGUST, 7.30pm

Free Prelude talk at 6.45pm

chambermusic.co.nz/takacsquartet

YOUNG COMPOSER I was fascinated by the story about young composers, particularly Reuben Jellyman in your latest issue, (#42, p 36). It is very interesting to read about such young and talented citizens. And I was pleased to see that the NZSO are doing such a lot to help develop and promote young musical talent. I enjoy the range of topics covered in your magazine from tattoos to marae and orchestral music.

Keep up the good work.

P Harding, Auckland (abridged) FINALLY THE HUT T It was very good to see all the lively pieces of news about things happening in the Hutt Valley in your most recent issue, (#42, pp 44–46). As a Lower Hutt resident, born and bred, but who works in Wellington, and is passionate about both cities, I often think we are overlooked. Please keep it up.

Name supplied, Lower Hutt SCONED OUT The run-down on the scones, (#42, p 88) has been very helpful. Me and my mates have been visiting a different place each Saturday for our coffee and scone date. So far we rate L’affare’s cheese scones at the top.

S Miller, Wellington GO OD SLEUTHING

BEETHOVEN: THE PIANO AND VIOLIN SONATAS WELLINGTON LUNCHTIME SERIES

5 CONCERTS: 28 AUG – 1 SEP Tickets $25* or book 5 & save!

chambermusic.co.nz/michaelandbella

Congratulations to your writer Sharon Greally for finding secrets about things about which I suppose we really ought to know. What a great little story (#42, p 90).

I thought porcini were just mushrooms you found somewhere in Italy; I really had no idea where they come from and no idea what they taste like, but I assumed they couldn’t be much different from the nice field mushrooms we’ve always picked, when at odd times of the year, they turn up. And who’d have thought they grow wild in New Zealand? Or Wellington?

Porcini: Mushrooms with the taste of white truffles?

No idea what white truffles taste like either, but next time I’m in Wellington I’m going to get down to that restaurant and find out.

Jennie Anderson, Auckland

All concerts held at:

Michael Fowler Centre

TICKETEK.CO.NZ 0800 842 538

You can send letters to editor@capitalmag.co.nz with the subject line Letters to Ed

*Booking fees apply Core Funder

Join the conversation

12

GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL 2017

AUCKLAND / 5–10 SEPT WELLINGTON / 13–16 SEPT CHRISTCHURCH / 23–24 SEPT DUNEDIN / 30 SEPT–1 OCT NEW PLYMOUTH / 3–8 OCT www.goethe.de/nz

Sprache. Kultur. Deutschland.

RD E R S E C TCI H OA N THT EE A

INK INC.

S O U P S A N D S E AT S AND SCENES Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision is New Zealand’s moving image and sound archive. In their collection there are over 750,000 items dating back to 1885. Starting on August 25, each Friday there will be special 50 minute documentary showings designed to fit into a lunch hour. Included in the $10 ticket price is a steaming cup of soup to keep you warm whilst watching.

OSKA REGO What led you to get a tattoo?

I was in Berlin around the beginning of this year and wanted to get a tattoo from one of the many fantastic tattooists there.

GO ODNIGHT CHARLIE

Rebellion or art?

This is by far my most rebellious tattoo. I do consider it art, but it also has a political message.

Wellington’s oldest cheetah has died. Wellington Zoo said the decision to euthanise 13 year old Charlie was made because they were unable to maintain his quality of life. Charlie and his brother Delta arrived at Wellington Zoo as cubs in 2005. They could often be seen strolling around the Zoo, and even attended parties and other events in the controversial rent-acheetah programme. Delta died in 2013 due to kidney failure. There are still two cheetahs at the Zoo, brothers Cango and Kunjuka.

Why did you choose the design?

It expresses my desiree to stop the restriction of humans and animals. The severed barbed wire represents the ending of confinement and exclusion. The bolt cutters symbolise the animal liberation movement. It's a modification of an older design by the tattooist, Buio Letizi.

Family – for or against it?

My mother and grandmother do not approve of this one. They describe it as "too provocative."

14

C HAT T E R

WELLY WORDS

HEARD IN LION The Lions tour may have whipped great swathes of the community up into frenzy over winter but not everyone is a rugby fan. Overheard in a supermarket were a couple of disinterested shoppers having a sarcasm heavy conversation with an incensed checkout operator. “The Lions are here”, “The who? – is the zoo getting more wildlife?”, “No the Brits have come across to play rugby”, “Oh those poor poms trying to run away from Theresa May.”, “No. Rugby!”, “Rugby? – do you wear tutus playing rugby?” Thankfully no one mentioned the yachting.

BRIGHT STARS Young performers trod the boards of Lower Hutt’s Little Theatre last month in the Hutt Valley Performing Arts Competition with the usual quota of incidents involving ‘the theatre dahling.’ The youngest competitor in the Piano section arrived on stage dressed to the nines, but was too short to sit elegantly on the stool. No worries, she just hitched up her long skirt and clambered up over the back. In the Speech and Drama section, a character recital ended with a flourish when Princess Jasmine was knocked off the magic carpet by the closing curtains.

Backstage a youngster reported to a friend she had “no chance” of placing and was so certain of it that when the winner was announced she started clapping, failing to realise her own name had been called.

IT'S COOL TO KORERO Kaua e titiro noa ki ngā kai - kamea!

Don't just look at the food - eat it!

MEOW OR NEVER We think UK company SureFlap is probably onto a winner with their Microchip Pet Door Connect, a first- ever appcontrolled pet door. It lets owners control the pet door remotely from a smartphone or tablet. Like other microchip cat flaps, it only responds to the resident pet(s) microchip(s) so unwanted animals are kept out. The door stores up to 32 pet identities so hopefully that covers all your feline friends.

The Microchip Pet Door Connect, which is also suitable for small dogs, will be available in New Zealand from September.

A TREE FOR EACH OF US Trees That Count want to plant nearly 5000 new trees into Makara Peak cycle park this year. Established a year ago, its aim is to mitigate climate change in New Zealand by encouraging the planting of native trees with the potential to grow more than five metres high.

Tanya Hart, speaking for the group, says, nationally they are working to get planting pledges from councils, businesses, and interested groups to plant some 4.7 million new trees this year. That’s one for every New Zealander.

Makara visitors can expect to see lots of new cabbage trees, pittosporums, and griselinia on their rides.

15

NEWS BRIEFS

FOR THE KIDS Wellington will get a new children’s hospital much sooner than expected, thanks to a generous $50-million donation from Mark Dunajtschik, a Wellington property developer and philanthropist.

Construction is expected to begin early next year, once plans are finalised and resource consent is granted. It will take around 18 months to build. The Wellington Hospitals Foundation aims to raise $5m for furniture, fittings and new equipment. The District Health Board will contribute up to $7.5m for purposes such as demolishing existing buildings on the site.

SELF-MADE

YEA OR NAY?

IN YOUR HANDS

Kāpiti’s self-employed business community has helped boost the area’s economy, according to an Infometrics report commissioned by the Kāpiti Coast District Council. In 2016 self-employed people made up approximately 31.5% of Kāpiti’s total employment, much higher than the national average of 18%.

Kāpiti’s overall economic growth in the year to March 2017 was 3.7%.

Wellington City Council is now inviting public submissions on the proposed Shelly Bay development.

The land, which has not been offered to any other developers, is to be sold to the Wellington Company.

Director Ian Cassels, who recently won a Wellington Gold Award, has already secured resource consent for the development of housing and public spaces on Miramar Peninsula. Consultation documents can be viewed online, at The Central Library and at the Council Service Centre. Public consultation will close on Monday 14 August.

Local body governance for Wairarapa is now in the hands of the public. Last month Sir Wira Gardiner released the Local Government Commission proposal to combine the three existing district councils (South Wairarapa, Carterton and Masterton) into a single ‘super’ council – Wairarapa District Council. The proposal establishes five community boards (Featherston, Martinborough, Greytown, Carterton and Masterton). Only 10% of the electors from any of the three existing districts are required to sign a petition forcing a poll, which would be held between November 2017 and early 2018.

BAO AND BEERS WINE AND WONTONS DINE IN OR TAKEOUT

STOP AT

MODERN ASIAN HAWKER FOOD

AND WE CATER 59 taranaki st. www.mrgos.co.nz

NEWS BRIEFS

H O P- O R T U N I T I E S IN THE HUTT Te Aro Brewing has moved to Upper Hutt, joining Boneface Brewing, Kereru Brewing Co and Panhead Custom Ales. Upper Hutt City Council’s Economic Development Manager Phil Gorman is a huge supporter of the developing craft beer hub. He says the council sees the value of the employment opportunities that this industry creates. ‘For example, when Panhead started out a little over four years ago, it had just one staff member,’ he says, ‘Today, that one company alone employs more than 20 workers.’

TAKEN TO TASK

PHONE HOME

VICTORIOUS

Recommendations from the Mayor’s Housing Taskforce report will be assessed by council officers and presented to Wellington City Council for deliberation this month. The Wellington region did not qualify for a slice of the recently established $1billion housing infrastructure fund, but the council will still be seeking help from the government to solve the capital's housing crisis. ‘We need homes,’ says Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, who led the taskforce, ‘It's clear we need a Government partnership.’

Have you seen the new buoy in the habour?

Sitting south east of Matiu/Somes Island, WRIBO (Wellington Region Integrated Buoy Observations) was launched by NIWA last month to monitor currents, waves and water quality in the harbour. ‘The buoy makes a phone call to a computer and sends back data of up-to-date conditions in the Harbour,’ says NIWA coastal physicist Dr Joanne O’Callaghan, ‘This means we don’t have to wait for good weather to collect the data.’

Victoria University of Wellington chemist Professor Richard Furneaux (left) has won the BNZ Supreme Award in the 2017 KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards. Furneaux leads Victoria’s Ferrier Research Institute, a team of carbohydrate chemistry experts and analysts. The institute’s most successful commercial deal yielded six lead drug candidates with applications as diverse as cancer, gout, psoriasis, transplant rejection, malaria and a specific type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

MEXICO WELLINGTON

41 Dixon Street • 04 894 6982

NEW PRODUCTS

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3

1 4

2

6

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9

8 10

11

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M i so hungry 1. Fire Cracker blend – $40 – Good Fortune Coffee 2. Cocoa dusted chocolate almonds – $6.50 – Trade Aid 3. Olive oil 1 litre tin – $35 – Spy Valley 4. Ekobo small bambino cup – $9 – Cranfields 5. Chocolate biscuit box – $35 – Dusted and Delicious 6. Mad Millie vegan cheese kit – $46.95 – Moore Wilson's 7. Dark chocolate granola – $14.99 – Yum Granola 8. Castle Art teatowel – $99 – Small Acorns 9.

Havana Brothers cold pressed juice – $7.50 – Fidel's 10. Salad for President: An Everyday Cookbook Inspired by Artists – $68 – Unity Books 11. Sparkling limonades – $6.99 – Mediterranean Food Warehouse 12. Wild Fennel Co seasoning variety pack – $21.95 – Moore Wilson's 18

OCCULT URE THE DARK ARTS 12 August – 19 November 2017

Part of Experience Wellington Principal Funder: Wellington City Council image Yin-Ju Chen Liquidation Maps: East Timorese Crisis, East Timor, 1999

N E W

Z E A L A N D

S Y M P H O N Y

2014

O R C H E S T R A

FEEL IT THROUGH

FLOW YO U

THE DAMNATION

O F FAU ST 25 AUG

WELLINGTON MICHAEL FOWLER CENTRE 6.30PM

VISIT

NZSO.CO.NZ

FOR TICK ET DETAILS

E D O D E WA A R T C O N D U CTO R A L I S A K O L O S O VA M A R G U E R I T E A N D R E W S TA P L E S F A U S T E R I C O W E N S M É P H I S T O P H É L È S J A M E S C L AY T O N B R A N D E R BRIDGET DOUGLAS SECTION PRINCIPAL FLUTE

WITH THE FREEMASONS NEW ZEALAND OPERA CHORUS B E R L I O Z L A D A M N AT I O N D E F A U S T

CAPITAL Out in September

The She issue Subscribe at capitalmag.co.nz

Made in Wellington

CapitalMagazine Wellington @capitalmag

BY THE NUMBERS

Food s pec i a l

Dill with it We delve into the pantry this issue and ferret around for food – here are some foodie facts.

Spoilt for choice * Source: Wellington City Council

1318

7500

20 – 22

Number of eateries in Wellington. This includes restaurants, bars, taverns, takeaways and mobile traders*

Estimated number of people employed in hospitality in Wellington

Average lifespan (in months) of a food business in Wellington

400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

Over the counter Number of calories in a:

Burn baby burn

16

89

155

208

389

celery stick

banana

egg

pint of beer

piece of chocolate cake

It takes a minute of running to burn 10 calories (average pace)

In order to lose 1kg you need to burn (or not consume) 7700 calories

That’s nearly 13 hours of running

Variety is the spice

120

60

82

22,000

Number of events planned for WOAP spread across three weekends 11 – 31 August

Number of kiwifruit species

Number of kumara varieties recorded

Estimated number of fungi species in NZ

Some maybe double ups as different iwi would’ve had different names for essentially the same variety

A small proportion are edible so don’t run into the bush without a good field guide

Compiled by Craig Beardsworth | Illustrated by Shalee Fitzsimmons 21

SECTION HEADER

TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y

M ov i n g ex p e r i e n c e WRITTEN BY FRANCESCA EMMS | PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA BRIGGS

BAR

Hawthorne Lounge

HOLIDAY Wanaka

G YM

Exodus

COFFEE L'affare

HOBBY Karate

Jane Adcock was thinking of moving. She spent a weekend in Wellington and made an almost immediate decision to live here.

