Wellington shows 'phenomenal' support for food outlets in level 3

6:28 pm on 2 September 2021

A food directory has been set up to highlight Wellington businesses doing takeaway at Covid-19 alert level 3.

The At Yours directory was put together by the team behind popular foodie event Wellington On A Plate, which was interrupted halfway through by the lockdown.

It was the second year in a row Covid-19 had skittled the event.

For Stacey Walsh and her team at Little Beer Quarter, tucked away on the secluded Edward Street in the CBD, the swift move into lockdown meant they were stuck with some special ingredients for their event burger.

"Our burger has got a pizza topping so basically all the staff came in and we all had about, I don't know, like maybe 10 pizza burger buns each to take home."

She said they shared with each other how they'd decided to eat them.

"Lots of people putting them in toasties and things, and having them for breakfast".

"I think the birds got a few after maybe day five when it wasn't viable to eat it."

That burger was off the menu at level 3. Instead, Walsh's team were doing what they knew, like their LBQ and fried chicken burgers, pizzas, and mac'n'cheese.

So far it had been a success, with the pub seeing record takeaway sales yesterday - the first day of alert level 3.

Wellington's Cuba Street. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

It was a similar story across town at Grace Patisserie, which had been due to transform into a ramen and dessert pop-up restaurant.

Owner Mariah Grace said lockdown had not ruined her plans too much.

But it set a challenge for her friend who was going to do the ramen.

"Townhouse Ramen, that we collaborated with, he had to freeze all his ramen ... or he had to stop halfway."

"He came back at level 3 to do ramen kits ... he had to think of alternative ways to get income but also use up the stock that we had already made."

Walsh and Grace both said the At Yours directory was a weight off their shoulders so they could focus on the food and not on having to get the word out.

The directory includes businesses that did not take part in Wellington on a Plate, like Coco at The Roxy, which was not starting their take-home kits until Sunday.

Head chef Nic Spicer said any support to help bring in customers was a leg-up.

He said after speaking to other chefs he knew since the move to level 3, "the only complaint was there's just too many people coming out".

"The support from the Wellington community is just phenomenal."

Some businesses were trading fine without being in the directory.

Spiro Misirlakis' Wainuiomata fish and chip shop Seakraft had been pumping out the orders, selling around about 200 kg of homemade chips and "somewhere in 40 to 45kg of fish on Wednesday.