Wellington, New Zealand

I've been regularly travelling to New Zealand for ten years, as long as I have known PDC - a kiwi. Over that time I've been excited to see its culinary horizons develop from clumsy paprika dusting to a smart level of refinement, I know this sounds like a generalisation, yet I have been genuinely impressed the last few visits. The weekend before last was Wellington, and it was no different.

So Wellington in a round up:
-LOVED Moore Wilsons food store, they stocked a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables that I have never seen in a Melbourne market, packs of baby leeks and fennel, trimmed punnets of micro herbs, edible flowers to garnish like in Spain or toss in a very pretty salad. How often do you see wild venison and wild goat fillets at your local store? Or what about mountains of tomatillos?

-city destination bistro Pravda was brilliant for a smart light lunch of manuka smoked Akaroa salmon on nicoise salad, a glass of luscious Nevis Bluff pinot gris from Central Otago and the obligatory Antipodes mineral water in its designy, yet medicinal bottle

-Maria Pia's Trattoria, Wellingtons representation in the famous Italian cookbook Silver Spoon. This homely little dining room would fit right in on Melbournes Lygon St, memorabilia lined walls, simple menu and a strange private dining room that reminded me of sitting in a sauna, no, it was not hot and steamy but lined in timber and a little separate building in the the backyard. Our waiter was easily flusted and going through the motions, even some of the classic Italian dishes were off the mark, yet restaurants are not always about the food, service or even ambience, the company was more important this night so hence if you can gather a table like I did that night Marias was remarkable...

-Taste Breakfast, great friendly service and an excellent breakfast dish of a chunky cut ham and tomato panfried sandwich, topped with two soft poached eggs and the most artery clogging cheddar sauce that was to die for- potentially!

-Talking coffee, the coffee culture in NZ in has just become addictive, with fair trade and boutique roasters the norm the 'translation' issues of the past, where latte meant being served in a bowl French style, where strong meant bitter and less than 65C was too cold. The times have changed.

-Cheap boutique beers, you've got to love them, Monteiths and Macs, even fancy apple cider and alcoholic ginger ale. And the government is not making a mint in alcohol tax, like in Australia, so $12 a 6pack is the norm.

-Martin Bosleys. I'm seeing him cook this weekend at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festivals Masterclasses but I couldn't tell you what it tastes like yet as I was not organised enough to make a reservation, cockily thinking I'd be fine, but as I should have expected from the Cuisine Restaurant of the Year - full on Monday lunch.

-So I dined out a few times, but what about in?

Fried whitebait and steamed wild caught salmon one night; the raw salmon smelt like salty butter, and cooked it still looked raw it was so red. I also could not get enough of baby kumaras, roasted one night and simply boiled and served with PDC's garlic ailoi, it was so garlic 'hot' it came with a warning (and a recipe you if ask nicely) but the perfect counterbalance to the sweet starch of the purple kumara.

-New funky wine varietals were abound for the eclectic wine snob in me, chenin blanc, arneis and merlot that I would not be embarrassed to ask for, (think Sideways here!) are all now available from kiwi producers and from what I saw very smartly done as well.

After all that in 4 days I am thankful that Wellington is a VERY hilly city, the next weekend was Sydney and are just as many stories to tell, coming soon!

Jack