Our driver’s sign. Poor guy must have been so disappointed to see that he was picking me up and not the Nigella haha!
After our lovely stay at Otahuna Lodge our driver drove us to Christchurch airport where we boarded a plane to Wellington. Here streets have cute names like Bunny Street and houses are perched perilously high on the edge of cliffs and require cable cars to access them. The main shopping street is called Cuba Street which we will later visit.
We check into Ohtel, a boutique hotel with very cute and quirky touches. The room has a distinct Scandinavian/New Zealand feel to it with details such as a little notepad in a case with a small pen, a doorless bathroom (instead is a double layer curtain although this does mean that you have to be comfortable with your room mate bodily functions and can avoid walking into the glass at one end which we almost do several times), designer teas, thongs or flip flops for guests instead of slippers, vintage style furniture, nice organic toiletries and free wifi. It’s as if a designer boutique mated with a hotel. The lobby is like a cafe, in fact it is a cafe too and the whole hotel has 10 rooms in total.
The bathroom with the curtain door!
We’re picked up by David from Hutt Valley Tourism who is taking us to lunch at La Bella Italia, one of the Hutt Valley’s and Wellington’s most famous restaurants. The restaurant is located in Petone, a short drive from Wellington city centre. Petone literally means Belly Button as it’s about the centre point of New Zealand We drive past an artesian spring in the centre of town where a resident is filling up large bottles with the water that flows freely for everyone and is known as “Petone water”.
Antonio Cacace
We meet Antonio Cacace who is originally from Sorrento in Italy. His restaurant is set in a warehouse space as it also serves as a shop and deli. The son of a Michelin chef, he imports the food directly himself from Italy. He tells us of when his father was asked to change his tablecloths and flatware in order to appease the Michelin judges but he refused to do so.
He seats us at “Antonio’s table” in the corner of the store which affords us a bird’s eye view of the whole space. Aged only four when he first began serving at his father’s restaurant he had to carry the plates on top of his head as he couldn’t reach and over the next 20 years his father taught him the business. Interestingly, his grandfather had thoughts of opening up an Italian restaurant in Wellington many years ago so he feels that he is fulfilling his ancestor’s footsteps.
Prosciutto de parma and buffalo mozzarella
We start off with a 16 month aged prosciutto de parma and buffalo mozzarella . Antonio was the first to import this into Wellington which he started doing so 5 years ago. He also imports buffalo mozzarella which is air freighted from Campagna every 14 days and he currently sells 360kgs of mozzarella and almost 1 tonne of prosciutto a month. The mozzarella is light and fluffy as a marshmallow and the prosciutto is soft and nicely darkly cured without being tough.
Pressed Octopus
Our next entree is a very interesting dish. As Antonio gets 750kg of space in his container sent every fortnight he decided to order some octopus from Italy. Here he cooks it and presses it with aspic and slices it incredibly thinly. The result is fantastic-the octopus is very tender and I’ve never eaten anything like this before as it’s like a paper salami of octopus. “Of course (it’s tender), it’s from the Mediterranean sea!” he says with a wink. It’s paired with Italian olives, beans, potatoes and extra virgin olive oil.
Linguine with Paquino cherry tomatoes and New Zealand clams
Our next dish is a linguine which has a sauce made of paquino cherry tomatoes in oil and New Zealand clams. The tomatoes are sweet, the pasta beautifully al dente and the clams briney and meaty and the sauce has a slight bite of chilli to it.
Antonio’s mum
Gnocchi that Antonio’s mum makes fresh
His mum is visiting from Italy and she shows us how gnocchi making skills. She’s fast, her fingers light and she makes the ridges using a fork. And the secret to light gnocchi? Using dry potatoes like the Agria variety.
Gnocchi with tomato and mozarella
The gnocchi comes up next, dressed simply with a tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. It’s fantastic yet simple the gnocchi so light and toothsome.
Mixed leaf salad with tomato and olives
We then help ourselves to the mixed leaf salad, expertly dressed in Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. The sun dried tomatoes are sweet and the olives lovely and salty.
Antonio fillets his speciality
Salted caper and gherkin whole Tarakihi
Our last dish was his late father’s signature dish. It is a whole tarakihi fish with chopped up gherkins from Umbria and salted capers from Sicily. He tells us his father used to say “When fish is fresh, 80% of the work is done”. What’s amazing is that I expected the gherkins and capers to impart an extremely salty and vinegary flavour but it’s mild and delicious with the thick fish perfectly cooked. With reluctance, we have to opt out of dessert as we’re running out of time and Antonio and his mum bid us farewell.
Cultured
The sampler plate of cheeses and products
We then take a walk down Jackson Street where there is a strong food community. Our first stop on Jackon Street is to Cultured, a boutique cheese shop that sells New Zealand cheese exclusively. The lovely owner Wendy along with her husband took flight from the dreaded corporate world (sounds familiar? 
) and they opened up the cheese shop in November 2009 after attending a cheese making course in July 2009. We quickly learn that New Zealand is a country that embraces Slow Food and its ideals and this is evident particularly in the cheese industry.
