and while I'm blogging about NZ restaurants...

... it seems a good time to at last re-mention our favourite restaurant in the country. Yes, the last post established that Pacifica in Napier was our best meal (and again, we ate very well and in quantity throughout the two weeks, so that is praise indeed and not a mark against any of the other excellent meals). But you know, once I knew a year or so ago that we were heading for a second vacation, I had a short list of things to return to or do again:

1. shop at Rixon Groove (note the new shirt AND tie for dinner at Logan Brown our last night in Wellington)
   


2. find the Seresin Marama Sauvignon Blanc and drink it


3. dine at Floriditas in Wellington

Happily, #s 2 and 3 were combinable in this case.

When we were in Wellington (a city we adore) in 2007, we ate at Floriditas every day. We stumbled upon it our first day at lunchtime and loved it. Back for dinner the next night, we were remembered and greeted warmly AND shown to the same window table as the day before. Back a third day, they apologized for not being able to give us "our" table. Add in very good food and a great wine list, and I think our affection for the place is pretty understandable.

So it was that we arrived in Wellington on a quiet Good Friday afternoon. Much of the city was empty or shut down for the holiday, but we decided to wander to Cuba Street in search of a late late light lunch. And there it was, open.

Happiness.

We made it simple: a little wine for me (I think Conrad had coffee), some serrano ham with fresh figs and purple basil, and pan-fried haloumi with salted Gaeta olives, lemon, and flat bread. And you know what, as we left, we were remembered by the manager (The owner? A friendly man with a good business). We were the bloggers. I knew they'd seen the blog - they'd commented on it - but this was two years later. Really flattering.

Conrad and I showed up there later that night for dinner. It was a little odd to be back so few hours later, but we needed a real meal, and I had another goal: that Seresin wine.
Oh yes, they had it, but only by the bottle. Conrad prefers his Pinots, but I prevailed on him and he very much enjoyed it, too. I wish I could find it here in Chicago, but I guess that's what made the visit so much more special.

The waitress read our minds, suggesting a bowl of olives to start. Yep, exactly the way we wanted to begin dinner. We each then had the pan-fried snapper, salsa verde, and cucumber and black olive salad. I kick myself that we didn't photograph it well. Delicious. As was the dish of rainbow chard with garlic and olive oil we had on the side. But I think we most liked dessert as we compiled it:

Windsor blue cheese and oat cakes
"Pecaaso" Ductch Manchago style white cheese with fresh fig and olive oil crackers
Slice of dark chocolate fruit cake

This is much in the style of our desserts at home: a bit of sweet, a bit of cheese, a bit of fruit. It was deeply satisfying.

We ended up going back the next day for brunch, of course. No photos that time, just a break from shopping in a bustling room of diners. Alas, we didn't come up that way on Easter, sticking close to our hotel and the area around Parliament. Still, I'd fulfilled a big goal on the trip, and that capped the vacation very well indeed.