22 August 2011

WELLINGTON ON A PLATE

I have a severe case of Wellington Envy. I spent the weekend there, taking in a few of the Wellington on a Plate events and eating in a restaurants. It seems that size doesn't matter for even though the city is miniscule compared to Auckland, there's this fantastic "we are all here to support each other" about the place, which never happens in Auckland.

The WOP concept, perhaps loosely based on the Melbourne Wine and Food Festival, brings all the restaurateurs, foodie producers, retailers and much more together in a whirlwind two weeks of showcasing just what the region (and the Wairarapa) has to offer. And that means fabulous eating, drinking, partying and having an amazing foodie time.

I only tasted the tip of the iceberg, but the Fisher & Paykel Masterclass was an intimate show at the Michael Fowler centre with about 150 attending, that made it worth the trip into the cold! I loved it. Chef Wan, the little energiser bunny Ambassador Chef from Malaysia kicked it off. His Nonya Prawn and Pineapple curry was divine.

Al Brown followed, with wonderful simple venison dishes, and had Rex Morgan as moderator. Rex is so witty he really stole that show, gently ribbing Al and keeping him on track.

Des Harris in his first ever gig on stage produced amazing food that was absolutely the best of the day. There will be many Wellingtonians who will head to Clooney if they ever visit Auckland I am picking, for more of Des' truly delicious, truly stunning food.

Alexa Johnson was also there from Auckland, cooking her traditional but not forgotten puddings. She's an excellent presenter, clear and instructive with fine recipes for apple pie, blancmange and some yummy salt almond toffee.

And to finish the day long line-up, Martin Bosley took to the stage with Rachel Taulelei and did a riff "Nose to Scale" eating, which involved cooking every part of a fish. Martin's roasted snapper head with butter sauce dripping over it ( pic above) was quite the masterpiece although I missed out on the eyeballs which are always delicious. His tartare of snapper with salmon roe was ethereal too.

Well done Wellington! The tastings were generous and pretty amazing too.

And I want to go back to eat at the glitzy new Ancestral in Courtenay Place (will this be the tipping point that tidies up that sleazy stretch of eateries and clubs?), Arbitrageur for Chris Green's honest-to-goodness food and the Museum Hotel to eat at Hippopotamus.