Burger Wellington Finalists Named
Sixty-nine eateries flexed their buns in this year’s battle of the burger. The steaks were raised, votes counted and now
five will meat in the final round of Burger Wellington presented by Garage Project.
Arthur’s, Café Polo, Charlie Bill – Fine Food Bistro, Portlander Restaurant and Ti Kouka will cook off at Le Cordon Bleu on Thursday in a bid to claim the coveted title of Wellington’s best burger.
Judged by a panel of partially expert judges – including Burger Bucket List blogger Pete Watson, Garage Project’s Jos
Ruffell, award-winning chef Martin Bosley, food bloggers Jeremy Taylor and Beth Brash, and a Le Cordon Bleu chef – the
cook off will wrap up yet another successful Visa Wellington On a Plate festival.
Co-director Sarah Meikle says since its conception, Burger Wellington has won both the hearts and stomachs of the
masses.
“We’re constantly impressed by the originality and creativity of the burgers. The top five are all standouts so the
judges really have their work cut out for them ruling the ultimate winner.”
Also being judged alongside Burger Wellington is the Garage Project Burger Challenge. This contest saw 21 participating eateries try to best match their burger to a Garage Project brew.
Little Beer Quarter, Crazy Horse, Ti Kouka, Monsoon Poon and The Larder are all in the running to win this inaugural award.
Garage Project co-founder and judge Jos Ruffell says after sampling all of the entries it soon became clear that a good
match starts with a good burger.
“Without a good burger the possibility of creating a good beer match evaporates. I look forward to seeing what the final
five bring to the kitchen. It’s going to be a bun fight.”
The cook off rounds out the fifth serving of the festival and while full economic analysis will get underway shortly,
online ticket sales and restaurateur feedback indicate another successful year.
“While we won’t have a full idea of attendance figures until participants are surveyed and results analysed, we do know
over 17,000 tickets were sold to festival events, with Beervana and Wellington Fisher & Paykel MasterClass reporting increased tickets sales on last year,” says Ms Meikle.
ENDS