O

riginally from Winton, a rural town north of Invercargill, Jane ran a karate school in Wanaka before moving to Australia. After a decade in Melbourne it was time to come home. A friend invited her to stay in Wellington for a few days, and so began a passionate affair with the capital. ‘I almost drowned with the rain,’ says Jane, ‘but I just loved it.’ Having only visited the once, she decided to make it her home.

Jane lived in Wilton for a time and adored the native bush and bird life. ‘It was glorious,’ she says. Now she’s in Haitaitai, which she prefers because it’s closer to the water and the CBD. ‘I enjoy Oriental Bay. I love the harbour, and I appreciate that our city is so compact,’ she says. ‘My favourite parts of town are Tory and Cuba Streets. I love that little cafes, shops and restaurants are constantly popping up. In Melbourne something like that might be gone in a few months, but Wellington is a really supportive community – they’re open to people trying something new.’

So how does Wellington’s shopping stack up? ‘I love fashion. I love New Zealand brands, and try to support them whenever I can.’ She also loves exploring the vintage clothing shops around Cuba St, ‘My best vintage find was a full-length black woollen coat with bright pink lining from World that I found at Recycle Boutique. An absolute bargain!’

In Melbourne Jane loved going to the markets and has continued this habit here. ‘On Sundays I religiously go to the waterfront markets, and grab a coffee from Raglan

Roast while I’m strolling the stalls,’ she says, ‘then I cook all my meals on Sunday and freeze them for the week ahead. I’m organised like that!’

Jane’s the venue manager for Front+Centre, a meeting and collaboration space in the heart of Wellington.

With so many businesses displaced by last November’s earthquake, their spaces are in high demand, and with more than 25 years hospitality experience, Jane is well equipped to welcome people and make sure they have what they need.

If she’s not at work she won’t be far away, ‘I’m lucky as my workplace has the city’s best cafes and restaurants right on the doorstep. I love this end of town – it’s buzzing!’ Jane gets her morning coffee from L’affare, where the barista will often be pouring her coffee as she walks in. Afterwork drinks are usually at Hawthorne Bar because of their cocktails, and her gym is just up the street. ‘On Saturday morning I’m up early to go to the gym, followed by a long, leisurely breakfast (at L’affare) with my friends – we’ve been doing it for years and call ourselves the “tight five”.’

Keeping active is important to Jane. She has a black belt in karate but she’s not practicing it any more, and prefers to go to a spin class at Exodus which is ‘pretty much my second home.’

So is Wellington home? ‘Absolutely!’ she says. And what about her favourite holiday spot? ‘I love Wanaka as I lived there for ten years. It’s my favourite part of the country – apart from Wellington of course!’

23

CULTURE

TA K I N G THE LEAD Twenty years ago, Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis formed theatre company Indian Ink, rehearsing anywhere from the Tararua Tramping Club to the Wellington Irish Society Hall.

‘Anywhere with space and a kettle,’ Rajan says. The birthday of the globally-touring company calls for a national tour of comedy The Pickle King, on at the Hannah Playhouse (24 August to 9 September). Recent Toi Whakaari graduates Vanessa Kumar and Kalyani Nagarajan play the leads, and are developing solo shows with the help of the company. Kumar’s will draw on her nights cleaning Wellington office buildings.

A STRING TO HIS B OW

MATARIKI GOES GLOBAL

IT ’S ALL WRITE

When viola player and NZ School of Music professor Donald Maurice hosted the 29th International Viola Congress in Wellington in 2001, it was a Southern Hemisphere first. Now the countryhopping congress again brings leading international musicians to Wellington (1–5 September). All the events including St Andrew’s evening concerts will offer public door sales. Maurice’s pick is the NZSO concert Three Altos: A Viola Spectacular, which includes Italy’s Anna Serova performing the world premiere of Roberto Molinelli's ‘Lady Walton’s Garden’. ‘It even includes tango-dancing!’

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School has won the supreme award (worth NZ$21,000) at the Saatchi Gallery Art Prize for Schools. Chosen from 24,000-plus entries globally, Matariki: Māori New Year consists of paint-pen drawings on see-through vinyl panels depicting Māori kites in the heavens. It was created by Year 6-8 students from Samuel Marsden and invited students from six other schools, during workshops led by Michel Tuffery, the school’s 18th Artist-in-Residence. For the kids, making the artwork was more exciting than the win.

Has Wellington novelist Emily Perkins switched to writing plays?

So far it’s just a one-off. Her reimagining of Ibsen classic A Doll's House makes its Wellington debut at Circa Theatre (5 August to 2 September), following a successful Auckland season. In a modern twist, young couple Nora (Sophie Hambleton) and Theo Helmer (Arthur Meek) struggle to maintain their sugar-free, eco-conscious lifestyle.

CELEBRATE! BOOK YOUR FUNCTION 04 801 8017 stjohnsbar@trinitygroup.co.nz

CULTURE

BIKE LIGHTS Lucid DreamBike won the 2016 Fringe Festival Most Innovative Award for its bicycle-based performance piece.

Since then the artist group has adapted “fantasy bikes” for performance pieces in festivals and their own interactive events featuring floats and peepshows. On 25 August, in a waterfront Night Light Bike Parade, fantasy bikes will double as lanterns on a float the public can help decorate. Lucid DreamBike is also creating Pedal Power (17–25 August), an adapted-bicycle exhibition for Wellington Museum’s Flux space. On the opening night, expect a pedal-powered projector, turntable and rotating stage.

MAKE SOME NOISE

GOING HOME

D OUBLE TROUBLE

Chamber Music New Zealand won the 2016 Arts Access Creative New Zealand Arts for All Award, primarily for its relaxed performances and workshops for people with intellectual disabilities. Now CMNZ, partnering with the IHC Foundation, presents an accessible concert (Te Whaea, 6 September) where, as the Aroha String Quartet plays, the audience can move, talk and sing. Music educator Julian Raphael and the quartet will teach songs at specialist schools the week before the concert, which is open to the public.

As tuberculosis slowly killed Katherine Mansfield in France in 1922, philosopher-mystic George Ivanovich Gurdjieff provided her with hope, community and rhythmic dance movements at his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. Victoria University French lecturer Keren Chiaroni recently wrote an article about the links between Mansfield and Gurdjieff, and dance and spirituality.

She talks about this on 27 August at Katherine Mansfield House & Garden’s latest ‘At Home’ event, the name of which is borrowed from the Victorian tradition of hosting callers on Sundays.

The NZTrio is in the final stages of recruiting a violinist to replace Justine Cormack. Until then, expect guests in the third chair.

Award-winning New Zealand-born violinist Natalie Lin flies in for the Spiral season, stopping into City Gallery on 22 August. The concert includes a new commission by New Zealand composer Samuel Holloway which explores the sense of self.

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CULTUR AL DIRECTORY

THE THREE ALTOS A VIOLA SPECTACULAR

NZTRIO PERFORMS SPIRAL AT CITY GALLERY WELLINGTON

Brilliant Italian-Russian violist, Anna Serova with the NZSO performs the world premiere of “Lady Walton’s Garden” a work based on Argentinian themes - don’t be surprised if she breaks into a tango. Also featuring soloists Roger Benedict (Australia) and Roger Myers (USA). This will be a 2017 musical highlight.

Spiral promises forward motion and adventurous leaps into the unknown. This programme is packed with introspective character (Bax), obsessive self-investigation (Holloway), unseen currents of strength and depth (McLeod), and teetering precipices from which to safely test boundaries (Beethoven).

Expect to be affected.

4 September Michael Fowler Centre (04) 384 2347 Wakefield St

August 22, 2017, 7pm City Gallery Wellington (upper gallery) 101 Wakefield Street nztrio.com/event-directory

SHOW

MOZART’S “THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO” After their critically acclaimed debut production of “Don Giovanni” in 2016, Eternity Opera is returning with Mozart’s irresistible comic masterpiece, sung in English with a top Wellington cast and esteemed chamber orchestra. One week only.

SOUP & A SEAT: AN EXTRA NOURISHING LUNCH BREAK Beat the lunch break boredom – our Wellington cinema is bringing back our popular Soup & a Seat.

Enjoy a cup of tasty soup and a nourishing documentary for only $10.

Fridays at 12.15pm from 25 August Cnr. Ghuznee and Taranaki Streets (04) 499 3456 ngataonga.org.nz/events

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Director - Alex Galvin Conductor - Simon Romanos

This awesome fast-paced comedy showcase, features a super tasty line-up of performers that everyone was raving about at this year’s Comedy Fest, all for under $40. Featuring Brendhan Lovegrove, Justine Smith, James Nokise, Fan Brigade, Nick Rado & Melanie Bracewell.

August 5-12, Hannah Playhouse 12 Cambridge Terrace (04) 3843840, eternityopera.co.nz

14 September, St James Theatre (0800) TICKETEK comedyfestival.co.nz

ONCE - SOLO DANCE WORKS A captivating collection of solo dance works created by graduates from five decades of the New Zealand School of Dance - Mary Jane O’Reilly, Taiaroa Royal, Daniel Belton, Raewyn Hill, Emma Murray, Craig Bary, Sacha Copland, Janessa Dufty, Lauren Langlois and Eliza Sanders. In celebration of the School’s 50th anniversary.

8 - 16 September 11 Hutchison Road, Newtown (04) 3819252 nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/events/once

The Castle tote. Holds everything it says it will, and more.

Available exclusively instore & online

the circle

Robert Muldoon, 1981 – Trace Hodgson, 1958– . Ink and letratone on paper. Alexander Turnbull Library Collection

cnr Blair & Wakefield Streets,Wellington www.smallacorns.co.nz/0800 22 67 67

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront nzportraitgallery.org.nz Open 7 days, 10:30–4:30pm (04) 472 2298

CULTURE

THE PRICE OF SUGAR

E XC HA NG E STUDENTS

By Sarah Lang

By Sarah Lang

Wellington-based artist Jasmine Togo-Brisby holds back tears as she explains how her great-great-grandparents were stolen from Vanuatu as children, then sold to the same family on an Australian sugarcane plantation. ‘As a mother to an 11-year-old girl, it’s hard to think about what my great-great-grandmother went through, stolen from her family at age eight.’

Togo-Brisby considers herself a fourth-generation Australian South Sea Islander, a descendant of some of the 62,000 recorded — and more unrecorded — Pacific Islanders kidnapped then enslaved on Australia’s sugarcane plantations.

Growing up in small-town Australia, Togo-Brisby identified as black but knew she wasn’t Aboriginal.

‘I started asking Mum “Who are we? Where are we from?” It’s a hard thing to explain to children.’

As an adult, she’s researched the family who enslaved her ancestors.

Togo-Brisby has lived in Wellington for two years, to study fine arts at Massey University. Here in 2015 she finished a memorial to the South Sea Islanders buried in unmarked graves. Bitter Sweet is a sculptural installation of skulls cast in sugar and bound with resin. See it glistening under lights and giving off a syrupy scent at City Gallery’s two-artist exhibition Colonial Sugar (26 August to 19 November), alongside photography by Aboriginal artist Tracey Moffatt.

In 2011, the Netherlands-raised, Wellington-based jeweller, educator and curator Peter Deckers began Handshake, a programme which pairs emerging jewellers with an overseas mentor of their choice. The 12 mentees from Handshake’s first and second iterations are now knee-deep in “Handshake 3”, through which they develop ideas and work for national and international exhibitions and collaborations. The 12 held collaborative exhibitions in Sweden and Estonia last year, and at Munich Jewellery Week 2016 and 2017.

Their latest collaboration is with Dowse curator Sian van Dyk for group show HandShake 3: Reflect (5 August to 3 December), which examines the term ‘reflect’ and contemporary jewellery’s relationship with traditional jewellery. Gallery-goers viewing Kelly McDonald’s largely-metal, industrial-inspired jewellery objects (not all can be worn) don headphones to hear music composed by David Long in response to McDonald’s work.

McDonald, one of six of Handshake’s Wellingtonbased jewellers, was mentored by Melbourne-based Kirsten Haydon in 2014 and 2015. ‘Kirsten was fantastic. It was great she was in a similar time zone, and was a tutor and mother like me.’ The mentoring and blog-writing helped McDonald clarify her thinking and reflect on her practice. ‘Handshake has produced a national community of emerging contemporary jewellers – and friends.’ Handshake continues until at least 2020.

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F E AT U R E

The final c o u n t d ow n PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM DONALD

Ngati Kahungunu elder Haami Te Whaiti is about to sign a long-running treaty settlement. He talks to SARAH LANG about a life working for his people.

