Capital's hospitality history served up at Wellington Museum

An old rubbish tin, a toaster and an exhaust pipe were some parts used to construct possibly New Zealand's first-known espresso coffee roaster, now on display at the Wellington Museum.

The Frankenstein-like machine from Havana Coffee is part of Wellington's hospitality history.

The item is part of the 'Capital of Kai' exhibition now on at Wellington Museum showcasing memorabilia from Wellington's famous restaurants and cafes.

From Green Parrot's first hotplate, believed to be made from melted World War I gun barrels, to Il Casino's Chesterfield couch, where guests listened to the grand piano over a brandy, the items bring us from the 1920s to today.

'The start of the coffee revolution in New Zealand'

In the 1920s, English tearooms and dainty cakes on white tablecloths were common in the capital, but dining out was a rarity.

The Capital of Kai exhibition at Wellington Museum.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

By the 1980s, Wellington was earning its reputation as New Zealand's coffee capital, when it supercharged the country's espresso revolution, said Havana Coffee founder Geoff Marsland.

Cafes selling espresso coffee late into the night, like Midnight Espresso and Deluxe Cafe, took off. Both are still open today.

Marsland, former co-owner of the late-night cafes, said he once joked with his friends and roaster builders Tim Rose and Russell Collins that his DIY coffee roaster would end up in a museum one day.

"The roaster was the start of the coffee revolution in New Zealand," Marsland said.

Midnight Espresso and Deluxe Cafe were going through hoards of coffee, but Marsland and his colleagues weren't happy with it.

With a few spare parts, they built something that could roast their own coffee above Midnight Espresso on Cuba Street, earning them their name, as Havana is the capital of Cuba.

After six months, a Friday night rush hour turned even more hectic, when the machine caught fire and the building filled with smoke.

Wellington museum curator Ian Wards.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The company was kicked out of the building for the fire, forcing them to find the character building on Wigan Street, where Havana Bar now lives.

Museum curator Ian Wards said Havana's coffee roaster was an amazing creation.

"Totally illegal, totally made out of spear parts, caught itself on fire numerous times, but part of that kind of pioneering spirit of in the late 1980s around coffee."

Carrying hospo legacies

A red leather couch sits in the exhibition, symbolising the restaurant that helped cement Italian cuisine in Wellington - Il Casino, which opened in 1976.

The Chesterfield couch was donated by Bresolin brothers Leonardo and Enzo, whose late father Remiro ran the restaurant on Tory Street.

World War II brought more migrants to New Zealand, and British mutton chops and boiled vegetables were overtaken by foods from Europe and Asia.

The El Casino couch at Capital of Kai exhibition.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Leonardo Bresolin has continued his dad's Italian food legacy, owning both Scopa and 1154 Pastaria on Cuba Street.

"Our father made it look so fun and enjoyable and rewarding that we both followed in his footsteps."

The couch was one of 10 that sat in the piano room of Il Casino, where customers would have a brandy and cigar before dinner.

"The people that have sat on those couches could you tell a few stories," Leonardo Bresolin said.

For the young Bresolin brothers, the couches were a source of pocketmoney.

"They were quite renowned for anything falling out of your pocket, so any loose change was always down the side of the couch. Sometimes there were a few other surprises."

After the restaurant closed in 2006, a couple of the couches ended up in flats where the brother lived, before one was donated to the archive.

Sitting across from the couch in the exhibition is Great India's jhara - a large pan with a sieve used to form noodles.

Great India was Wellington's second Indian restaurant.

Manager Rakesh Tailor keeps the place running alongside his father, who said the same recipes were still used today.

Wellington restauranteur Leonardo Bresolin comes from the family business.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

"These are my father's recipes from the 60s," Tailor said. "Things have changed, but at Great India, our cuisine is from that era."

He remembers making the move to New Zealand in Christmas 1980, when Indian food was quite an eye-opener for Wellingtonians.

However, it was quickly accepted and incredibly popular, he said.

"Everything that we've achieved is because of my father... I just want to carry on his legacy."

Old calendars displayed in the exhibition show another restaurant's efforts in creative publicity.

The calendars are from Brasserie Flip, the former Willis Street spot that helped make squid rings a Kiwi favourite in the 90s.

Former owner Martin Bosley said the calendars were something different to keep the restaurant relevant.

Bosley remembers how one dish took off.

He was opposed to the idea of frozen squid rings on his fresh food menu, but said the dish went "gangbuster".

He remembers trying to serve risotto for the first time and having it sent back to the kitchen every night.

When he tried to take it off the menu, a couple of thousand people signed a petition to have the so-called "gravy rice" brought back.

This passion was just as present in the industry's friendships, Bosley recalls, and suspects it still is today.

"There's a great collegial relationship between restaurants," he said. "We were all talking to each other, we were dining in each other's restaurants, we were swapping stories."

These stories and more will be on display until 6 September at Wellington Museum.

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