Wendy Adams from Cultured
Molly the cow
She shows us one handmade cheese supplier called Cwmglyn in Eketahuna. Run by a 70 year old woman, these cheeses are made using a one cow one cheese policy so that you can buy the cheese from one of her cows like Molly (see pic above) where only Molly’s milk is used.
“Over the Moon” Buffalo Volcano cheese
Other cheeses that they stock are Over the Moon, and a good range of sheep, goat’s and buffalo milk cheeses. We try the Over the Moon Buffalo Volcano cheese (that they stock exclusively in Wellington) on local Rutherford and Meyer Gourmet wafers . It’s rich and gorgeously mild and she tells us that buffalo cheese was at first a hard sell as people were unaccustomed to it. It’s a little ironic upon tasting it as buffalo is amongst the mildest of milks and much milder than goat’s cheese. I want another piece but I refrain as I’ve had such a big lunch but it’s just so lovely and rich.
We also try a Damson Plum paste from The Damson collection in Hawkes Bay which is much like a tangy quince paste, a sheep’s milk ice cream from Blue River dairy, Invercargill (yep the place where Bert Munro, the World’s Fastest Indian lived) and made with roasted Ripe Fair Trade Organic coffee beans from Petone which is sublime. The Mango Yoghurt is thick and rich with a similar flavour to yogurt you get here in Australia although a tad thinner and comes from Piako, Auckland. The Buffalo yogurt from Clevedon Valley Buffalo company is very mild, much like a yogurt version of buffalo mozzarella.
Sheep’s Milk ice cream
Our next stop is their cookbook only shop called Bookfeast. There are currently only two shops in New Zealand that only stock cookbooks and this store was started 5 years ago. Inside they also hold cooking demonstrations and invite people for book launches where the owner will cook food from the book.
Coming into Wellington Harbour by ferry
We take the ferry back over to Wellington City centre which stops to pick up people from Somes Island. This used to be a quarantine island but now serves as a tourist attraction. Only 250 people a day are allowed onto the island with only 150 people at a time and it’s popular as a picnic or walking site. Two caretakers live there full time now.
And where to now? We’re onto more Wellington adventures next!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever been mistaken for someone else?
NQN and Mr NQN travelled and stayed in New Zealand as guests of Tourism New Zealand
La Bella Italia
10 Nevis Street, Petone, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +64 4 566 9303
Website: www.labellaitalia.co.nz
Opening times:
Monday & Tuesday 7.30am till 5pm
Wednesday – Saturday7.30am till late
Sunday 9am till 5pm
Cultured
185 Jackson Street, Petone, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +44 027 269 8161
http://www.cultured.co.nz/
Closed Monday
Tuesday-Friday 10-6pm
Saturday 10-4pm
Sunday 10-2pm
Bookfeast
173 Jackson Street, Petona, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +44 4 576 0486
Ohtel
66 Oriental Parade
Wellington 6011, New Zealand
Tel: +44 (04) 803 0600
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46 Comments | Add your own
Great post! Loved the look of the hotel room, and I’d eat every dish in this post. How wonderful that you can buy cheese that comes only from Molly’s milk!
oh my – how good does that all look!!LOVE that gnocchi!!!!
nice room! and i love gnocchi. i intend to learn how to make it one day.
I enjoyed the part of your article with the Italian restaurant owner and his mom making gnocchi; I was wishing I could be there trying his food and that prosciutto looked darn good!
Those cheeses sound fantastic. No I have never been mistaken for somebody else.
Almost famous! Looks like you had a great time. Ilove Welly – it’s my favourite NZ city. You should try Martin Bosley’s seafood restaurant on Oriental Pde – the food and service are fantastic, and the floor to ceiling view of the ocean is magnificent.
that Buffalo Volcano cheese looks awesome! i want to try some..
you are so lucky to be travelling around!
I love the idea of cheese from just one cow and knowing it’s name – how fabulous! I don’t usually get mistaken for people but often get stopped and told I look like people, I just one of those faces I suppose – and it’s not all bad, the latest was Minnie Driver!
yay for Wellington posts! and especially yay for venturing out to Petone. i had no idea about Cultured – will definitely add that to my list of places to visit next time i’m in Wellington.
that octopus looks AMAZEBALLS! I really want some.. Worth a trip to Wellington? I think so!
Oh Lorraine, my heart went all a-flutter with the mouth-watering dishes you ate at La Bella Italia. It’s making me quite homesick and wanting to organise my next holiday to Italy. I love Sorrento where Antonio comes from but he looks like he’s found his own little piece of paradise in Wellington. His mum’s gnocchi look just as good as my mum’s:-)
The more you write about New Zealand, the more I think I want to visit and discover all these places for myself.
I have been mistaken for other people no-one famous though but I like to think perhaps Sophia Loren LOL.
Free wifi. Sigh. Australia REALLY needs to hop on that bandwagon. In the whole of Canberra, there’s only freee wifi at the National Library and a McDonalds. FAIL.
I definitely want that pressed octopus. I squealed a little when there was octopus on my birthday dinner’s sashimi platter. Yum! Ack, but then the clams! And gherkins, my beloved gherkins! And that cheese…
Oh, swoon, Lorraine.
I’m drooling Lorraine and it’s only 10.30am! lol
Love the look of the “Over the Moon” Buffalo Volcano cheese. I’d be forever grateful if I can sample the Prosciutto de parma and buffalo mozzarella and the homemade gnocchi pictured above.
Lucky you x
Well never really been mistaken for anyone but my name is Tamzin and I would always get on the phone at work “Oh like that Tamsyn Lewis chick?” and I would respond “Yep but I am not tall and I am not blonde”.
Anyway looks like a fabulous experience in NZ. I discovered a fantastic read from NZ it is a foodie mag called “Dish” and it comes out bi-monthly. “Dish” shows off all of the scrummy offerings and then some that NZ has to offer. I now have NZ firmly penciled in as a definite foodie trip!
That gnocchi looks heavenly! And that octopus, I would definitely give it a go. mmmmm
oh wow buffalo cheese, really? ive never tried that before!
What wonderful experiences. Way to go!
Wow! Would really love to try those cheese!!! NZ… 1 place that I really need to save up my annual leave n $$$ to visit !!
Yum I want those cheeses, the photos are making me so hungry. Sure you were more fun than quite Nigella.
What is up with this new trend in door-less bathrooms?!? Seriously, are there people who are for this? If so, I don’t think I know a one. Or am I in the minority here?
I wholeheartedly agree with the statement When fish is fresh, 80% of the work is done. When fish is absolutely fresh, there’s no point in faffing about with the extras.
Your NZ hotel room looks just darling, but I would get iffy with the whole double-curtain thing in lieu of a bathroom door.
Love the hotel room, even in the bathroom is a little less than private
I was mistaken for Poh whilst getting an ultrasound last night. It broke the ice. I was so anxious, the ultrasonographer and I were able to talk about food for the duration of my test.
Have a great weeken, Lorraine.
SSG xxx
Ooooh that gnocchi is calling me.
And doorless bathroom is definitely not my thing.
Nonna made gnocchi is totally the best. I also like the Pinocchio paraphernalia
I love NZ. My partners family lives there so I look forward to going over every few years and the last time I was in Wellington I bought that same red printed cannister next to the Pinocchio statue. I still use it for my ground coffee! Love the look of the volcanic cheese, looks like a nice smelly one
I have one of those made of an old blanket cushions! Looks so lovely, except the doorless bathroom might have thrown me a bit, I’m in a don’t pee in front of each other relationship ;P
You know, I wonder how come you are so pretty and not like a billion pounds. You eat the most awesome foods.
Have a delicious weekend ahead.
*kisses* HH
Great timing Lorraine – I am about to head off to Wellington in a couple of weeks time so I appreciate the recommendations!
I wish I’d had time to explore Wellington more when I visited recently; I had a couple of outstanding meals: one at Chow and one at Matterhorn. Fab place, and not one dud coffee
oh the things I miss in Europe!! I miss the Damson Paste!
awesome trip! mom-made gnocchi, curtains in lieu of a bathroom door, and chauffeurs–you live an enviable life.
Beautiful! And boy they always say “if there is a Nonna in the kitchen the food is excellent!” and you showed us the Nonna! The food looks extraordinary! As does all the rest. Lucky you!
I love the concept of being able to identify the cow that produced the milk for your cheese! Now THAT’S provenance!
That volcano cheese looks fantastic!
I like the look of the hotel but not so sure about the curtain bathroom door! I’m so not down with that
What a great post! Makes me want to jump on a plane to New Zealand. All the food looked amazing, and the hotel looked really sweet. Different is much better than bland old hotel room!
What a lovely trip, Lorraine! That pressed octopus is amazing. When I first saw it I thought it was some type of salami…your description of it is delicious!
Lovely post NQN, it’s inspired me to give NZ a visit next time we are looking for a holiday.
The pressed octopus looks fascinating and I would love to try that volcano cheese!
Oh wow, I have been inspired to go to New Zealand now thanks to those beautiful photos!
I haven’t been mistaken for any celebrity but at my old work, there were two Asian girls (myself and this other girl, V) and people would constantly call me V even though we look nothing alike. Then again, all Asians look the same don’t they? *sarcasm*
Love the decor of that room.. That octopus looks divine!
Look at that amazing cheese! And sheep’s milk icecream sounds interesting.
Did i miss something?How did u manage to goto Wellington, this a business trip? The one thing i noticed with Wellington is that its full of places saying “satay” but its a little diffrent like sweet and sour satay for example. Too bad most of the places i went to, it tasted ordinary,and im a big satay fan!!
It was an absolute pleasure showing you and Mr NQN around Hutt Valley, Wellington and in particular Petone.
It’s great to see our day out on your blog. Brings back all the flavours!
Thanks Heaps
Yay! Was a pleasure to meet you and lure you into post-lunch cheese. Thanks for the lovely write up : )
The hotel room is really cute, but I don’t know about that doorless bathroom! I’ve never seen one of those before! Like you said, it’s not a good thing if you happen to be bunking with someone that you don’t know REALLY well.
Love your work! The pictures are stunning. And it was great meeting you today.
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