Media Release

Eleven exceptional Wellington restaurants to showcase at Beervana 2012

For the second-year the Wellington region’s top restaurants will develop beer-matched cuisine for Beervana, under the leadership of multi award-winning chef Martin Bosley.

The 2012 line-up includes Arbitrageur, Boulcott Street Bistro, The Dumpling House, Fork & Brewer, The General Practitioner, The Hop Garden, Martin Bosley’s, Monsoon Poon, Steve Morris for Epicure, Vista, and Wakelin House (Greytown).

Martin Bosley, Beervana’s Culinary Director, believes a perfect food and beer pairing can change someone’s perception of beer in just one bite. “Imagine a rich chocolate cake with a sliver of gorgonzola and a glass of luscious stout. It’s a match made in heaven!” he says.

“Once you’ve had your eyes opened to the incredible range of styles, flavours and techniques out there you’ll never think about beer the same way again.”

While overall beer sales in New Zealand are declining, the craft beer category is growing. Festival Director David Cryer believes this is symptomatic of New Zealanders changing attitudes toward food and beverages.

“New Zealanders are paying more attention to the provenance and quality of everything they eat and drink. Craft beer is poised to take advantage of this trend. There are more than 90 breweries in New Zealand, the vast majority of which of which are producing small quantities of hand-crafted, high quality beer.

“The choice New Zealand beer drinkers have is enormous, and Beervana is the best annual opportunity to try the vast range of brews being produced here,” Cryer says.

For food lovers, the new Food & Beer package gives ticket holders access to an exclusive culinary seminar led by leading beer writer Neil Miller, and featuring the skills of Shaun Clouston from Logan Brown, Rex Morgan from Boulcott Street Bistro, or Martin Bosley (session dependent).

As part of the free seminar programme, chef Anton Legg from Wellington’s newest gastro-pub the Fork & Brewer will present on gastro-pub cooking, featuring beer vinegar and spent grain chicken wings, and Kieran Haslett-Moore from Regional Wines & Spirits returns with his popular cheese and beer matching session. Dish magazine drinks writer Yvonne Lorkin will also present a Food & Beer 101 seminar to demystify food and beer matching.

“Great food helps people experience beer in a new way,” says Cryer. “The chefs who are part of Beervana have taken all of the guess work out of beer and food matching and their creations are bound to delight and surprise.”