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reak out the champagne. In December, after a 30-year process, the treaty-settlement deed for Ngati Kahungunu’s iwi in the Wairarapa and Tamaki Nui-ā-Rua (around Dannevirke) will finally be initialled at Aratoi: Wairarapa Museum of Art and History in Masterton. After the document spends two or three months with the Māori community, it will be signed early next year. Then the government will formally apologise, pay $93 million, and hand over 23 Crown-owned sites of cultural significance, four of them to be shared with another iwi.

One of the four Ngati Kahungunu treaty-settlement negotiators who will initial and sign the deed is Haami Te Whaiti, a kaitiaki (guardian) of the south Wairarapa Ngati Hinewaka hapū (a sub-division of the iwi). His involvement in Treaty claims stretches back to 1989, when he began helping lodge various claims for Māori fishery rights. More recently, he’s been involved with Treaty negotiations and settlements. His main part-time job for the past eight years has been as Geographic Information System (geospatial) Technician for Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, mapping geographical data, particularly historical and cultural sites relevant to the Treaty settlement. The process of negotiating the Ngati Kahungunu claim has dominated his last four years.

The 66-year-old, who has the energy of a much younger man, has also been Aratoi’s Researcher and Curator Māori intermittently for 10 years, and is now a guest curator as needed. Drawing together his two lines of work, he’s curated Te Marae o Rongotaketake: Redressing our Kahungunu History – the first-ever exhibition to take over all of Aratoi (until 3 September). ‘Rongotaketake means enduring peace,’ Te Whaiti says. ‘The iwi has always been committed to nonviolence and that no European blood would be spilled here.’

Explaining both the iwi’s history and the treaty settlement, this ‘exhibition-as-marae’ is divided into sections that represent a marae powhiri, from the karanga (welcoming call) to the ‘kaumatua kitchen’ to socialise in. It’s the largest-ever exhibition of Ngati Kahungunu taonga. The 200 on show include a waka, korowai (cloak), hei-tiki (pendant), hinaki (eel trap), a shark-tooth necklace, whale-ivory amulets, and pounamu spearheads. ‘The 11 Gottfried Lindauer portraits of Kahungunu rangatira (hapū leaders) are really special. Some have never been publicly displayed.’

It took Te Whaiti two years to prepare the exhibition, in-

cluding tracking down and securing the loan of taonga from all over the country and the world. For instance, an ornate carved wahaika (club-like weapon) given to Lord Ranfurly – New Zealand’s Governor from 1897 to 1904 – had found its way to the Fowler Museum in Los Angeles.

Te Whaiti grew up with three brothers and two sisters on a Mangakino sheep and beef farm. His father was allocated the farm on tribal lands by the Māori Affairs Department under a scheme to establish willing Māori farmers. ‘Dad gave it up in the late 60s because all six of us had ideas about career that didn’t involve farming.’ Te Whaiti studied social sciences and social work at university, and joined the Māori-rights group Nga Tamatoa, made up mainly of urban and university-educated Māori. Begun by Ranginui Walker, it was active mainly in the late 1960s and 1970s to fight racial discrimination and confront injustices perpetrated by the government, particularly Treaty violations. ‘There was also a big focus on seeing the Māori language get official status.’

Since 1985, Te Whaiti has lived in Masterton, raising three children with his schoolteacher wife, and helping many more.

He spent 17 years as a social worker then social-work adviser for the government agency once called Child, Youth and Family. ‘It was rewarding working with families – usually Māori but not just Māori – from lower socio-economic backgrounds who were having a rough time which was impacting on the kids.

When I started, there were more opportunities for communitydevelopment work. I always thought you should work with peer influence, not against it, so I set up peer [youth] groups that worked well. Then the approach became much more individualised. For me, it was time for a change.’

In the late 1990s, Te Papa museum asked Ngati Hinewaka to reconstruct a 16th-century wharepuni (sleeping house) that had been discovered during an archaeological dig. Te Whaiti led the group that built the Makotukutuku Wharepuni, which is still on view at Te Papa. ‘Learning about ancestral mātauranga (knowledge), particularly tool-making technology, really opened up that history to me.’

Now the iwi is finally getting back some of what was taken. ‘I’ll be so excited and relieved to witness this historic occasion. Then, at my age, I should probably slow down a bit.’ Meaning more time to visit the marae, and the grandkids in Palmerston North .

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Haami Te Whaiti at Matakitaki a Kupe (Cape Palliser)

OPINION

Hard to s wa l l ow New Zealanders are becoming more and more interested in the provenance of food— what’s in it, where it comes from and how it’s been prepared. Long-time campaigner SUE KEDGLEY discusses the slow progress regarding food labelling.

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e’ve realised just how much food is imported into New Zealand, and we’re alert to the many hidden ingredients in food that we would be better to avoid. We’re extremely interested in how food has been grown and how food animals are treated, and a lot of us would prefer to buy food that has been grown locally, rather than shipped from the other side of the world.

And that’s why there’s overwhelming support for better food labelling and, in particular, for mandatory country of origin labelling of food.

We already have mandatory country of origin labelling rules for wine, footwear and clothing, so we can figure out where our jandals and teeshirts come from. But we can’t figure out where most of our food comes from, as New Zealand is one of only a handful of countries that don’t have country of origin labelling rules for food.

So trying to figure out where a lot of food comes from is like a modern detective mystery. More than half the pork we eat is imported, from 24 different countries, for example. But you can’t work out where all that imported pork has ended up in our supermarkets, because there are no labels that declare where pork has been imported from. Most consumers have no idea that most of the bacon they consume, and a lot of the so-called ‘fresh’ pork they buy, has been imported into New Zealand in frozen carcasses, from countries that inject pigs with growth hormones and have terrible animal welfare practices – not produced locally.

Retailers and many producers would like to keep country of origin labelling voluntary, not

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mandatory, as they see no advantage in pointing out to consumers that a lot of the garlic we buy comes from China, fish from Vietnam or asparagus from the Netherlands. And so for years they have been actively opposing mandatory country of origin labelling of food.

I first began campaigning for such mandatory labelling 14 years ago, when I discovered that our government was opposing a Food Standards Australia New Zealand proposal for country of origin food labelling of single-ingredient food. To try to change the government’s mind, I presented a 36,000 signature petition to Parliament in 2005 calling for mandatory country of origin labelling of food, and initiated a select committee inquiry into country of origin labelling.

To my astonishment, MPs on both sides of the House opposed consumer’s right to know where our food comes from, on the ludicrous grounds that it could be an impediment to our ‘free trade liberalisation agenda’ and to our trade overseas.

At least 50 countries in the world have mandatory country of origin of food labelling requirements, including most of the countries we trade with, so this was, I thought, a particularly pathetic excuse to deny consumers the right to know where their food comes from.

I was therefore horrified to discover that this same old reason is trotted out by Meat and Lamb New Zealand, Fonterra, Federated Farmers and other producer organisations, to oppose a bill currently before Parliament, which would finally require country of origin labelling of single-ingredient food in New Zealand.

OPINION

Green MP Steffan Browning’s Consumer Right to Know (Country of Origin of Food) bill (which, incidentally, I drafted when I was an MP) was selected from the parliamentary ballot earlier this year, and is being considered by Parliament’s Primary Production Committee.

Consumer NZ and many consumers, myself included, submitted in support of the bill, arguing that the present voluntary system of country of origin labelling isn’t working. We pointed out that all other food labelling regimes (ingredient labelling, nutritional labelling etc) are mandatory, and underpinned by regulation, and argued that origin labelling should be too.

We highlighted the fact that much of the food on sale in supermarkets carries completely meaningless labelling statements such as ‘made or packed in NZ from local and/or imported ingredients’. They are designed to confuse rather than inform consumers, and to conceal the origin of food.

I showed the MPs a packet of bacon branded ‘Grandpa’s Bacon,’ and asked if any of them could tell me where it came from. None of them could, as it simply stated on its label that it was ‘made from local and/ or imported ingredients.’

Consumer NZ pointed out that a lot of food on sale in New Zealand is incorrectly labelled as to its place of origin. Consumer NZ conducted a ‘mystery shopper’ tour of supermarkets, and found Australian pears, Chilean grapes, American asparagus and Italian kiwifruit all incorrectly labelled as ‘fresh from New Zealand!’

They also found sliced pineapple mislabelled ‘country of origin New Zealand,’ and numerous other misrepresentations. But as there is no independent monitoring or enforcement of our present voluntary system, retailers can get away with this blatantly false labelling without the risk of penalty.

Consumer NZ also pointed out that a recent nationwide survey found that 71% of consumers strongly support mandatory country of origin labelling of fruit and vegetables.

But instead of listening to consumers, and supporting our right to know where our food comes from, most producer and industry organisations put their self-interest ahead of consumers’ interests, and opposed the bill, on the specious grounds that it would ‘significantly weaken their ability to oppose country of origin labelling globally,’ as Beef and Lamb New Zealand explained.

That’s a terrible reason to deny New Zealand consumers our right to know where our food comes from. And it’s also shocking that some of our leading producer organisations are running around the world trying to oppose the turning tide, seeking to deny all consumers their right to know what’s in their food.

To their great credit, the Pork Board and Horticulture NZ strongly support mandatory country of origin labelling, because their industries have been decimated by cheap, unlabelled food imports. But most producer boards and retailers argued that it should simply be left to producers and retailers to display country of origin labels on food when it suits them, and deliberately withhold the information when it doesn’t suit them— a position that is arrogant and out of touch with what their customers want.

The bill is still being considered by the Primary Production Committee, so it’s unlikely it will pass in this Parliament. And although most MPs voted for the bill at its first reading, it’s still unclear whether National MPs will support the final bill or not.

If enough consumers flex their muscles and demand mandatory country of origin food labels, it just might happen in the next term of Parliament. But after 14 years of campaigning, I’m not holding my breath.

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A SMITH OF W O R D S A N D C L AY

By Craig Beardsworth Ceramic sculptor Sam Duckor-Jones pauses at length after each question – every answer is mulled over, everything well considered. Looking at his pensive sculptures you can see he probably applies this policy to many things. In August he will spend five weeks as the Chris Parkin Foundation Artist in Residence at Scots College in Strathmore Park. Now in its fifth year, the programme gives students the experience of working alongside a professional artist. Duckor-Jones will work with years 1 to 13, and build towards an exhibition at the college.

He was artist in residence in 2015 at Wellesley College in Eastbourne – so does he like working with children? ‘Yes it’s far more enjoyable working with kids than adults. I didn’t have a terrific time at school so I enjoy making an exciting creative space for kids to come in and just be.’ The benefits flow both ways. Duckor-Jones claims to be liberated by his interactions with students: ‘I find that I get a little tight and controlled in my practice. Children free you up with line and colour, they are more… spontaneous, more gestural, they try things out without questioning’.

Studying to be a teacher has crossed his mind but at the moment his time is taken up with studying at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) at Victoria University. Yes, not only is Duckor-Jones an accomplished artist – he writes poetry too and was accepted into the Master’s course without a prior degree, a rare exception to the university’s rules. He is laconic about this achievement – ‘You can get stale in the artist’ studio; it’s a relief to be away for a while’.

Sam Duckor-Jones in his Featherston studio

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GOOD SPORTS

FINGER ON THE PULSE

CYCLE TRAIL GROWS

IN THE BLACK

For the first time in history the Central Pulse made the playoffs of netball’s ANZ Championship. Eventually going down to the Southern Steel in the Grand Final. On the back of this success, coach Yvette McCausland-Durie (above) has signed on for another two years in charge. ‘It was an easy decision,’ she said, ‘the Pulse have the ability to be a championship team.’

The Rimutaka cycle trail is one of New Zealand’s great rides and part of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle trail. It travels all the way from the Capital through Lower and Upper Hutt right through the Rimutaka ranges and into the Wairarapa. The longest of the tunnels through the Rimutakas is 584m long. This trail brings $3.3 million to Lower Hutt annually and is increasing in popularity. It is estimated that for every dollar spent on the trails there has been $3.55 in return.

The 2017 Wellington Lions (Wellington’s provincial team) season begins on Sunday August 20. The Wellington Rugby Football Union recently announced a $191,000.00 surplus for the 2016 season, as opposed to the $1.6 million deficit in 2015. This was the biggest surplus since 2006, and came on the back of the Hurricanes winning their first Super Rugby title and two successful All Black test matches at the stadium.

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GOOD SPORTS

LIGHT WEIGHT WO OD

BRAVO Porirua, an area better known for breeding great rugby players, is also home to Olé Football Academy, which is celebrating their 20th year. The academy was founded in 1997 by Dave Wilson a former New Zealand national team coach.

Olé train and develop footballers from age five through to 18. Up to 12 youths can live on-site at a time. At present there are more than 180 students enrolled in total. No other football development group in New Zealand can boast the long term success which Olé has had, with six graduates playing professional football, 15 international representatives and more than 40 youths placed in US University Football programmes. Ben Sippola, CEO of Olé, says that ‘without a doubt Ryan Thomas’ is the most successful graduate. Ryan, a 22 year old from Te Puke has had more than 100 appearances for Dutch club Zwolle.

Jack Candlish began trying to make eco-friendly wooden surf boards several years ago after becoming frustrated with the fragile nature of traditional fibreglass boards. He is now offering workshops to other surfers to help them create their own eco-friendly, custom, lightweight board. After a lot of research and development, he has devised a method and four different base models to choose from. The models range from high performance boards to more relaxed interpretations. The next workshop is on 19 August. organicdynamic.com.

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F E AT U R E

The great We l l i n g t o n boil-up COMPILED BY LAURA PITCHER AND FRANCESCA EMMS PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNA BRIGGS

Jeff Kennedy

Mike Marsland

Geoff Marsland

Steve Logan

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Leonardo Bresolin

Lorenzo Bresolin

We managed to get a dozen of Wellington’s hospo legends in the same room at the same time. Turns out that not only do they know each other, but their culinary journeys are deeply interconnected.

We asked them about their years in the business and their answers were a smorgasbord. Of course this is only a little taste of Wellington’s food history but we hope you enjoy these 12 courses.

Elie Assaf

Adam Newell

John Lawrence

Mike Egan

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Mark Limacher

Chris Green

F E AT U R E

Jeff Kennedy

Mike Marsland

Geoff Marsland

Jeff ’s extensive resume stretches back to the 70s and includes Beefeater Arms, Bacchus, White Heron Lodge, Le Normandie (where he was sacked twice), Il Casino, Downstage, Settlement, Macavities, Toad Hall, Mt Cook Café, Aitkens, Empire Foods, L’affare, Astoria, Pravda, Prefab and Acme & Co.

Mike started out as a trainee chef at Le Normandie in 1980. Since then he’s been a major part of Marsland's Licensed Restaurant, Remix Espresso, The Krazy Lounge, Cannibal Espresso, Purple Onion, Ernesto, El Matador and Ekim Burgers. Espressoholic, which he opened in 1989, was New Zealand's second espresso bar.

Geoff has been instrumental in the development of Wellington’s coffee culture. He co-founded New Zealand’s first espresso bar, Midnight Espresso, in 1989. He closely followed it with Deluxe Cafe and Havana Coffee Works.

Most enjoys: Getting people to come back in.

Key to success: Helping people who don’t know what they want, who change their minds, or who have food intolerances.

Special skill: Removing an entire table cloth and contents in less than half a second without breaking anything.

Most enjoys: Driving my own train/ destiny – being my own boss.

Key to success: Having your own X-factor and backing yourself.

Philosophy: You're only as good as your last service.

Most enjoys: People, I love people and community. I love how cafes connect with the street – cafes are like community centres.

Key to success: Being innovative and collaborating with other great operators.

Top tip: Keep it fresh. But always remain true to yourself, not passing trends.

Elie Assaf

Adam Newell

John Lawrence

Elie started in his family’s takeaway place Phoenician Falafel in 2001. He opened Phoenician on Cuba in 2010.

In 2014 he opened Five Boroughs with partner Bryn and together they went on to open Five & Dime in 2016.

Adam arrived in Wellington in 1997 with 14 years experience already under his belt. He was the executive chef at Icon at Te Papa until he opened Zibibbo in 2000.

John opened his first restaurant, Tinakori Bistro, in 1989. He’s also been involved in the success of One Red Dog, Arbitrageur, Icon, Osteria del Toro, and Martinborough Hotel. He’s currently with Boulcott St Bistro, Monsoon Poon and Burger Liquor.

Key to success: It's hard to catch a black cat in a dark room, especially if it's not there.

Hardest part: The size of the city. When your potential audience is only a couple of hundred thousand people, what you can do is restricted.

Most enjoys: Learning from other people in the industry.

Best Anecdote: Walking into the main office on a Friday night at 9pm and finding two very respectable customers butt naked banging on the floor.

Shocked, all I could say was ‘your mains are ready’.

Hardest part: Surviving the first year, it’s the hardest I have ever worked in my life.

Most enjoys: How customers over the years have become very good friends.

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Key to success: Build your network.

Most enjoys: How the industry has gained more respect in terms of its contribution to the local economy.

Best anecdote: A couple ordered two diet cokes. I heard it as two JD and Cokes. They were recovering alcoholics.

Needless to say they weren’t happy.

F E AT U R E

Steve Logan

Leonardo Bresolin

Lorenzo Bresolin

Steve is a winner. Over the years he’s received various awards including Best Restaurateur, Wellingtonian of the Year and Restaurant of the Year. He’s responsible for the establishment of Brer Fox Café and Café Laffite in 1988. In 1990 he co-founded Logan Brown with Al Brown. Grill Meets Beer opened in 2014.

Leonardo began his hospo career working for his father at Il Casino. In 2006 he started Scopa with his dad and brother. They had Duke Carvell’s from 2008 to 2015, Crazy Horse the Steak House from 2009 to 2014, and Il Casino 2001 to 2006. He’s currently involved with Scopa, Tommy Millions and The Bresolin.

Lorenzo was polishing glasses in Il Casino at the tender age of 8, but his first ‘real’ hospo job was at Caffe L’affare.

He’s contributed to the success of Zico, Matterhorn, Boulot, Scopa, Duke Carvell’s, Crazy Horse the Steak House, The Gentleman's Beans micro-roaster, Tommy Millions and The Bresolin.

Highlight: Helping Visa Wellington on a Plate get established.

Hardest part: There never seems to be enough time in the day.

Highlight: Making a living out of what I enjoy.

Key to success: Being involved in Wellington’s vibrant community and in collaborating with others to keep Wellington great.

Top tip: Never assume! You know how the saying goes.

Philosophy: I call it the ‘Cheers philosophy’, a warm and familiar service that makes people return.

Best anecdote: Too many, it’s just a blur.

Mike Egan Mike’s been part of Wellington’s hospo scene since 1981. His credits include Van Gogh’s, Dockside Restaurant, One Red Dog, Martinborough Hotel, Te Papa, Monsoon Poon, Osteria del Toro and Burger Liquor. He’s currently a trustee of Wellington on a Plate and National President of the Restaurant Association of NZ. Hardest part: When the first cold bite of winter hits us the customers tend to hibernate for a week.

Key to success: Consistency.

Most enjoys: Delivering a product that is a mixture of creativity and just- intime manufacturing.

Most enjoys: Finding that important balance of work time and family time.

Mark Limacher Mark started cooking in Willy’s Wine bar in 1976. He opened his first restaurant, the Roxburgh Bistro, in 1992 followed by Café Bastille, Ortega Fish Shack and Slim Davey’s.

Top tip: There’s no one else on the roads at 2am.

Hardest part: Menu prices don’t reflect the true costs and profit margins are very tight.

Most enjoys: We have great folks out front who are lovely and love to take care of people as well as a tight team of jokers in the kitchen who love to cook.

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Key to success: Make sure everyone is having a great time.

Chris Green Chris started as a kitchen hand at Lower Hutt’s Kings Cross Hotel in 1983. He met his future business partners there and went on to open Tinakori Bistro, Boulcott Street Bistro, One Red Dog, Monsoon Poon, Arbitrageur and Annam Restaurant.

He’s also been involved with Icon and Martinborough Hotel.

Hardest part: Getting bums on seats.

Highlight: Watching the industry change and evolve and being part of it.

Most enjoys: The magic of the kitchen is if you step over the threshold you’ll be welcomed with open arms.

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Connect the dots

BY SHARON STEPHENSON

We take a deeper look at the wonderful dishes on offer in the city as well as the characters in the kitchens, the risk-taking and the hard work required to put the food on to plates.

O

n paper, it looks easy: get 12 of Wellington’s top chefs and restaurant owners together for a photo shoot to celebrate another Wellington on a Plate event.

The reality was rather different, but that’s probably to be expected. The leading lights of the Capital’s hospo scene are not only busy feeding and watering their regular hungry clientele, but also prepping for the WOAP munchathon, enjoyed annually by around 70,000, which takes a massive bite out of their waking hours.

When they managed to wrest themselves away from their stove-tops, coffee machines and menu planning, they were a lot of fun. We made no attempt to censor them (these people know how to use knives, after all) and the conversations ranged freely from this year’s WOAP to the cold to the price of avocados.

One thing that really stood out for us was the interconnectedness of Wellington’s culinary scene. If you were to draw lines indicating who’s worked with whom and who’s owned restaurants with whom over the years, the result would look like an aeronautical wiring diagram.

Mark Limacher, of Ortega Fish Shack and Slim Davey’s, has been a feature of Wellington’s culinary scene for 40 years. His introduction to good food happened at Jeff Kennedy’s Toad Hall restaurant on Plimmer Steps, when he was in his teens. ‘I tried a fillet of beef which was delicious and realised I wanted to be part of this industry,’ he says.

Zibibbo’s Adam Newell tells us, ‘John Lawrence was one of the first people I spoke to when I got off the boat from the UK in 1997. There wasn’t much going in Wellington’s hospitality scene back then and I was thinking of going back to England. But then I met John, Mike Egan and

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Chris Green at the Boulcott Street Bistro and realised they were the kind of guys I was interested in working with.’

And so he did, partnering with the trio at Icon, Te Papa’s foray into fine dining.

The Bresolin brothers grew up in Wellington’s hospitality industry, collecting glasses at their father’s restaurant, Il Casino, as kids. ‘When I was 14 Jeff Kennedy gave me a job washing dishes at Caffe L’affare, and most of the guys at the photo-shoot were around our Christmas table at one time or another,’ says Lorenzo. The brothers appreciate the advice and support they’ve had from the stalwarts of Wellington’s hospo industry, and the fact they often tell them how proud their father would have been of them.

‘Wellington isn’t unique in how connected all our restaurants are – I think it’s a hospo industry thing,’ says Monsoon Poon’s Mike Egan. ‘I was in London recently visiting my daughter who works for Caravan (cafe) and every place we went to, people knew her. Hospo people tend to eat at each others’ restaurants, to check out what others are doing and support them. We’re all in this together, trying to do our best for the customer.’

So what makes the Wellington hospo scene tick? And how it has changed over the past few years? We asked our experts.

Limacher’s career has afforded him a bird’s-eye view of the changes that have swept through the industry. ‘Food trends come and go, which is always interesting to see.

For example, at my first job at the wine bar, I was cooking deep-fried chicken, which is now back in vogue.’ And while the number of people eating out has increased, Limacher says prices haven’t done so proportionately. ‘The

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price of a meal hasn’t really kept pace with inflation. It means that our profit margins are getting squeezed more and more.’

But he’s pleased that the range of produce, as well as the wine and beer, has improved. ‘Back in the day it was hard to source things like celeriac, and now you can get it from New World!

It’s great to see the range that consumers have now. Twenty years ago there would have been three Cantonese restaurants and no Thai or Indian places in Wellington. Now diners are spoiled for choice.’

Bresolin says one of the biggest changes he’s noticed in the past few years is a move away from fine dining restaurants. ‘People want a more casual dining experience, even for special occasions. It has really put the pinch on fine dining establishments.’ He also points to the trend towards more shared-plate dining, a move he believes he and his brother introduced to Wellington at their former restaurant, Duke Carvell’s. ‘We were one of the first to offer a sharedstyle menu, which customers had experienced overseas and wanted to try here.’

Egan believes the foodie scene has changed dramatically over the past few years in many ways, including the rise of the single diner. ‘Restaurants have become de facto public living rooms, where diners can feel comfortable about eating alone.’

The speed at which local restaurants have had to respond to international trends has also changed, he adds. ‘Customers see something on Instagram or on their travels and want to be able to eat that here. I think cafes have had to get quicker at responding to those trends.’ Certain ingredients are now also more readily available than a decade ago, and the better the ingredients, the less chefs have to do with them. ‘It means less mucking around, more letting the food speak for itself.’

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Brunchies COMPILED BY LAURA PITCHER AND FRANCESCA EMMS PHOTOGRAPHY BY RHETT GOODLEY-HORNBLOW

It’s hard to shed your electric blanket and flannel pyjamas on a wet winter weekend. Three of Wellington’s food bloggers have given us the lowdown on the best brunches around the city.

You’ll be jumping out of bed to try them, even on the coldest of capital mornings.

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F E AT U R E

The Fo rest Canti na U n n a Bu rc h

U

nna Burch has many feathers in her cap. Not only is she an instagrammer with more than 16 thousand followers, she’s also a cook, food stylist, photographer, teacher, gardener, bee-keeper, poultry-woman, blogger and author. Unna’s second book, Home, a recipe and lifestyle book full of heart and home cooking, was released in June this year.

The name Forest Cantina refers to Unna’s home on the edge of a suburban forest, and her ‘cantina’ where she loves to cook for family and friends. Unna lives a 'suburban self-sufficient' lifestyle, – living off the land as far as possible. Unna grows her own organic veges and keeps heritage-breed chickens. ‘One of the things that I am most known for on Instagram,’ she says, ‘is the beautiful eggs that my chickens lay.’

So what can lure her away from her own kitchen? ‘I

am kinda obsessed with street food –and going to the Harbourside Markets on Sunday. It's perfect for taking the kids and the dog. I also love that it's fast and we get to be outdoors.’

Unna’s picks for WOAP are Barbacoa: The Mexican Hāngī and the Rimutaka Prison Gate to Plate . She says, ‘Both events are something I wouldn't get to experience on an everyday basis. I also love the kaupapa behind each of them.’

