Wellington. Happy, windy Wellington! Back in the Kiwi capital city, I would have done my Icebreaker Merino sportswear shopping, enjoyed my walk around Wellington Waterfront & flirted with the lovely guy at my YHA Youth Hostel reception. So what’s next on an easy, two-day stay around town you might ask?
🙂
Zest Capital Tastes Tour. “We’ll wander in and out of small food places and meet people whose passion for food drives their business.” Yesss!
Can’t have a #foodie traveller too far away from sourcing out one of those lovely food tours offered all over the world, can you!? After exploring major cities around the globe on a “taste bud visit”, including Lisbon, London, New York & Miami, I literally thought to myself: Why not ask around town for a similar offer here in Wellington? Sure the Kiwi coffee capital city would have thought of something along those lines?
Meet Heather Clinton, our “Wellingtonista” foodie guide & food blogger who is THE expert on all things “foodie gems of wellie”.!
Wellie … Foodie … Ellie … I am most certainly in the right place here! Add the odd Kiwi accent to the local foodie lingo, and laughter is guaranteed throughout the day! Besides all the fun, our food tour guide Heather really knowns her way around Wellington’s food lover district and is happy to share the small food places’ success stories with us. Let me take you on a juicy food walk around Wellington then!
Starting off my visit in “windy Wellie” …
… I am met by beautiful Wellington Waterfront vistas such as this one!
The Kiwi capital city of about 200.000 people has got an extremely laid-back, cheerful atmosphere to it …
… with public art space dotted all around the city’s Waterfront area …
… and permanent installations, such as this “light fern ball” hanging around near Civic Square!
At the local i-site visitor information centre, I once again get my hands on choosing a Food Tour of Wellington city with Zest Food Tours!
And although the coffee really is not bad at the place where I am staying (you cannot go too wrong in the coffee capital of New Zealand after all!) …
… I just looove the flavours & aromas of a great place called MOJO Coffee!
Happy Heather takes us there: This cool, expert Kiwi food lover lady takes us around town with her very own “zest for life” – and food, that is!
At Mojo Coffee Central, don’t miss their Iconic Flat White. And have a go at their home-made Kalouria (Greek wine biscuit)!
This is the first of a total of five food stops on this tour called “Capital Tastes Tour” with Zest Food Tours. Besides offering this particular half-day food tour, the company also runs full-day wine & food tours into nearby Martinborough wine district, as well as further food tours in Auckland & Dunedin. “We developed some ten years ago in response to visitors looking for more than just an ordinary shopping & ‘walking-around-town’ experience”, Heather explains, with the obvious benefit being that you go to places you would not normally find on your own, and less in the same time as during the tour. I smile, being reminded of Porto & Taste Porto Food Tours, a city & a company that has truly triggered my whole interest & expertise in food tour companies worldwide. Check this out.
After enjoying our doses of iconic Flat Whites creamy coffees at Mojo Coffee …
… we head over to this wonderful gentleman by the name of Graham Joe, who is a true representative of the “local people success story movement” …
… having come up with & curated the most beautiful, delicious, real-fruit gelato ice creams around town!
I am blown away with how good even, or especially, this olive oil ice cream tastes!!
At the end of our tasting visit, all of us participants in the tour are offered two free scoops of some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my whole life. I AM STAYING HERE, I am announcing to Heather! However …
… there is more food to come. As with all those food tours I have taken around the world, my general advice is threefold: Do not eat (much) beforehand. Do bring your camera (you will want to photograph all the #foodporn in front of you!). Do try everything offered to you !!! Really. The locals know best. And they will have you sample the best among the best, and most exotic – green-lipped mussels, tamarillo chutney, Kiwi blue cheese, you name it. Go for it, is my advice at all times! 😀
Moore Wilson Fresh, is where “both foodies and chefs alike love to shop”, Heather mentions. Fruit, veggies, seafood, bakery, cheeses: I just love the tasting platter Zest Food Tours has put together for us!
Upon entering Moore Wilson Fresh food gourmet market …
… we are greeted by the look of what is most exotic to me as an Austrian: Heaps of typical, New Zealand green-lipped mussels!
This lovely tasting platter is already waiting for us foodie travellers …
… including local delights, such as this wonderful Tamarillo chutney …
… thank you so much for this wonderful lunchtime tasting stop, dear Heather!
Zest Capital Tastes Tour finishes with a visit to Wellington Chocolate Factory & even more sweet tooth delights at Floriditas Café & Restaurant on Wellington’s iconic Cuba Street.
A big part of the charm of food tours such as this one is that in most places, we are welcomed by local people with a real passion: Coffee, gelato, or chocolate, as in this case! Rochelle Harrison has set up a chocolate tasting in what once used to be a Wellington shoe factory and is now producing refined artesan chocolate creations “using basically two ingredients: High-quality cocoa beans and sugar”. No milk means my preferred choice, the coconut milk chocolate, is actually the best vegan chocolate I have ever tasted in my whole life!
Lovely. I am so full by now. There is more, however, to conclude our visit at Floriditas Café & Restaurant, where Heather is happy to hand out some Zest Food Tours Vouchers to us. “Enjoy them around town”, she smiles. “They are valid for up to one year, and you are welcome to pass them on and share them with your friends & family!”
Spreading the love: Happy chocolate visitors at Wellington chocolate factory!
Our food tour finishes with a view like this …
… and a hands-on “conclusion” like this: What a great foodie day out in Wellington!
To conclude, I can recommend heading down to Te Papa, the national museum that is always worth the visit really …
… while I shall stay “on the road” & on the lookout for even more foodie experiences to come!
Enjoy the entire foodie Flickr Photo Gallery of Zest Food Tours & my visit to Wellington here: