Archive for the 'Restaurants' Category
The Capital Of Quirky
May 25th, 2010
I spent some time with the Dunedin Tourism team yesterday, and let me set the stage by explaining that their booth at TRENZ has a bar with a beer tap!! I heard lots of very cool quirky things about Dunedin beyond Naked Rugby. Here are just a few:
Knitting in a bar
You can join a knitting circle at AL BAR (formerly known as CENTRAL BAR before the first five letters fell off the sign!). Dunedin locals, including university students, turn up to knit their wears each Monday evening. AL BAR, like the city itself, has a very Scottish vibe serving haggis and a wide selection of whiskey. The bar also has live traditional Gaelic music.
Perfect Woman
According to Dunedin’s Speight’s beer, “It’s a hard road finding the perfect woman.” Each year Kiwi women battle it out for the Perfect Woman title through a series of competitions including sheep sheering and beer drinking.
Learn how to sheer sheep at Natures Wonders – a working farm and conservation property on the nearby Otago Peninsula.
Bring your own lunch to a coffee shop
The Fix Coffee on Frederick Street focuses on what they do best – coffee. Bring your own lunch and chill out in the courtyard with an eclectic mix of Dunedin locals. Fix was Dunedin’s first hole in the wall coffee outlet ten years ago. Since then, the owners have been roasting coffee with the aim to produce the finest and freshest available.
Even better than being in the dog house
Budget conscious travellers can get their beauty sleep inside the stables of New Zealand’s only castle, Larnach Castle. The 135-year-old stables are rated the highest in the category of historic New Zealand buildings. (And you can sleep in the stables – no kidding!) Only overnight guests can dine inside the castle, which is steeped in history, scandal, and of course there are rumours of ghosts! Larnach Castle also has a four-star lodge and runs daily tours of the castle and gardens.
There’s a beer tap in that wall!
In central Dunedin, the Speight’s brewery lies on top of a natural mineral water stream. Aside from using the water to brew this popular beer, it is made available to passers by. A street-side tap on the wall outside the brewery tours entrance gives access to the water.
Get this: Before 1950, the brewery staff had a daily allowance of 12 litres of beer!
Classic New Zealand Wine Trail
May 25th, 2010
Biking Marlborough - photo credit to Ian Trafford
You have to love New Zealand, they have a wine trail that runs through the country! The Classic New Zealand Wine Trail is a 380 km (236 mile) self-drive touring route that leads you off the beaten track. You travel through many of New Zealand’s most interesting and scenic regions, including three major viticulture areas that account for more than 70% of the country’s wine production. And you don’t have to worry about getting lost, because along the way, there are road signs with images of grapes. No words, just a bunch of grapes. It’s like a little secret code for wine lovers.
Wine growing regions in New Zealand include Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury/Waipara Valley and Central Otago.
All through the trail are lovely little villages, historic towns, artist studios, specialty food, live theatre, forest hikes, brewery tours, fishing, hiking and of course – a range of wineries producing everything from Sauvignon Blanc to Pinot Noir.
You will come across both large estates and smaller vineyards that make batches by hand. In most of New Zealand’s wineries, the emphasis is placed on quality rather than quantity.
I’m sold. Another adventure to go on my bucket list!!!
Anyone want to join me?
The Train To Wairarapa
May 23rd, 2010
Peter Wilson
Wairarapa is seen by nearby Wellingtonians as a trendy weekend rural escape. With a population of fewer than 40,000, it is a peaceful retreat from city life. It features quaint townships, a thriving café scene, art and culture and many nature walks. It is also centrally located on the Classic New Zealand Wine Trail. Uh oh…
I took the train from Wellington and had directions to get off at Woodside Station. When the conductor saw my directions, she frowned and said, “That’s not usually where the tourism board sends people. When we get there, I will make sure there is someone there to meet you. If not, you just come with us to the next station.” Only in New Zealand, would a train conductor be worried about a grown woman finding her ride in broad daylight. How nice is that?
Peter Wilson from Destination Wairarapa was there waiting for me. The conductor was satisfied that things were good and she waved us off. Peter is a charming, friendly man who looks amazingly like the American actor Jeff Daniels. I was about to ask for his autograph until I realized that he was my host for the day!
We started off in Greytown, which is New Zealand’s oldest inland town with the most complete main street of original Victorian wooden architecture in the country. It offers visitors a nice relaxed environment and some great shops, cafes and restaurants.
We started at The French Baker for a coffee. This bakery was quite busy and I could see why. Fine baguettes through to chocolate croissants were displayed and their aroma was enticing.
Our next stop was Schoc Chocolates where I got to meet Murray Langham, one of the founders. I am absolutely a convert to this chocolate and was delighted to learn that they will ship to Canada; you just need to contact them through their website at www.schoc.co.nz.
They have over 50 flavours and one of the ones I tried was rosemary and apricot, which was fabulous. Murray explained that he was cooking chicken at home one day, making a rosemary and apricot stuffing and wondered how that would go with chocolate. Well, I only have one word for that – delish!!
Our next stop was Tirohana Estate (“Tir” is Gaelic for earth, “Ohana” is Polynesian for family). It is a boutique winery set against the scenic backdrop of the Martinborough hills in the heart of the Wairarapa.