And what about brunch? ‘I love brunch because I am often not physically ready to eat until brunch time.

But I am not a fan of paying for brunch I can make at home, so when we do go out to brunch it's usually for more than just bacon and eggs.’

Instagram: @the_forest_cantina Facebook: @theforestcantina

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Kedgeree with house-smoked fish I get cravings for Nikau's kedgeree with house-smoked fish. I’ve never had kedgeree like theirs before – I have tried many times making it myself at home but they win, hands down. Their pancakes are a favourite too because they have a lemony tang which is so great with their apple syrup. It’s consistently good at Nikau.

Nikau Café, City Art Gallery, 101 Wakefield St, Te Aro

Waffles At Comes and Goes their presentation is extraordinary and super 'instagram worthy.' Their attention to presentation detail is like no other, and, it tastes good.

We love their waffles; ‘house made waffles, middle bacon, caramelized banana, chocolate soil, seasonal fruit, toasted rice, almond, berries, cream cheese and maple’.

Potato gratin, bratwurst sausage, bacon, poached egg & hollandaise When I get the urge for carbs and meat, PreFab’s potato gratin with bratwurst sausage, bacon (which is a thick cut brushed with maple syrup), poached egg and hollandaise...well it’s the perfect blowout. Their cheese scones are incredible too. Even though this place gets packed out, the service and food is always so fast.

PreFab, 14 Jessie St, Te Aro

Comes & Goes, 259 Jackson Street, Petone, Lower Hutt

Yum Cha

Harbourside Markets

Dragons has been my go-to place for yum cha for over a decade – I even have the owner’s cell number to text a booking. I love the textures of the dumplings mixed with a few fried favourites and washed down with some Chinese tea. To finish, go for the smooth (not too sweet) mango pudding.

Gimme street food over fine dining any day – and at the Sunday Harbourside Markets we are spoilt for choice. Try the dumplings from the unmarked white and orange truck, a fresh apple orange and carrot juice from the 'Donald Trump not welcome here, he's the wrong kind of orange' juice truck and also the sweet treats from Montfoort caravan.

Dragons, 25 Tory Street, Te Aro

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Harbourside Market, Waitangi Park, cnr Barnett and Cable Streets, Te Aro

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We l l i ngton Nom s Ka l l i ana Ko ng & H a n n a h M eg e n n i s

K

alliana Kong and Hannah Megennis met at work and bonded over their shared loves – crappy reality TV and food. Together they discover epicurean delights and document their edible adventures on Instagram.

Their handle @wellingnoms is apt – the focus is firmly on Wellington. Their posts celebrate coffee culture, classy cocktails and capital cuisine.

Hannah is loving Italian food because Bastardo has just opened up around the corner from her. ‘I can see us spending a lot of time there,’ she says, ‘I'm a sucker for carbs... especially when they're covered in cheese.’ Kalliana loves pop-ups and food trucks, ‘anything that seems limited-edition or a collaboration between different brands floats my boat.’

Kalliana loves the concept of brunch, but will have probably eaten before she meets you. ‘There's

no way I can wait until 11–12 to eat for the first time,’ she says, “But I'm all for double breakfast and an acceptable way to have a drink before midday.”

Hannah loves a good brunch, ‘especially now that I'm older. I'm more fond of going out with friends for brunch than a night on the town. And if there's waffles or pancakes I'm sold.’

It’s already been a big year for the Nom Girls. Kalliana is adjusting to being a dog-parent to Percy, an English Bulldog puppy, and Hannah has just returned from LA. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t ready to take on Wellington On A Plate. They’re looking forward to the Garage Project Yum Cha, and plan to beat their current personal best of 20 WOAP burgers.

Instagram: @wellingnoms Facebook: @wellingnoms

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Potato and Kumara Hash We dare you to take a meatlover to the Botanist for the poached eggs served on kumara hash fritters with haloumi and see if they even notice that meat is missing from this bad boy of a brunch. There’s no way to describe it other than really frickin’ tasty.

The Botanist, 219 Onepu Road, Lyall Bay Crumpets with Lemon Curd and Coconut Yoghurt

Eggs Benedict If there ever was a flagship brunch in Wellington, it’s got to be the eggs benedict from Maranui. There’s nothing dull about having eggs bene for brunch, as long as it’s absolutely perfect. The one from Maranui is always bang on and worth waiting in the long line snaking out the door.

If crumpets don’t bring back awesome childhood memories for you, we’re sorry you missed out but it’s not too late. Try these crumpets from Loretta.

They’re tart, they’re sweet and they’re seriously the best value brunch-porn you can find.

Maranui Café, 7 Lyall Parade, Lyall Bay

Loretta, 181 Cuba Street, Te Aro Baked Eggs Wellington gets its fair share of rainy days and baked eggs (with chorizo if you’re feeling in need of superluxe) on a cold day is perfection. Rinksi’s is the best place for a relaxed brunch while flicking through old issues of Lucky Peach to get foodie inspo.

You could also go the extra mile and get a bear claw for the road while you’re there.

Rinski Korsakov’s, 462 Adelaide Road, Berhampore

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The Big Breakfast We’re not often big-breakfast ordering kind of gals, because there’s always something you don’t want but the big breakfast at Olive has every single element on point. We’ve got a huge soft spot for the mushrooms. Insert hand clapping emoji here.

Olive Cafe, 170–172 Cuba Street, Te Aro

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Ca ke for Brea kfast Fra n ces S pee r

F

rances Speer is a Grade A food-lover. She loves to eat and to cook, and to talk and to write about eating and cooking. When she was diagnosed with coeliac disease it was goodbye beer and pasta, hello buckwheat and rice flour. But she doesn’t let it get her down. Instead of focussing on what she can’t have she gets excited about all the incredibly delicious things she can eat.

Her blog and Instagram reflects her balanced approach to enjoying food. ‘Cake for Breakfast is an attitude,’ she says, ‘It’s refusing to invite moral judgements along to breakfast, lunch or dinner and it’s bringing back excitement and happiness around food.’

Frances’ happy food places are many and varied.

She’s been trying out new suburban eateries like Bambuchi in Hataitai and Oikos in Miramar, and enjoying old favourites Salty Pidgin in Brooklyn and Newtown’s Cicio Cacio – ‘Eating in the ‘burbs is where it’s

at,’ she says. She’s currently eating her way through Field & Green’s extensive ice cream menu and waiting for the asparagus season.

Frances is looking forward to lots of long lunches with wine during Wellington On A Plate. ‘The chef collabs are an exciting addition to the WOAP menu,’ she says, ‘Ben Shewry at Attica, Culprit at Shepherd and Melbourne’s iconic restaurant Cumulus at Egmont Street Eatery.’

This early bird needs breakfast before brunch (does that make it lunch?). She likes brunch menus that are ‘a bit quirky and brave and offer more than your average eggs on toast’. Coffee is essential of course, ‘Any place serving good and bottomless (preferably Supreme) filter coffee has my heart.’

Instagram: @_cakeforbreakfast_ Facebook: @cakeforbreakfastblog Website: www.cakeforbreakfast.me

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Smashed peas, avocado, lemon, Parmesan, toast, poached egg Field & Green make the kind of food I could happily eat every day.

Their smashed peas and avocado is delicately fragrant with lemon and comes with an expertly poached egg.

I have it with their delightful glutenfree crackers (their genius solution to the gluten-free-bread-sucks conundrum). I’d quite happily spend all of my house-buying money on F&G’s smashed avo.

Smoked mackerel, potato herb hash with a poached egg

Field & Green, 262 Wakefield Street, Te Aro French toast, lemon curd, blackberry and soft meringue with coconut bread Egmont Street Eatery have one of Welly’s most inventive brunch menus and best of all, they can make most of their menu gluten-free. Their coconut bread French toast comes sandwiched with lemon curd, blackberries and torched meringue. It’s decadent, it’s borderline dessert and it’s my idea of a good time – my blog isn’t called Cake for Breakfast for nothing.

Floriditas are veterans of the Wellington brunch scene and their quintessential menu has your every breakfast/lunch hybrid need covered. Despite the menu scope I tend to go with my old favourite: smoked mackerel, potato and herb hash with a poached egg. I challenge you to settle your bill without giving in and buying a cakey something for later.

Floriditas, 161 Cuba Street, Te Aro

Egmont Street Eatery, 11 Egmont Street, Te Aro

Build your own brekkie Here’s how to do it: you and your dining companions each order truffle fried eggs ($5), potato and kumara hash ($5) and bacon ($8), then a couple of sides to share. I suggest housemade sauerkraut ($3) and some creamed spinach ($5), and a couple of coffees each. Follow with a restorative walk through the nearby Botanic Gardens.

A Yodi bagel and an iced maple One of Al Brown’s beaut little uglies and an iced maple coffee will cure what ails you. The Yodi bagel has everything you need from a curative food stuff: salty pastrami, kicky habanero mustard, tangy pickles and lots of cheese.

I apologise in advance for your new-found iced maple habit: the Havana coffees laced with maple syrup are addictively good.

Hillside Kitchen, 241 Tinakori Road, Thorndon

Best Ugly Bagels, 5 Swan Lane, Te Aro or Wellington Airport, Rongotai

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Beer Necessities Special tasting guide

CO N V E N E D BY K I E R A N H A S L E T T - M O O R E P H OTO G R A P H Y BY R H E T T G O O D L E Y H O R N B LOW

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F E AT U R E

The New Zealand Craft Brewing Industry is booming, with new producers popping up every month. Reflecting its growth, this year’s survey attracted a record 162 entries.

I

convened a panel of judges selected from bar people, brewers, and journalists to assess the beers and present the best of them here. The beers were all tasted blind, and no brewer judged their own beer. Of the 162 entries, 50 were awarded three points or more out of five. The range of styles has continued to broaden, with spirit-barrel-aged, sour, barley-wine and spiced beers alongside the more conventional pilsners and pale ales.

Wellingtonians can take some parochial pride in the fact that three of the top six beers come from their region. The top six take in a spread of

styles, with an example of a Pale Ale, India Pale Ale, Imperial India Pale, an example of now somewhat rare Porter, a Barley Wine, and an Imperial Stout.

This year we had more entries than ever before.

However, partly because of the high judging standards, partly because more of the beers exhibited flaws than in the past, we ended up with about the same number scoring three points or more. It’s great to see the industry grow, but better quality control is clearly needed. The panel did a fantastic job evaluating the beers, a job that isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Here’s to good beer in all its diversity. Cheers!

The judging panel

Kieran Haslett-Moore

Tracy Banner

Steph Coutts

Adrian Klemp

Convenor and North End head brewer

Head brewer and partner Sprig and Fern Brewery

Owner Craft Beer College

General Manager Black Dog Brewery

Adam La ird

Mar tin Cra ig

Anni ka Naschitzki

Head brewer Maiden Brewing Co

Owner Beertown.co.nz

Head brewer and owner Tiamana Brewery

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Col in Ma l lon

Owner and manager Fork Brewing and The Malthouse

F E AT U R E

The six pack Here they are. Our top six beers, as picked by our tasting panel.

Best beer

Best beer

Bitterbitch

Seamaster

Parrotdog

Bach

Parrotdog have recently made the move from their cramped CBD location to an impressive new brewery at Lyall Bay. A new large brewery and bottling line has been installed. Often when a brewery goes through a move and expansion it takes them awhile to settle in and get the beers tasting right, there has clearly been no such problem for Parrotdog.

Bitterbitch has a bright copper coloured malt body that supports a tropical cocktail of pineapple and passionfruit.

Bach Brewing grew out of the old Limburg Brewery when one of the original Limburg partners, Craig Cooper, resurrected some of the old recipes contract brewing them at Steam Brewery in Auckland. Bach has now taken on a life of its own with a raft of precisely brewed clean hop forward beers. Seamaster, a rich orangey English style Barley Wine, marks a step away from the hoppy pale ales and pilsners for which Bach is usually known. Seamaster is full bodied, with a warming candied citrus character, a rich fortified malt body and a long smooth finish.

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F E AT U R E

Best beer

XV

Best beer

Driftwood

Tuatara

Bach

Tuatara have had a very good 12 months taking Brewers Guild New Zealand Champion Trophy while growing the brewery rapidly. Now under DB ownership they are setting about showing that they are still making characterful high quality beer. XV however dates from long before the sale of the brewery. It was originally brewed in 2015 to mark the 15 year anniversary of the brewery. A chest thumpingly strong Imperial Stout XV offers up aromas of leather, coffee and a hint of soy sauce before a rich salty chocolate tinged palate and a smooth long roasty finish.

The second beer from Bach Brewing to make the top six is more in line with what they are known for than the Seamaster, its hoppy, clean and sessionable. Driftwood combines a vibrant bright citrus hop character with a clean biscuit malt backbone. Driftwood strikes the perfect balance of flavours to be enjoyed through a session without anything overwhelming the palate.

Best beer

Best beer

DoubleTrouble

Pioneer

Tuatara

McLeod’s

The second Top Six beer from Tuatara comes in the form of Double Trouble, a beer the brewery describes as an “Extra Dimensional APA” which means Double or Imperial India Pale Ale to you and me. Double Trouble pours a dark shade of gold with an aroma that is packed with fresh tropical fruit and a hint of warming alcohol.

