Wellington On a Plate Has Dropped Its Huge 2019 Program
The country's largest culinary festival is bringing the party with all-you-can-eat taco fiestas, inventive burgers, contemporary hāngi and the hottest chicken wings in the world.
It's that time of the year again when it's completely acceptable to get your hands on as many burgers as possible. Visa Wellington On a Plate (VWOAP), is one of the most anticipated culinary events of the year. Every year since 2009, VWOAP has taken over our little capital with inventive burgers, grand dishes and beers to pair. The mission is simple: to feed your appetite for life with all that the Wellington region has to offer. And boy, does VWOAP deliver in 2019.
This year's VWOAP theme influences festival-goers to explore how food can be a sensory experience of taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound.
For the first time ever, VWOAP will be spread across the whole month of August. For 31 days and five weekends, a month-long culinary party will be served across the whole Wellington region, including Kāpiti Coast, Wellington City, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa and every spot in-between. The first two weeks are devoted to Dine Wellington, where dishes are created with Wellington ingredients and producers. Followed by the last two weeks of Burger Wellington. Festival events and Cocktail Wellington run all month long. This is an event for one and all, including food connoisseurs and novices alike.
Last year, Monique Fiso's Hiakai Hāngi sold out. This year a new international team is coming to Wellington to join the acclaimed chef around the hāngi pit for four courses of slow-cooked kai. The hāngi can be found on Wellington Harbour.
With over 20 top international and local chefs, you are in for a tasty month of innovative cuisine. Infamous chefs will be landing on the shores of New Zealand's culinary capital, with names that are usually only available in faraway lands. The likes of respected London-based Kiwi chef Margot Henderson; Cheong Liew, an expert in combining Malaysian, Chinese and modern European flavours; Mark Best of top Australian restaurant Marque; Morgan McGlone of Belles Hot Chicken fame; and Dave Verheul, the name behind Matterhorn, are just some of the chefs on the impressive lineup.
The program is an absolute WOAP-er with a smorgasbord of events taking place across the entire month. On the bill of pop-ups, masterclasses and tastings you can expect to find a wine rave, a late-night tea party, a trip around the world in eight negronis, a walking trail of Wellington Chinese cuisine, the hottest chicken wings in the world, an evening of culinary classics from The Castle, drive-in and dine cinema, and an all-you-can-eat taco fiesta.
WOAP will be meeting you at the table from August 1–31. Dig into the festival website for the full 2019 program.
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