Caffe L'affare, Wellington, New Zealand - and a competition giveaway for Grab Your Fork readers

[Read on for details on a new Grab Your Fork giveaway!]

I may have skipped breakfast on Sunday, but there was no way I was skipping lunch.

It's true that in my whirlwind weekend of Wellington, I ate until I was fit to burst. I had limited time in the Windy City and I was determined to eat and see as much of it as I possibly could. Instead of being suddenly hit with hunger pangs, I was actively willing my body to digest its last meal as quickly as it could, just so I could fill it with more. No wonder I love the excuse of food blogging.

My final morning was decidedly hectic: Harbourside Market, City Market and then the Wellington Food Heroes Day at Moore Wilson. The vision of Caffe L'affare across the road from Moore Wilson was fortuitous indeed.


Inside Caffe L'affare

Caffe L'affare is known for its coffee roastery, a range of beans roasted daily, then packaged and sold around the country.


Flat white

My flat white lives up to its reputation. The coffee is full-bodied, rich and aromatic - one of those amazing coffees that makes you want to order another one, straight away.


Old style Reuben open grilled sammie with fries $14.00

Lunch is a grilled Reuben open sandwich, a thick nutty slice of rye bread slathered with seeded mustard and then topped with shavings of corned beef, slices of juicy tomato and lengths of spicy pickle. A heap of sauerkraut helps cut through the richness of melted Swiss cheese and the squiggles of sauce on top are perfect for dipping into with the crisp and golden shoestring fries.

It's seriously good. It's a shame I have to bolt my meal down and trot back to the hotel to pack and get the cab back to the airport. I've never packed so fast in my life (about five minutes).



I flew over with about 11kg of luggage, and returned with double. Suffice to say my pantry is now well-stocked with jams, chutneys, manuka honeys, Schoc chocolates, various Griffins biscuits and more pineapple lumps than you can poke a stick at.


Sydney. Ahhh home...


Pesto-crusted chicken

There was more than a tinge of sadness as the plane ascended into the skies to take me back home to Sydney. I whiled away the flight hours with the New Zealand hit film Second-Hand Wedding and episodes of Flight of the Conchords, happy I'd eaten the Reuben when faced with my light dinner, a rather uninspired and dry fillet of chicken crusted with pesto. A tub of Kapiti ice cream for dessert (double cream and cookies - oh so creamy!) put the smile back on my face again.

A delicious weekend with so many tasty memories.

Wellington on a Plate? Wellington now in my stomach!

Grab Your Fork attended Wellington on a Plate as a guest of Positively Wellington Tourism. For more information on Wellington, check out http://www.wellingtonnz.com.

Wellington on a Plate ran from 17-30 August 2009. Next year's festival dates have already been confirmed as 14-29 August 2010.




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Caffe L'affare
27 College Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +61 (04) 385 9748

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday 7am – 4.30pm
Saturday and Sunday 8am – 4pm
Closed on public holidays





Prize giveaway for Grab Your Fork readers

Did you enjoy this series of posts about Wellington? Were you wishing you could've joined in on all the fun? Well thanks to the lovely folk at Positively Wellington Tourism, we're bringing a little bit of Wellington straight to you with a bumper prize pack to give away to one lucky Grab Your Fork reader!

This prize is a collection of Wellington's best. Martin Bosley is one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the City Market, the WotWots childrens series is produced out of the Weta Workshop, and Schoc Chocolate does amazing things to your tastebuds.

THE PRIZE:
One lucky winner will receive
1 x copy of Martin Bosley Cooks (RRP NZ$50) autographed as below

2 x bars of Schoc chocolates (RRP NZ$20)
1 x 250 gram pack of Mojo plunger grind premium coffee (RRP NZ$15)

1 x WotWots DVD featuring 8 episodes (RRP NZ$40)

all packaged up in a gorgeous We Love Wellington bag!
Total prize value = NZ$125


HOW TO ENTER:
All you have to do is

1. Add a comment to this post and tell us which Grab Your Fork post on Wellington was your favourite?
   
   WELLINGTON IN 48 HOURS
   Friday
   5.30pm Viva Mexico
   7.00pm The Ambeli
   
   Saturday
   8.30am Dixon St Deli
   10.00am Floriditas Bakery tour
   11.30am Weta Cave and lunch at Cafe Polo
   5.00pm Schoc chocolates + matching wine with cheese
   7.30pm Hippopotamus Restaurant
   11.00pm New World supermarket
   
   Sunday
   9.30am Harbourside Market
   10.30am City Market
   11.30am Moore Wilson Fresh and Cash-and-Carry
   12.30pm Caffe L'affare
   
   
2. Send an email to grabyourforkwellingtoncomp@yahoo.com.au and include your full name, email address and repeat your answer to question one above.

Thank you everyone for your entries. The winners have been announced here.


COMPETITION CONDITIONS:

1. This competition is open to New Zealand and Australian addresses only
2. All entrants' details will be passed onto Positively Wellington Tourism who may contact you with information about future food-related events in Wellington. You may opt-out of emails at any time.
3. Competition closes on Friday 25 September 2009 at 5.00pm AEST. Winner will be announced on Monday 28 September 2009.
   
4. The winner will be drawn randomly. No correspondence will be entered into.
   

The inscription inside Martin Bosley Cooks





Don't forget you can also enter the Grab Your Fork mooncake competition to win a box of o-mochi mooncakes. The competition is open to entrants with addresses in Sydney or Melbourne. Entries close 5pm Wednesday 23 September 2009. Enter now.