In the mouth the beer is zesty and vibrant with pine and tropical fruit notes leading to a firm bitter finish.

The new comer in the pack hails from Waipu north of Auckland.

Jason Bathgate formerly brewed for 8 Wired before a workplace accident set him on another path. He has ended up running the Mcleod’s Brewery which is attached to a popular pizza restaurant. Jason has set about producing a range of modern hop-forward beers, a range of barrel aged sour beers and a few more traditional offerings. Pioneer Porter is one of the more traditional in the range. Aromas of chocolate, a hint of smoky roast and bready malt leads on to a super smooth clean well balanced palate.

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F E AT U R E

way to a clean lean body and a refreshing dry finish.

5 4.5 4 3.5 3

Pilsner Typically: Crisp clean and pale golden hued, with clean hop aromas that sometimes take on a big fruity hop character.

Parrotdog Pandemonium Pilsner Light fruity hop aromas and a touch of sulphur give way to a well balanced malty palate.

Bach Beachstone Light gold with a bright subtle tropical hop aroma, a medium bodied palate and a dry finish.

Duncan’s Pilsner A complex fruity NZ hop aroma, a very lean body with a firm bitter finish.

Pale Ale and Session IPA Typically: Fruity lightly coloured beers that combine citrus and/ or tropical hop character with restrained caramel or toffee malt notes.

8 Wired Semi Conductor Pours a light gold with a good head, aromas of fruity pine laced hops, a very lean malt body and a dry finish.

Bach Driftwood Hoppy, clean and sessionable.

Driftwood combines a vibrant bright citrus hop character with a clean biscuit malt backbone.

Driftwood strikes the perfect balance of flavours to be enjoyed through a session without anything overwhelming the palate.

Good George Sparkling A subtle balanced nose gives

McLeod’s Paradise A peppery spicy hop aroma gives way to grassy hop flavours with some dry supporting malt on the palate.

Behemoth Chur A green over ripe aroma leads to a lean mouth feel and a firm minerally bitter finish.

Liberty Oh Bro Juicy fruity hop aroma laced with stone fruit salad, leads to a nice well balanced clean palate.

Liberty Uprising A subdued subtle aroma leads to a clean dry fruity palate with a short but smooth finish.

Liberty Yakima Monster Aromas of sherbet and bubblegum lead to a fruity well balanced palate with a firm bitter finish.

Boneface Hoptron A bright shade of copper with a good head. Aromas of herbal hops and a minerally note lead to a rich malty palate and a dry finish.

Good George APA Pours a light shade of copper, aromas of citrus laced hops give way to a well balanced palate that presents malt as much as it does hop character.

Liberty Sav Bomb A savoury hop aroma gives way to a big over ripe tropical hop flavour and a firm satisfying bitter finish.

Behemoth 6 foot 5 Aromas of grapefruit give way to a dry pale body where hop flavour is just supported by malt.

Parrotdog Bitterbitch A bright copper coloured malt body supports a tropical cocktail of pineapple and passionfruit.

umami laced palate and a long rich finish.

Sunshine Czarbomb Dark fruit and chocolate on the aroma give way to salty raisins and espresso chocolate on the palate with a lingering satisfying finish.

Tuatara XV Aromas of leather, coffee and a hint of soy sauce before a rich salty chocolate tinged palate and a smooth long roasty finish.

Parrotdog Bloodhound Juicy deep citrus hop character, some nice sweet toffee malt and a clean short finish.

Double Vision Red Rascal Biscuity malt and citrus hops dominate the aroma. On the palate there is some nice citrus hop character before a minerally dry finish.

Barley wine

Belgian Tripel Typically: Strong spicy fruity ales that pour the colour of a Pilsner yet pack a much larger flavour and alcohol hit.

Tuatara Tripel Barrel Aromas of pineapple and spice give way to a spritzy fruity palate with hint of candy sweetness.

Typically: Super strong beers that sometimes exhibit flavours reminiscent of fortified wine. Rich fruity and satisfying.

Bach Seamaster Full bodied with a warming candied citrus character, a rich fortified malt body, and a long smooth finish.

Barrel Aged Dark Beer Typically: Strong stouts aged in former spirit barrels combine the intensity of Imperial stouts with the sweet rounded flavour of the spirit barrel they were aged in.

IPA and Red IPA Typically: India Pale Ales present intense hopping over supporting malt bills to create exotic fruity aromas and flavours. Red IPA’s include richer darker malt characters.

Bach Kingtide Assertive citrus hop aroma gives way to a rich malt back palate and a dry finish.

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Imperial Stout Typically: The strongest darkest richest stouts, viscous chocolatey roasty with a sweet bitter balance.

Wigram Czar Aromas of wood, bacon and dark chocolate give way to an

Panhead Busted Knuckle Aromas of vanilla, maple, and chocolate give way to a syrupy body and a long rich finish.

Liberty Prohibition Warming alcohol and oak vie on the nose before a rich sweet body and a fortifying finish.

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5 4.5 4 3.5

Barrel Aged Sour

British Ale

Typically: Brewed with wild yeasts and bacteria, sour beers exhibit varying levels of tart acidity with lean malt character and sometimes fruit notes.

Typically: Beers with more pronounced malt characters than new world pale ales, earthy hops and fruity yeast characters.

Typically: Beers that use yoghurt microbes to create clean tart acidity without any funky wild yeast character.

Rennaissance Stonecutter Chocolate and caramel aromas give way to a sweet malty palate.

8 Wired Hippy Berliner A sherbery ‘gumdrop’ like aroma gives way to an acid forward palate with some slightly grainy malt notes.

Tiamana Even Older Fritz Aromas of balsamic and cherries give way to a salty sweet and sour palate with some nice malt flavour and a tart finish.

8 Wired Fist Full of Cherries Sherberty tart fruit aromas give way to a salty slightly biscuit palate and an assertive sour finish.

McLeod’s Traders Scotch Ale Aromas of chocolate and herbal notes lead to more chocolate and a sweet long finish.

Good George Amber Aromas of caramel and toasted grain give way to herbal hop flavours, a hint of pear and dry finish.

Kettle Sour

Boneface The Juice A piney citrusy aroma gives way to hints of rye bread and a tart finish.

Porter/Stout/ Dark Lager

Tuatara Weiz Guy Complex aroma of banana, cloves and orchid fruit gives way to a creamy full bodied palate with a refreshing spritzy finish.

Cassel Extra Pale Ale Nice subtle hop aroma gives way to a sparkling body with some nice malt flavour and a firm bitter finish.

Liberty Elixir A slightly savoury pine aroma gives way to a lean bodied palate and a short dry finish.

Double Indian Pale Ale Typically: Bigger, stronger, more intense versions of India Pale Ale. Behemoth In Ya Face A subtle aroma of malt with some supporting hop notes.

In the mouth a little warming with a firm bitterness and some lingering lemony hop flavour.

8 Wired Superconductor Aromas of pine, and earthy citrus lead into a palate of over-ripe fruit and long bitter finish.

Tuatara Double Trouble A dark shade of gold with an aroma that is packed with fresh tropical fruit and a hint of warming alcohol. In the mouth the beer is zesty and vibrant with pine and tropical fruit notes leading to a firm bitter finish.

Typically: Beer flavoured by spices, fruit, coffee, chocolate, tea or smoke.

Wigram Harvard Sweet honey note on the nose give way to some dry biscuit malt flavour and a dry finish.

Wigram Ace Smoky Notes of marmite and smoke on the nose lead to a palate rich with notes of rye bread and a slightly ash like finish.

Boundary Rd Chocolate Mousse Big confected chocolate, a hint of bubble gum, and some nice caramel notes.

XPA / Wheat Typically: Extra Pale Ales, often abbreviated to XPA, and Wheat beers are light zesty and refreshing. In the case of XPA’s the zesty fruit character comes from the hops used while wheat beers are often flavoured by the exotic fruity spicy yeasts which are used to ferment them.

Flavoured Beer

Double Vision Magic Bean Aromas of espresso and chocolate give way to a slightly green coffee note and a slightly tangy finish.

Typically: Aromas and flavours of dark chocolate and espresso with rich malt backbones and sometimes a decent hop hit.

8 Wired Big Smoke A fascinating savoury aroma leads to a rich smoky palate with a lean dry finish.

Tiamana Berg Aromas of espresso and dark fruit give way to a roasty coffee like palate with a smooth finish.

Behemoth Triple Chocolate Milk Stout Chocolate confected aroma, in the mouth the beer is sweet and round with a satisfying finish.

McLeods’s Pioneer One of the more traditional in the range. Aromas of chocolate, a hint of smoky roast and bready malt leads on to a super smooth clean well balanced palate.

Harrington’s Wobbly Boot Espresso and chocolate note give way to a sweet confected palate and lean finish.

Sunshine Black Magic Plums and coconut note in the aroma give way to a roasty sweet palate and a dry finish

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Renaissance Cherry Porter Aromas of dark fruit and light smoke give way to a palate flavoured of dates, marshmallow and spice.

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INTERIORS

Bamboo steaming bowl – $13 – Trade Aid, Kikkoman soy sauce 150ml – $4.80 – Moore Wilson's, Ruthie Frank marbled porcelain small ceramic tumbler – $30 – Mooma, chopsticks with white top – $3 – Trade Aid, Aurora tea pot – $44.90 – Created Homewares, Ruthie Frank marbled porcelain ceramic bowl – $50 – Mooma, terracotta lipped bowl 10cm – $11.50 – Moore Wilson's, Jute Surja coaster – $3.99 – Trade Aid

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INTERIORS

Ba lanced diet Art direction: Shalee Fitzsimmons Photography: Anna Briggs Props: Rhett Goodley-Hornblow Assisting: Claudia Lee & Laura Pitcher

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INTERIORS

Matte bowl – Stylists own, The Bialetti Moka coffee maker – $59.95 – Moore Wilsons, Ruthie Frank marbled porcelain tumbler – $30 – Mooma, Italian pewter spoon – $29 – Cranfields, Bottle Grinder 2 Pack – $139 – Cranfields, La Rochere Coteau tumbler – $15 – Cranfields, Ruthie Frank marbled porcelain jug – $40 – Mooma, Tony Sly butter dish – $28 – Cranfields, Laguiole short butter knife – $16 – Cranfields

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INTERIORS

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FASH ION B R I E F S

PRIDE O F PATA K A Wellingtonian Jacob Coutie was the Emerging Designer winner at the 2017 Miromoda Fashion Design Competition, held at Porirua’s Pataka Art + Museum in June. He has secured a place to show eight looks in the 2017 NZ Post Miromoda Showcase at NZ Fashion Week on 31 August.

Miromoda, the Indigenous Māori Fashion Apparel Board, has confirmed that the competition will return to Pataka in 2018 for its third consecutive year.

NOT ACTUALLY NAKED

LOVELY LINDAH

SO LONG, FAREWELL

Wairarapa women are helping out our waterways and looking fabulous while they do it. Naked Lady Social is a club that offers monthly themed clothing swaps, food and music events, and workshops. There is a small joining fee and a portion goes towards the purchase of native plants for riparian planting to improve Wairarapa’s waterways, as part of the Sustainable Coastlines programme.

Pacific couture artist and designer Lindah Lepou has moved into the grounds of Government House to take up her place as the current Matairangi Mahi Toi Artist In Residence. Herbert Bartley,Pasifika Advisor at Massey’s College of Creative Arts, says Lepou is a dynamic and inovative Pacific art leader and a role model for their creative Pasifika students. Lindah is best known for high-fashion garments made of flax, tapa cloth, coconut sinnet and other natural fibres.

Harry’s has closed its Seatoun store after almost nine years in Dundas Street. A heartfelt goodbye was posted on their Facebook page last month, thanking the Seatoun community for their support and friendship over the years. Harry’s Wakefield St store is business as usual, and online shopping will be available later this month.

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Ready to pâté Michael Kors once said ‘clothes are like a good meal, a good movie, great pieces of music.’ Eat, slink and drink sherry with our mid-winter party picks.

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Nix Ava dress olive – $449 – Designer Clothing Gallery Hope Stockholm bring bag – $369 – Caughley Robert Clergerie Fissal boots – $1,170 – Shoezies F + H Jewellery The Johnny earrings – $209 – Caughley Nudus halo lipstick – $45 – Mooma Silver Parka – $229 – Goodness Ovna Ovich Ott skivvy – $245 – The Service Depot LWW#3 green bag – $495 – Minnie Cooper Marni black & hazelnut boots – $995 – Scotties Vapour dress – $319.99 – Moochi Shepherd's Warning jumper – $265 – Aida Maeby Custommade Sisse pullover – $360 – Harry's Obus socks – $14 – Mooma

LIFESTYLE

IN T H E BAG By popular demand, Upper Hutt City Council’s reusable bag giveaway is back for a second year. The council wants shoppers to say no to plastic shopping bags. This year’s bags have a ‘Love Our River’ theme to highlight the impact of plastics entering our waterways. They are printed with environmentally-friendly inks on fair-trade cotton and feature art by Silverstream artist Pip McKay. They’re available free from council facilities, Expressions Gallery, and the Upper Hutt Central and Pinehaven Libraries from 1 August.

