After a “few too many” wine samples at Martinborough, John, Bryn and myself find ourselves in the quaint, picturesque village of Greytown.  The main street is a hive of activity. Here you’ll find antique stores selling lots of props and goodies, cute little cafes serving up that beautiful NZ coffee and a number of specialised boutiques and galleries.  It’s interesting to note that Greytown was the first planned inland town and that on the outskitrts you’ll find the site of the first Maori parliament.

We’re not here for politics though.  We’re here to sample the Wellington on a Plate menu at Bar Salute.  Bar Salute is located in the center of the main street and today’s menu promises an exciting mixture of Middle Eastern, Southern Mediterranean and Moroccan cuisines.  These are some of my favourite foods and my taste buds are on high alert and ready for a good workout!  The restaurant itself is decked out in dark chocolate wood tables, bright orange lamp shades and lots of wrought iron.  Quite an eclectic mix but one that suits the character of the place.

We’re introduced to Travis, the owner and chef of Bar Salute and we chat about how the restaurant paired back its comprehensive menu and the transition it has made to serving tapas style food.  I also find out that Travis used to live in the suburb next to me many moons ago!  The world really is small!

We start off with the classic Moroccan soup of harira-a soup traditionally eaten when breaking the fast during Ramadan.  The harira provides a warm welcome to my insides after a morning of “wine workouts”!!!  It’s fragrant with cinnamon and an exotic blend of Moroccan spices finished off with tangy lemon and fresh coriander.  This is followed by a trio of dips with chargrilled flatbreads.  The dips consist of a tomato confit (interesting!), hummus and roast beetroot.  The chargrilled flatbread have that perfect “charness” that marries well with the home made dips.  Next we are brought some panfried Cyprian haloumi served in a cute casuela.  The haloumi has been panfried to perfection and arrives in that perfect “not too melted” state.  It’s soft, a little “squeaky” and not as salty as I thought it would be.  All my memories of eating in Greece coming flooding back again.  So far, so good!  My appetite is whet with excitement and anticipation of the courses to come.

It’s at this point that I don’t know what happens…with my camera!  I thought I had taken some pics of the main courses but could not locate them anywhere on my CF card.  Doesn’t matter…you can head on over to John’s post where he gives a great review with fantastic pics.  The tapas arrive promptly and we get to sample a coleslaw made with chorizo and almonds, bacalao fritters, Moroccan lamb croquettes and a pizza made with Kapiti blue cheese, caramelised onions, bacon, pears and rocket!  I’m not the biggest blue cheese fan in the world but this combination of flavours worked beautifully!

It’s dessert time and my camera seems to have regained consciousness (I’m wondering if it took secret sips of wine at the winery earlier on!).  We’re presented with a palate cleanser- a gin and tonic sorbet made with the local Lighthouse Gin.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but I can tell you this stuff is potent!  You can actually taste the gin and the tonic (I know…weird!) and it’s very refreshing on the palate after feasting on Bar Salute’s wonderful menu…and I WANT MORE!  Yes, it’s addictive but I know that if I continue to slurp eat it my sentences will not make sense!  Finally, like the two fat ladies, we’re presented with a light dessert of lemon fritters served with vanilla ice cream and pomegranate molasses. I thought that these were going to be actual lemon pieces that were fried.  Not so!  (you can see now how much effect the alcohol has had on me).  These are best described as “fried puffs of lemon-y air”-they are that light!  A definite favourite!

If you find yourself in Wellington and are heading out to the Wairarapa region take a moment to stop off at Greytown and enjoy some of the beautiful tapas dishes at Bar Salute.  The food and wine are excellent and come highly recommended.  It’s something you definitely must do.   (And ask if they have some of that gin and tonic sorbet too!)

If you want to experience some of Wellington’s finest food and wines don’t forget to enter the competition to win a chance to have dinner at the WLG pop up restaurant-comments can be made here

Souvlaki For The Soul dined at Bar Salute as a guest of Positively Wellington Tourism for Wellington on a Plate

When it comes to wine, I’ve always believed it to be a personal choice.  No-one can tell you what is a “good choice” or a “better drop”.  Everyone has their own opinions.  I have friends who really enjoy sauvignon blanc blends and madly drink them on a regular basis.  My personal preference is for bolder reds with a little “guts” and a great finish and I love sweet muscats served with coffee and cheese after a nice dinner.  A few years ago I preferred lighter red styles like Pinot Noirs-but that changed.  My point?  Basically there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to wine, in my opinion.  I remember attending an intensive two day wine course and driving the sommelier crazy with my questions!!!  I so desperately wanted to “know” and “feel” the characteristics of the grapes we were tasting that in the end I gained nothing but more lost follicles!  Now I order a bottle without any stress and just enjoy it for what it is…a great drink (most of the time-I’m also a beer lover but that’s another post!)

Now that my little sermon is complete let’s get down to the fun stuff-my day at Wairarapa for my recent visit to Wellington for the Wellington on a Plate food festival.  John, myself and our very knowledgeable representative, Bryn, from Positively Wellington Tourism make our way to Muirlea Rise- a boutique winery located in Martinborough.  The journey there is interesting as poor John begins to feel motion sickness being in the back of the car!  There are a lot of winding roads to navigate as we make our way over the mountains but eventually he settles and we continue on our merry way.  What is also interesting is the landscape and the running commentary coming from Bryn-he knows these parts like the back of his hand!  He points out all sorts of trivia about various spots along the way-namely parts of the region where Lord Of The Rings was filmed.  I’m not a fan myself of this series but it’s all fascinating to hear about the behind the scenes stuff.

A few u-turns later we find ourselves at Muirlea Rise and we are introduced to Shawn-the owner of this boutique winery.  Shawn is a very likeable fellow that calls a spade a spade.  Best described as a “larrikin” who definitely knows his wine.  His very down to earth demeanour automatically makes you feel comfortable about asking questions.  Not an ounce of “nose turning” in sight! We discuss the history of the winery and how they still use cork on their bottles. It’s also interesting to note that they hand pick their non irrigated grapes.  I’m impressed!  We learn that the predominant grape grown in the region is Pinot Noir-in my mind I always assumed that this region only produced Sauvignon Blanc. There is also talk about a “mystery grape” grown in the region and how it was introduced illegally as a cutting.  Shawn describes this “mystery grape” of Martinborough as a “more feminine, softer grape” and he explains how he uses it in a couple of his blends.

Finally we are inside and we get to traste samples!  We sample rosé-a wine I always want to like but never really do.  This one is fine but it’s the Pinot’s I’m in love  with!  The pinots are nothing like the ones I’ve sampled from the Southern parts of Australia.  These are a little stronger and have great characteristics.  And finally we get to try the “mystery grape”.  Shawn pours us a sample and John and I both note the strong “candy floss” taste it exhibits-delicious!  It’s not even one o’clock and I’m starting to feel the effects of all these beautiful samples being forced on me!  (see the pic above of the mystery grape wine?-I’ve had to apply a few “effects” to reduce the camera shake-caused by my slight “tipsiness”-LOL!)

We bid Shawn good by and thank him for showing us around his boutique winery.  John, Bryn and I head on into Martinborough where we stop off to get a few scenic shots of this picturesque village before heading over to Greytown for-you guessed it-another meal! Continued next post…

Souvlaki For The Soul attended Wellington on a Plate as a guest of Positively Wellington Tourism

Hey everyone! This is another photography post.   Just sharing some images that I photographed for a bar…

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.  STAY SAFE AND MOST OF ALL BE HAPPY!