First Night in Wellington

We’ve moved on to Wellington for a few days, and our quaint and slightly bizarre hotel just off Cuba Street, despite its saggy bed, is serving us very well. It’s called the Carillon, and it appears to be a tired old mansion that is now a combination of longer term apartments and short term hotel rooms. Remnants of its history remain in a lounge area and a deserted ‘brasserie’.

But that’s why I was excited about coming here, because while there is no restaurant, the commercial kitchen is still intact, and guests are welcome to use it. While the old kitchen and the little side rooms are kind of creepy, I still love the idea that I can wander out to a market, pick up some fresh goods, and make dinner in an old restaurant kitchen.

But not tonight! Tonight and tomorrow night we’ll be out on the town. So we dropped off our stuff and wandered down to Cuba Street to see what we could find.

We found a gem. Floriditas is a Spanish/Cuban inspired all day restaurant that serves something for everyone, whether you’re looking for a snack and a drink, morning coffee and a muffin, or a full-blown meal. I was drawn in by the offering, under “snacks,” of paprika toasted almonds and a Papirusa sherry, listed together for $10. I love the idea of my restaurant pairing food and a drink for me. It helps create a more complete experience.

So I ordered my almonds and sherry, and Kelly went for the fries and tarragon Bearnaise (oh to always be able to think of fries as crispy little delicacies to be dipped in citrus and anise-flavoured butter sauce!). We then decided to share an order of clams in white wine sauce, as well as a light main course. I chose the hapuka (some kind of white fish), cucumber ribbon and herb salad with verjuice dressing. Verjuice, the raw, unripe grape juice from wine grapes, was on my ‘to try’ list on this trip, as it’s usually only available in restaurants in wine making regions. Kelly went for the chargrilled lamb, rocket leaves, feta and green ‘Atlas’ olives. To match, I chose a Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc, and Kelly opted for a Martinborough Pinot Noir—to further do our duty in testing New Zealand pinots.

The pinot was certainly more full-bodied than the North American ones, so it further proved the point that New Zealand’s pinots don’t necessarily behave the same as ours. The sauvignon blanc was light and citrusy, and balanced very well with my cucumber and herb salad.

Everything was delicious, and we were ravenous. The clams, while almost too salty, made up for it with fresh Italian parsley and loads of garlic. My fish dish was beautifully fresh and subtle. What could be simpler than adding lemon and dill to fish and cucumber? So natural and delicious. Kelly’s lamb dish was robust in flavour, also working well with his wine. Each bite brought a new explosion of flavour as all the ingredients came together in one earthy, spicy, briny whole.

We’d made sure to leave room for dessert—I had my eye on the cinnamon donuts paired with drinking chocolate. They were styled after Mexican churros, but made hot and fresh, so their crispy-creaminess was at its finest. It was a blissful finish to my meal. Kelly’s dessert was far fancier, more subtle, but just as lovely: Manuka honey mousse with toffee pistachio sprinkles. Oh so silky and sweet.

Stuffed and happy, we wandered back to our hotel.