GLIT TER-BUG

CRANFIELDS ACCREDITED

SLAP IT ON

We all know micro-beads are bad for the environment. It’s great that they’re on their way out, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Trisia Farrelly, a social anthropologist at Massey University who specialises in research on plastic waste, says other microplastics like glitter are just as bad, and microfibers, used in fabrics such as cleaning cloths, were worse. Researchers estimate more than eight million tonnes of plastic goes into the ocean each year.

Cranfields have become the first Conscious Consumers–accredited homewares store in New Zealand. ‘It feels very natural and what we've always done; caring about provenance and been mindful of waste,’ says Nicola Cranfield. Conscious Consumers endorse businesses that are committed to doing good things for people and our planet. Their aim is to make it easy for consumers to find businesses whose practices match their values.

An Australian dermatologist Dr Phillip Artemi claimed recently that because coloured cosmetics contain SPF ingredients, pigments and reflectors of solar radiation, it’s valid to consider their use a way to help protect skin against aging and skin cancer. The team at Skin Institute here say that sun avoidance is critical to avoid sun damage. Skin Institute uses a multidisciplinary team across treatments and services across skin cancer, appearance medicine, dermatology, cosmetic surgery, and veins to offer a one stop service.

W E L L I N G T O N

FIREPLACE

Get stoked for winter! Wellington’s hottest fireplace destination www.wellingtonfireplace.co.nz Ph: (04) 473 7207 3 Pickering St Kaiwharawhara

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If you’re a serial social scroller you would have seen that BurgerFuel has landed in the USA, if not, no worries- we can fill you in. Their new store is located in Broad Ripple, Indianapolis- an area which can be likened to Wellington’s Cuba Street - attracting a lively crowd who travel there for the high energy social scene on offer. The BurgerFuel store, located in the heart of Indy, is creating the same NZ gourmet burgers we know and love, serving them up to some very welcoming locals. With impressive feedback, they are making waves (not ripples) in Broad Ripple and to celebrate, BurgerFuel are bringing back one of their best, and most gourmet cheeseburger's; the "USAye" burger.

This famous special burger caused

havoc in 2015 when it was offered for a limited time, people couldn’t get enough of it, and those ultimate burger crazies were demanding its comeback – in the most loving way possible. So now it’s back, available in your local BurgerFuel – with 100% pure grass fed NZ beef, 'smashed juicy', crunchy golden hash browns, all natural NZ cheddar cheese (which comes from the land, not out of a can), tangy American Mustard, tasty bacon and all the usual suspects; fresh handmade salad, wholemeal buns and their addictive, all-natural, free range aioli.

Wipe that drool off your face, and get ready for the ultimate taste sensation collaboration.

Because BurgerFuel are beyond

pumped about bringing this epic burger back, they want to send you and a mate to sit, eat and soak up the goodness in the brand new BurgerFuel USA store (and the mighty USA in general) by sending a couple of very lucky people on the trip of a lifetime. On top of that, they have even more epic USA flavoured (or should we say flavored) prizes up for grabs over the coming weeks; a Sony home entertainment system, with the new Sony PlayStation® 4 Pro as well as a Sony Bravia 4k HDR TV. They are also giving away a Harley Davidson Iron 883, with all the leathery bells and whistles - this beast is ready when you are. To learn more about how to get in the draw, and to get your hands on the USAye burger head to www.burgerfuel.com or into your local BurgerFuel store.

FISHY BUSINESS

Tara kihi Alternative names: Ocean Bream, Silver Bream.

you can nab them from the shore without too much trouble – provided you know how. He suggests surfcasting after dark with a small hook (his choice is a 2/0 recurve), using squid or strips of trevally for bait.

If you’ve access to a boat he suggests keeping your bait off the bottom where the scarpies, parrot fish and smaller tarakihi and blue cod hang out, winding it up just a bit to target the bigger fish.

Scientific name: Nemadactylus macropterus Looks like: A silvery-grey fish with a blue-green sheen and a dark identifying collar behind the head.

Tarakihi have a large, v-shaped tail, a small, slightly turned-down mouth and an unusually long lower pectoral fin that reaches roughly half the fish’s length.

Sexual maturity is reached at four to six years when the fish is between 25 and 35cm in ‘fork length’ (measured from the tip of the fish’s snout to the centre of the fork in the tail), after which growth rate slows.

Tarakihi can live to 45 years of age.

Cook: Tarakihi fillets have medium to firm moist white flesh and are suitable for most cooking methods. Smaller fish can be baked whole, but fish that are big enough to warrant filleting are great simply pan fried. One delicious way to prepare tarakihi is to heat a slab of clarified butter (about 70g) in a frying pan with the juice of half a lemon, add the fish and turn it once, cooking a few minutes longer until the flesh is white throughout. Then put the fish in the oven a moment to stay warm while you add another 30g clarified butter to the pan with the rest of the lemon juice, simmer until it’s reduced by half, then pour over the top of the fish. Add capers if you like, too.

Habitat: Tarakihi form large schools at depths of 30– 300 metres, especially on seaweed lines or reef edges over sandy or muddy bottoms. They prefer clear water and will not stay in areas affected by runoff or dirtied by a storm. They are fairly common right around New Zealand but especially abundant around the East Cape, eastern Cook Strait, near Kaikoura and the west coast of the South Island.

Did you know? In Australia tarakihi are called ‘Jackass Morwong’. LOL.

Feeds on: Crustaceans, invertebrates and occasionally small crabs, shrimp, worms, brittle stars and other shellfish that they suck up from the mud.

If they were human they would be: Their tiny, downturned mouth seems disapproving, plus we know they disapprove of filth and are identified by a trademark collar – who else but Judge Judy!

Catch: Tarakihi are generally targeted by boat fishers, especially at this time of year, but Felix at Steve’s Fishing Shop tells us Wellington is one of the few places

Remarkably Fresh Fish

WELLINGTON SEAMARKET Lambton Quay | Cuba St | Lower Hutt 69

In-store at Porirua Prestons 04 384 4056

EDIBLES

COCONUTS, C O F F E E A N D C O C K TA I L S Cafe L’affare has teamed up with local skincare company, Made by a Samoan, for Wellington on a Plate 2017. They are hosting a Samoan-flavoured party at L’affare’s roastery in Newtown. Famous local mixologist Ray Leota, of the Roxy, will be whipping up cocktails. Māori-Samoan chef Monique Fiso will be keeping the theme running with Samoan canapes such as steamed pork and coconut buns. An exhibition of photographs and cinematography will show the production processes behind Made by a Samoan’s skincare range. Self-described “creative genius/mad scientist” Nina Potoi is co-founder of the coconutinspired “all natural, no bullshit” skincare range. Made by a Samoan caught the attention of Scarlett Johansson while she was here. They created a moisturising oil especially for her and the cast of Ghost in the Shell.

EATS SHO OTS AND LEAVES

B OARD GAMES AND BURGERS

SALUTARY SYRUPS

New Hataitai bistro Bambuchi has brought Bali to the ‘burbs. The fusion restaurant has an affordable dinner menu which is split into four categories — Raw, Vegetable, Meat and Dessert. Lunch is also available.

The dinner menu is designed largely to share with others. Head chef Julian Pizer is formerly of Foxglove and has now been pilfered from Hummingbird. He is out to use seasonal produce and fresh ingredients wherever possible.

Emma Smart and Ahmed Bulbulia began playing board games together nearly 20 years ago when they flatted on the corner of Vivian and Victoria.

On a recent visit to Toronto Ahmed discovered a board game cafe called Snakes and Lattes; which inspired Counter Culture, a board-game cafe with more than 300 games, where for $5 you can play all day. As fate would have it, their cafe is in the same building they lived in all those years ago. They have a full kitchen and also have a burger in Wellington on a Plate this month.

A very cold, wet winter means lemon, honey and ginger. Which luckily the good folk at Six Barrel Soda Co are providing in a locally made syrup. They were aiming to create a drink which was spicy, rather than sweet. They have used fresh lemon juice, J Friend & Co wildflower honey, Pacific organic ginger from Fiji and fair-trade organic cane sugar and peppercorns. Six Barrel products are available at retailers in Wellington such as Moore Wilson’s and Commonsense Organics.

OPEN LATE 7 DAYS GARDEN BAR / RESTAURANT / FUNCTIONS 39 Abel Smith Street, Te Aro 70

www.THECROSS.CO.NZ

EDIBLES

G R E AT N A M E S Wellington on a Plate is running from 11 to 27 August.

This year in the burger category there are more than 120 restaurants, cafes and food trucks entered, each with its own original burger. We thought that was almost too much to take in or choose from so we conducted a quick office poll on which bangin’ burgers sounded most interesting and tasty. So here in no particular order are Capital’s random five: Beach Babylon’s Hunt for the Wilderburger; Concrete Bar’s Lock Stock; Mr Go’s Kiwi China – China Kiwi; Olive’s Pump it up for Bambi; and the Hop Garden’s Poaka Poi E.

STUFF YOUR FACE

FORTNIGHT OF FAIRNESS

FORTUNATE OR WHAT?

Nearly 70% of Kiwis between 18 and 34 feel some guilt after eating takeaways. The research generally suggests that New Zealanders don’t struggle to recognise the problem but rather struggle to act to solve it. More than 40% agree their health could be improved, but 79% exercise for less than 2.5 hours per week – the amount of exercise recommended by the Ministry of Health. The research was commissioned by Sealord.

Fair Trade Fortnight runs from August 4 – 17 and is designed to celebrate boutique businesses who source their supplies and suppliers ethically. These suppliers include Little Yellow Bird, who make fair-trade uniforms; All Good Bananas, who just announced that per capita Wellington eats the most fair-trade bananas in the country; and Wellington Chocolate Factory.

Wellington leads New Zealand in fair trade. We have been a ‘Fair Trade City’ since 2009, the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

Last month Tommy Millions celebrated their fifth birthday! On the same day as the latest anniversary, Tom Kirton (Mr Millions) with partners the Bresolin brothers opened a fried chicken joint called Lucky, right next to the original Tommy Millions on the corner of Courtenay and Taranaki St. Like the pizza offerings one door down, the menu is very small, with only four items on it. Don’t over-complicate things, and do them well seems to be the idea. There is a vegetarian offering, but darn it, we can’t wait for some fried chicken!

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S H E A R E R S ' TA B L E

Herb-crusted blue cod with spicy broth and crispy noodles

BY N I K K I & J O R DA N S H E A R E R

W

e have taken inspiration for our dish from the notorious Cook Strait, which laps and crashes onto the shores of Wellington.

We are fortunate to be able to gather a vast array of fresh kaimoana from the South Coast, and blue cod is one of our absolute favs.

As contestants on the 2014 duo series 5 of Masterchef New Zealand, we were tested on our

INGREDIENTS 4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced 3 cloves garlic, sliced 2 spring onions, sliced 2 Tbsp fish sauce 2 Tbsp sherry Coriander, generous bunch (reserve the root and stems for broth) 600g fresh blue cod fillets, cut into 4cm chunks 1L vegetable stock coriander root, reserved as above 2 red chillies,sliced 3 cm ginger root, roughly sliced 3 Tbsp soy sauce Juice of 2 limes 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 2 Tbsp sugar ½ cup rice bran oil 100g egg noodles, just cooked, drained and cooled ½ cup cornflour or rice flour ½ tsp flaky sea salt 2 cups baby spinach, thinly sliced

ability to cook in high-stress situations and then judged by three critical chefs plus thousands of fellow New Zealanders. We cooked a version of this recipe in a challenge, and Simon Gault was so impressed that he asked us for the recipe so that he could put it on the menu at Shed 5. High praise indeed, but just between us, it is really so easy, and sure to impress.

METHOD 1.

Place kaffir lime leaves, garlic, spring onions, fish sauce, sherry and coriander in a small food processor and blitz for 1 minute until a coarse paste.

2. Coat the blue cod pieces in herb paste, cover and set aside in fridge to marinate for 20–30mins.

3. While the fish is marinating, add vegetable stock, coriander root, chilli, ginger, soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, and sugar to a pot.

4. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes.

5. While fish is marinating and broth is simmering, heat oil in a pan on medium heat.

6. Take small handfuls of the cooked noodles and fry for approximately two minutes on each side until golden.

Drain on a paper towel.

7. Mix together flour and salt and coat marinated fish, making sure you keep as much of the herb paste on the fish as possible. Pan fry on a medium heat in batches for approximately three minutes or until cooked.

8. Strain broth, keeping it hot until just ready to serve.

9. To serve, place a handful of thinly sliced spinach in the bottom of a bowl, topped with a noodle cake or two, and dividing fish fillets between plates.

10. Serve to your guests, pouring over hot broth just before eating.

11. Garnish with lime wedges, sliced fresh chilli, sliced spring onions, coriander – any or all, it’s your choice.

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LIQUID THOUGHTS

Off the grid

BY J O E L L E T H O M S O N P H OTO G R A P H Y A N N A B R I G G S

I

t took 12 years for winemaker Jannine Rickards to put down roots of her own and she couldn’t have chosen a more challenging time or place than the rain soaked vintage in Martinborough this year.

