Eating Out in the Wellington Suburbs

Last weekend I caught the shuttle to Auckland airport in the early hours of the morning. The city streets were still covered in litter. The last of the all night RWC party goers were meandering round in small groups.

By contrast Auckland airport looked clean and inviting. Around me, a cheerful babble of different languages from rugby fans chasing their next match in Wellington.

On board it was obvious who Air New Zealnd was supporting .The All Blacks starred in the emergency video. At snack time quirky little black aeroplane lollies, rugby ball shaped chocolate biscuits, and barbecue chips were handed around. Each disposable coffee cup featured a fact file and a pic of an All Black.A silver fern was emblazoned on the smart black cover of the Kia Ora inflight magazine.

On arrival I was whisked away to Elements café in Lyall Bay by a couple of Wellingtonians who share my love for casual but good food. Only a stone’s throw away from the airport and a short hop from town, Elements Café is located in a historic site which once housed the library, post office and butchery. The service was relaxed but professional. For breakfast I chose the ricotta hotcakes with mascarpone and poached pear which were creamy and fluffy .The generous dollop of sinfully rich mascarpone was nicely offset by the not too sweet pears.

The Wellingtonians settled for toasted coconut bread, grilled banana and blueberry mascarpone, their current favourite. Washed down with some steaming hot coffee we felt revived and ready to go.

The chilly Wellington weather made walking around the city uninviting so in the afternoon we headed for Miramar’s Roxy Theatre. This started out as the Capitol Theatre in 1928, but has had a complete make-over so is now earthquake proof. Only the art deco façade has been retained. The interior was lovingly rebuilt in deco style including a very cool hand painted ceiling.

As I entered I almost felt as if I had stepped into a theatrical stage set. Perhaps not surprising as the renovation was masterminded by some very creative people from the film and hospitality industries including some from the Weta Workshop.

We were tempted to linger for a few hours at the café restaurant or the cocktail lounge but wanted to catch a documentary about Bill Cunningham. This 80 year old spends his days weaving in and out of the New York traffic on a bicycle in a death defying manner. Armed with his battered Nikon camera he shoots street fashion for his weekly New York Times column. Unassuming, but incredibly talented he has a knack of catching the moment and brilliantly predicting what the new fashion trends will be. If you love fashion it’s a movie not to be missed.

Afterwards it was only a hop skip and jump from the Roxy to La Boca Loca, This local landmark with its bright blue and orange exterior is easily spotted. Inside Vintage American movie posters and original artworks by local artist Jake Yokum decorate the walls.

We catch up with Lucas and his partner Marianne who own it. After working for some years at Weta Digital, Lucas became homesick for his favourite Mexican food in the Napa Valley in California and thought of starting his own Mexican restaurant in Wellington. La Boca Loca is his dream turned into reality.

Lucas and Marianne are passionate about creating fresh, healthy and authentic Mexican food from scratch. Their Mexican chef Christopher Martinez turns out dozens of fresh tortillas each day on a miniscule hand operated press using specially imported masa harina. Where possible other ingredients such as the wide variety of chillies used in Mexican cooking are sourced locally.

Lucas suggested we start with some nibbles, some olives and guacamole with corn chips for dipping followed by one of his favourite entrees: the sopa de tortilla This turned out to be a spicy soup of tomatoes, roasted chilies, tortilla pieces, feta and sour cream. It was a very tasty and not an overly large helping, enough to tickle our tastebuds.

We followed with Tacos Machata, two corn tortillas filled with chilli marinated fish and melted cheese served with a freshly made salsa alongside. The corn tortillas bore little comparison to the supermarket version which can taste like cardboard .They were deliciously moist and chewy.

We had room for dessert so treated ourselves to a scoop of locally handmade Waddington’s ice-cream. It had been an enjoyable light meal. Dining at La Boca Loca gave me a first taste of authentic Mexican restaurant food. I plan to go back to taste more from their menu.

On the return home the RWC tourists who I’d parted company with after my earlier flight were back in droves at Wellington airport watching a group of Cook Island performers dancing to a Pacifica beat on a makeshift stage.

Apart from watching the rugby, where had they been in Wellington? They’d certainly been thin on the ground in the suburbs. I suspect that before and after watching each game they had not strayed from the CBD bars and cafes.

If they could be persuaded to be a little more adventurous and to take a short journey to some of the suburbs they’d have a richer experience and catch more of the local flavour. There’s still time!