We were fortunate enough to be met by the founder, Raymond Thomson. Raymond has another life as a successful television executive, but rumour has it that he is happiest working in his vineyard. True to NZ form, Raymond welcomed us with open arms and a funny story. It seems that the rock band AC/DC had recently come to visit his winery and to have a meal. Raymond didn’t recognize them and as it was coming into harvest season, he thought perhaps they were migrant workers looking for a job. He asked them and they said that they didn’t want a job. So he asked what they did for a living and they replied that they were musicians. He then asked if they were going to play a local bar around town and they laughed and explained that they had just finished playing at Wellington stadium, which holds 36,000. Raymond laughed when he told this story, shaking his head at himself.
We then went into a wine tasting with Raymond’s son-in-law Toby James (they weren’t kidding when they put family in the name!). Toby’s understanding of wines was inspiring. He not only knew his stuff, but he also brought an easiness to the process that made the tasting much more enjoyable. He said something that really made me think. He explained that while there are some standard rules that people tend to follow when pairing foods with wine (like white with fish and chicken, etc.), they prefer to bend those rules a bit and often have red with fish or a white with lamb – depending on the wine and how the food is prepared. I found that very interesting.
We tasted two Pinot Noirs at Tirohana. They were the Tirohana Pinot Noir 2008 and the Tirohana Pinot Noir Leslie, which Toby called a dangerous wine. And he’s right. It is so good it could be very, very dangerous.
We then moved on to lunch, which as you can see from the photos was excellent. With our blue cheese and broccoli soup, we had Tirohana Chardonnay. This wine was more aromatic than most Chardonnays and tasted of apples with a hint of vanilla and butter that supported the fruit.
For our main course, Peter had the sirloin roast, which was paired with a special reserve Pinot and with my fish in a lemon cream sauce. I went with the recommendation of the Tirohana Pinot Noir Leslie…the dangerous wine!
Zest Food Tour – Wellington
May 22nd, 2010
Thank goodness the Zest Food Tour has you walking around Wellington…otherwise, I think I would have gained ten pounds on this tour!
Wellington is such a compact city, it lends itself to walking. In fact, Wellingtonians are some of the fittest New Zealanders, with 11 percent walking to work.
Our group was made up of our exceptional tour guide Manfred Berthold, Carolyn Galloway – a young woman from Australia, Joanne Gourley of Tourism New Zealand Auckland, Makiko Ehara of Sunnyside Up – the agency that provides public relations for Tourism New Zealand in Japan, and Makiko’s colleague Akiko Takahashi.
We started at the Hill Street Farmers’ Market. This is a fairly new market in the city, but if the choice and quality of the offerings are any indication, it will be growing. The vendors were so friendly. As we were leaving a guy selling fish literally chased us down the street so he could give Manfred a big piece of smoked fish. That is a visual I will have for sometime, this big man running down a city street waving a large chunk of smoked fish over his head!
We then went for coffee at Mojos, which I was very grateful for. I love coffee, and so do Kiwis. New Zealander’s take their coffee very seriously and it never fails that when I ask them about it, a lively conversation of what makes good coffee ensues. I have heard several people who have visited tell me that outside of Italy, New Zealand has the best coffee in the world.
We then went to a grocery store. Really? A grocery store on a tour? Moore Wilson Fresh is fantastic. Perhaps it is because they have different things from what I would find in a gourmet grocery store at home. We had a great cheese tasting here.
We then headed over to Kura Gallery for a honey tasting. The art gallery was amazing. I saw a piece in there that will stay in my dreams for quite a while. (I wonder what it would cost to ship it home?)
Then we went to Ciocco Chocolaterie and Espresso Bar for a chocolate tasting. That was so much fun. The chocolate artist infuses chocolate with lavender, strawberries, black pepper, Earl Grey tea, and many other interesting ingredients.
Then it was off to Floriditas Café and Restaurant for lunch and, of course, wine. We started with a La Strada Rose from Marlborough, which was lovely, light and perfect for the moment. With our main course (see why we need to walk!) we had a Love Point Chardonnay from Martinborough. I had to sneak out a bit early as I was due at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, so I missed the next course, which I think was dessert. Like I needed to eat any more…
I saw a sign on my way out that I thought was worth sharing. “Feeling stressed…that’s just desserts spelled backwards – get a piece of cake, you’ll feel better.”
I have to say, the Zest Food Tour was excellent. Manfred is knowledgeable and friendly and he brought Wellington to life for me.
Click here to see more yummy images!
Matterhorn
May 21st, 2010
I had dinner with the lovely Jo Heaton from Positively Wellington Tourism last night. Jo picked me up at the amazing Museum Hotel, where I am staying until Monday. As soon as I arrived in Wellington, I knew I loved the place. The same can be said about the Museum Hotel. I will do a blog post later on the hotel.
Jo took me to Matterhorn, a local icon. Check out the website, their story is worth a read.
Choosing wine for me
Matterhorn is a busy, bustling place. And I have to say, all of the staff looked like supermodels. For such a popular place, everyone at Matterhorn was so down to earth. I have to admit, that took me by surprise. It shouldn’t, the place is full of Kiwis – the most down to earth people in the world!
I’ve been to some nice places and had the experience ruined because of pretentious staff, not at Matterhorn. It was like I had walked into a place that was full of friends.
Our server was exceptional (and shame on me for not getting his name!). I think I was too busy admiring his model good looks to think straight…
I can’t say enough about this restaurant – great wine list, great food, staff that knows their stuff and they make you feel taken care of and welcome. Amazing.
Matterhorn is just one reason to come to Wellington. I bet I find more today!