Born and bred in the Coromandel, Rickards has lived an unsettled life since the early 2000s when, working in the hospitality industry, she fell into wine.

Her first vintage was in 2003 at Sileni Estates in Hawke’s Bay where winemaker Christopher Keys pioneered Pinot Noir. There she developed her interest in wine. Keys has since moved to Central Otago (Gibbston Valley), but he left Sileni with an unusual legacy for a Hawke’s Bay winery – most years, it produces more Pinot Noir than the entire North Canterbury region. And he left Rickards with a passion for Pinot’s tricky charms. It’s a tough grape to grow and can be difficult to turn into good wine but she now has vast experience trying – in Martinborough at Te Kairanga and Ata Rangi, in Burgundy in France,

and back in New Zealand at Pegasus Bay in North Canterbury.

Last year she worked for an Australian winery where she made high quality sparkling wine, of which Pinot Noir is a key ingredient.

In the cool-climate Adelaide Hills, working for a winery called Deviation Road, she learned to make sparkling wine which has had its second fermentation in the bottle.

Rickards realised there that she didn’t feel at home: ‘Being in Australia made me long to come home and put some roots down properly.’

So, it was back to Martinborough, this time to Julicher Estate on Te Muna Road. The estate’s long-time winemaker was leaving, and the timing was right for Rickards.

‘The Wairarapa feels like home. I love the hills and the rugged coastline; it’s so beautiful and the wines can be extremely good, so it was good timing for me, even if I did move back to deal with a tricky vintage.’

You can say that again.

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LIQUID THOUGHTS

REFUSE PLASTIC, REUSE THE BAG A reusable bag giveaway in Upper Hutt this August will encourage shoppers and retailers to use an alternative to regular plastic shopping bags in an effort to reduce waste going to landfill. As part of Council’s sustainability programme, the reusable cloth bags are available for free from Council facilities from 1 August. Selected retailers in the city will also provide a free bag with purchases, while stocks last.

Wayne Guppy and Council staff pictured.

A STEP TOWARDS CHANGE “The Upper Hutt cloth bags are really popular with the community”, says Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy. “This is one easy step we can all take to make a change for good”. The 2017 artwork is blue, with a ‘Love our river’ theme to highlight the impact of plastics entering our waterways.

IT’S EASY TO GET HERE Utilise our free parking or catch the train and arrive one minute away from our unique stores.

It rained and it poured just as the grapes were reaching ripeness, which meant a frantic harvest to save the grapes – from disease which can strike if grapes are left hanging in the rain – and the wines dilution. The compressed harvest picking was a stressful couple of weeks.

Rickards felt a sense of chilling familiarity. While people in the Wairarapa compared the 2017 vintage to the cool vintages of 2002 and 2003, her experience of extremely wet years was a lot more recent. She recalls the 2014 vintage in North Canterbury, which rain made enormously busy.

She explains that in the Wairarapa the vineyards are cropped low, the small harvests ensuring the wines are concentrated in flavour. ‘This enables them to hold up in a tricky year,’ she says.

Now the vintage is over, she is indulging another passion– hunting. The spark was ignited in the backblocks of the Wairarapa, where Ata Rangi’s founder Clive Paton is restoring land to native bush. She now hunts and cures much of the meat she brings in. Her time at Ata Rangi was pivotal to her life and wine journey, she says.

‘They are an incredibly supportive family winery and helped me as I studied winemaking long distance at the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke’s Bay.’ After that, she felt drawn to Burgundy in France – the powerhouse of Pinot Noir. She worked a vintage there for winemaker Thibault Liger-Belair in Nuits-Saint-Georges, learning traditional winemaking, old world-style, with a modern twist. He had just purchased a vineyard in the top Beaujolais appellation (legally protected wine producing area) of Moulin à Vent, so she also tried her hand with Gamay to make Beaujolais.

Back in the Southern hemisphere, the Pegasus Bay stint was followed by the Australian vintage. The yearning to return home is strong now, and a large, preferably organic, vegetable garden is high on her list of longings.

‘It’s always been in my mind to be as self sufficient as possible and provide for myself and family – hunting, fishing, diving, gardening. I love all that stuff but I just keep getting distracted by overseas vintages.’

She has begun to put down some roots by completing a permaculture course and in her limited spare time, she is now learning Te Reo Māori at home by correspondence.

‘It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for 10 years and it was impossible last year with all the moving around. I didn’t really grow up with Māori, apart from waiata at school.’

She has put travel on hold for now to invest her time and energy in planting vegetables and coaxing as much flavour as possible from the grapes at Julicher Estate in Martinborough.

/UpperHuttCityCentre 76

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BY THE BOOK

HERE’S TO 20 YEARS Upper Hutt-raised poet Andrew Johnston, winner of the Poetry Award at May’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, has been chosen to write a poem for new online anthology 20/20. Forty New Zealand poems are being published in staggered groups until 25 August to mark the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Day. What’s now called Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day (poetryday.co.nz) involves 100 events countrywide on and around 25 August, such as poetry slams, street chalking, readings and competitions, plus more poems will pop up on outdoor-ad spaces.

GO GIRLS

BANISH MONDAY-ITIS

SHORT, NOT SWEET

Wellington novelist and comic artist Sarah Laing, local poet Hera Lindsay Bird (above) and Auckland writer Courtenay Sina Meredith represent Aotearoa at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this month, thanks to a new partnership between the festival, WORD Christchurch and Creative NZ. Laing will talk about her graphic novel Mansfield & Me and host a reading of Mansfield’s stories. Bird will appear in a Poetry Superstars session and a spoken-word showcase.

Local authors Tracy Farr (above), Pip Adam and Damien Wilkins talk about the way their novels weave together real and imagined events in the 14 August session at Writers on Mondays (12.15–1.15, Te Papa). On until 2 October, it’s run by Victoria’s International Institute of Modern Letters to celebrate Wellington writers. On 4 September, playwright Victor Rodger talks to Moana Ete, Jamie McCaskill, Mitch Tawhi Thomas and Faith Wilson about creative communities.

Victoria University Press publicist Kirsten McDougall writes more than just emails.

Her gothic novella Tess, set in Masterton at the turn of the millennium, is a pacy read full of secrets as Tess, a damaged traveller, gets entwined with an equally damaged family. The 2013 Creative New Zealand Louis Johnson New Writer’s Bursary helped McDougall write her second book. Her first was the 2012 short-story series The Invisible Rider.

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BY THE BOOK

No entry P H OTO G R A P H BY TA M A R A J O N E S

Lee Murray, a speculative-fiction author, has written the first-ever novel about a New Zealand Defence Force soldier. She talks to SARAH LANG about being excluded from the New Zealand literary clique.

L

ee Murray had never held a gun, let alone fired one.

That proved a problem when the award-winning author was writing her fourth novel Into the Mist.

It’s a well-written, entertaining and unexpectedly humorous novel about New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) sergeant Taine McKenna and his squad, who escort a taskforce of civilian scientists into Te Urewera National Park to investigate its goldmining potential.

Let’s just say things don’t go smoothly. Look out for giant reptiles, an arrogant geologist, Tuhoe separatists and a matakite (Māori seer).

As she draws heavily on Māori mythology and culture, Murray did extensive research and got feedback from Māori advisers. ‘I also have a fantastic military adviser at the NZDF,’ Murray tells me over tea and biscuits at her spotless home in Melling, Lower Hutt. It’s not far to Trentham Military Camp, where her adviser Rock Chesterman – a weapons expert – organised a field trip. ‘We were locked in a cage where he showed me various [unloaded] firearms, including the Steyr, which until recently was the NZDF’s main assault weapon.’ The adviser has since become one of her book’s biggest fans.

Australian publisher Cohesion Press didn’t just say yes to the manuscript. They asked her to write a three-book series, with the second due out early next year. It was a good call. Into the Mist was one of 11 books longlisted for Superior Achievement in a Novel at the 2017 Bram Stoker Awards, effectively the Oscars of horror fiction. The awards are celebrated at StokerCon, run in the US by the global Horror Writers Association. Murray was there for the second time in April as a panellist (Game of Thrones author

George R R Martin was guest of honour). There she met a literary agent keen to pitch Murray’s future manuscripts to publishers, and flew the flag for New Zealand speculative fiction. ‘I pretended to be Peter Jackson,’ she jokes.

Back home, in June, Into the Mist won Best Novel at the Sir Julius Vogel (SJV) Awards, held during LexiCon, New Zealand’s 38th fan-run science-fiction, fantasy and horror convention. Murray also won Best Collected Work (for co-edited anthology At the Edge) and Services to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

As her tally of SJV awards has risen to nine, her imposter syndrome has gradually diminished.

Cohesion Press wanted to submit Into the Mist to the Ockham NZ Book Awards. ‘The criteria said ”New Zealand writer with New Zealand content”. But the convenor hadn’t heard of Ingram, one of the world’s biggest book distributors, and told my publisher, for that reason, the book didn't qualify. My publisher couldn't find anything in the rules that specified only certain distributors. I probably wouldn’t have had a hope in hell, but it's disappointing to be excluded from the get-go.’

Into the Mist is selling well in bookstores in the US and Canada, and as an e-book. ‘But it’s hard to get my books into New Zealand bookstores.’ As far as she knows, in wider Wellington, the title is stocked only in Arty Bees and Upper Hutt indie store Writer’s Plot Readers Read. ‘My writing is strongly rooted in New Zealand but I have to look offshore to publish and sell books.’ Her publishers are niche American and Australian outfits. ‘Speculative fiction is a big genre globally, but New Zealand publishers

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BY THE BOOK

are loath to publish local speculative fiction. It’s like if it’s homegrown it’s not as good. Where does that attitude comes from, when New Zealand is so number-eight wire?’

Murray hasn’t been invited to any major New Zealand writers’ festivals. ‘It used to bother me.

I try to ignore it now.’ She’s also never received any support from funding bodies, despite 23 applications. ‘Even so, I'm very privileged: if it weren't for my husband's support, I wouldn't be writing at all.’ (She’s not making enough to support the household, but enough to cover her costs.)

Is literary snobbery alive and well in New Zealand? ‘Oh god yeah,’ she almost snorts. ‘To me, literary fiction is just where it’s shelved, and how you sell it to a publisher. But “literary fiction” has this connotation of being better, when really “literary” is just literature. Whereas labelling something “popular fiction” or “genre fiction” is like saying it’s no good.’ When asked, she says she writes ‘New Zealand fiction. Fullstop. But it’s speculative fiction – dark fiction, fantasy, horror – and we’re just the ugly stepsisters.’

Murray’s phone rings a lot. One caller is a member of her CRIT speculative-fiction group, which meets fortnightly. Murray, who blogs about speculative fiction at leemurray.info, is also an active member of industry associations SpecFicNZ, the Australasian Horror Writers Association, and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand. ‘There’s around 200 to 300 fairly-active speculative-fiction writers countrywide.’

One is collaborator and friend Dan Rabarts from Whitby. The pair co-edited two Australasian shortstory anthologies: 2013’s charity fundraiser Baby Teeth and 2017’s At the Edge (both SJV winners). Her own short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, including best-selling military-horror series SNAFU. Her story The Thief ’s Tale, which won an SJV award, appeared in The Refuge Collection: a global anthology of dark-fiction stories whose proceeds helped reunite a Syrian family in Australia.

On July 27, Hounds of the Underworld – a book

she pitched at StokerCon 2016 – was released by US publisher Raw Dog Screaming Press. It’s the first of two titles in Murray's and Rabarts’ collaborative supernatural crime-noir series The Path of Ra. ‘It’s a futuristic Scully-and-Mulder tale set in Auckland, juxtaposing science and mythology. Dan writes the smouldering Māori bad-boy character and I write the uptight Chinese scientist girl, who’s not unlike me.’

A third-generation Chinese New Zealander on her mum’s side, Murray was born in Putaruru, grew up in Whangarei, Taupo and Hamilton, and did three degrees (two science, one management) at Waikato University. She then worked in science administration and management. ‘But I haven’t worked a great deal. It’s a huge privilege to stay home with your children, and I wanted that.’ Husband David is a medical physicist and, for his work, they lived overseas for 12 years (England, France, the US).

They returned home for the kids’ high-schooling.

Celine, 22, is studying at Otago, and Rob is in Year 13. ‘He’s on the Asperger’s spectrum: very highfunctioning but needs extra support and attention.’

Murray is all about giving support. When she decided to try writing 10 years ago, she was mentored by author Graeme Lay through the New Zealand Society of Authors. She’s since been an NZSA selector and convenor, and is currently a mentor and manuscript assessor, donating hundreds of hours. Outside that, she’s provided critique and support to 100 writers in the last year.

Murray also runs regular workshops for youth at conventions, in schools and through writing groups.

‘I tell the kids I steal ideas, eavesdrop, exaggerate, lie, and sometimes all from my pyjamas.’ She and Piper Mejia co-founded, run and judge free speculativewriting competitions Beyond This and Write Off Line for New Zealand intermediate and secondary students. The best are collected in anthologies.

‘New Zealand has some real talent, and I think speculative fiction has a real place in New Zealand’s creative landscape, so let’s hope we eventually pay it some attention.’

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