Helena Hutt’s family grumped their way through dinner. Helena has joined the home-grown artisanal wagon, and her two sons balked at silverbeet yet again. Matters were not helped by her husband Henry saying, “If you don’t eat your dinner, we’ll sell you to Aunt Karin as indentured laborers.” Everybody went to bed in a huff. […]
Entries Tagged as 'food'
The Great Cup Battle: Locals vs. Visitors
September 13th, 2011 Comments Off on The Great Cup Battle: Locals vs. Visitors
When Nigel decided that his bar would support Namibia in the Rugby World Cup, on the basis of a maybe-booking from the Namibian team, if they made the finals, there was staff grumbling and eye-rolling. Nigel, no fool, was well aware of it. And who’s laughing now? Despite the naysayers, the “it’ll never work,” the […]
Their Home Away From Home
July 26th, 2011 1 Comment
At Wazzer’s pub on Cuba Street, Nigel, the owner/operator, is over the moon. Absolutely delirious. “We’re booked! One of the rugby teams booked for the Rugby World Cup! Yessss!†Cutlery clatters down, staff spill out of the kitchen. This is what every pub in New Zealand has hoped for – and it’s happening to them! […]
Dining Out On It
May 12th, 2011 Comments Off on Dining Out On It
Meanwhile, another mother and daughter scene is taking place, across the two gulfs of Wellington harbor and Wellington’s social strata. Wilhelmina Wellington glances around the witty, luxurious restaurant approvingly. “Such a clever idea, bringing back high tea.” “Happy Mother’s Day, Mummy,” says her daughter, Winona. Delicately, they click their champagne flutes. Wilhelmina surveys the towering […]
Tags: food · social mores · wilhelmina · winona
A Flat Holiday
April 26th, 2011 Comments Off on A Flat Holiday
Wazzer had spent her newly free Saturday night out partying with some of her old flatmates. Their past quarrel was washed away on a tide of pinot gris. Sunday morning found her somewhat bleary on the couch of their new abode, a slightly shabby villa on an Island Bay side street, while the household bustled […]
Tags: flats · food · social mores
IAWL Likes…Those Kooky Downtown New World Grocery Stores
April 20th, 2011 Comments Off on IAWL Likes…Those Kooky Downtown New World Grocery Stores
Yes, the two New World grocery stores downtown are probably the most expensive grocery stores in the Lower North Island. But they have three huge advantages; location, always stocking the things I need, and always bringing the weirdness. New World Chaffers, by the water front, not only provides the most entertaining reading in town on […]
Hot Bread
February 16th, 2011 1 Comment
Every Wellington bachelor has several idée fixes. They vary from bloke to bloke, save for one: that the “hot bread” bakery closest to their abode is the best bakery in the entire Wellington region. Surely it must be so. There’s always a line – it has to be good. The cases are loaded with gleaming […]
Tags: food
Ready to Rumble?
December 13th, 2010 1 Comment
Sometimes, when you live in the Hutt, you have to be hard as. No nonsense. Rough as guts. This is one of those times. The black SUV circles the parking lot, then circles again, the driver spewing profanities. Finally, it wedges into a space and disgorges its passengers. One, two, three tough-looking blokes, in stubbies […]
Tags: food · helena · holidays · hutt valley
Making A Meal Of It
October 25th, 2010 1 Comment
At long last, on the free Monday of Labour Day, Willow is hosting a brunch at her house. Will and Winona are there; Wazzer, pale and blinking in the daylight; and the rarely seen Woodrow. They are fortifying themselves, without paying holiday service surcharges, before going downtown to the big rally, clamoring to keep The […]
IAWL Likes…City Market on Sunday
July 12th, 2010 Comments Off on IAWL Likes…City Market on Sunday
Friends of mine outside of New Zealand are often incredulous about many of the facts of NZ life. Stubbies-and-jandals, $18 organic chickens, small children allowed to go 20 paces away from their parents without supervision. The most denial-inducing of them all is when I tell them that, if NZ was a country, it would be […]