Nick’s Burger and Beer is a Winner
Martinborough has just cause to be very proud of Medici’s Nick Arnold, and Nick says that he is “so very proud of the locals” for coming to sample and then vote for his Holy Cow Burger. It sounds like a win-win situation, and that’s exactly how Nick sees the recent Wellington on a Plate event in which he won the Burger and Beer Match trophy.
As Nick says, August is quiet for cafes and restaurants and business is down, so the Wellington on a Plate two-week festival of wine and food is a perfect antidote for the winter blues. “It’s an amazing two weeks” says Nick, “and although it’s a lot of work it’s great to be part of it and I’d do it again in a flash”. He is impressed with how many people came over from Wellington to try the Holy Cow burger.
The burger entry had to be submitted in March, months before the event, which was challenging for Nick. As he said with a wry chuckle, “everyone knows that planning ahead isn’t my strong point”! Having devised burgers with a salmon theme in the previous two years, this year Nick wanted to create a classic beef burger.
Hours were spent googling hundreds of burgers and figuring out how to incorporate the best features. One of the key points of difference was that the Holy Cow was entirely Wairarapa born and bred.
The beef was from Pirinoa Station, the buns from the Clareville Bakery, and the cheese from Kingsmeade. “We made everything else ourselves”, says Nick, “from the beer mustard to the aioli, and even the potatoes for the fries were local”. He also went to some trouble to settle on the best beer match, which was the Garage Project’s Texas Tea.
All the Medici staff got involved, from the chefs who cooked hundreds of Holy Cows to the front of house staff whose job was to sell them to customers and then encourage them to put in their votes. It was “a huge group effort”, and Nick is justly proud of his team.
Although the finalists were decided solely on votes from the public, there was one more nerve-wracking step. Nick was invited to a cook-off at Cordon Bleu in Wellington, which he says was “a fantastic experience”.
All the Medici chefs went to support him as, in front of a large audience, the crucial Holy Cow was created in 20 minutes and then presented and explained to the judges. The result was announced the same evening and, unsurprisingly, the Medici team then went out and celebrated!
Nick’s enthusiasm for food and cooking is palpable, followed closely by his commitment to this town and its people, and his delight with this success is infectious. He repeated how proud he was of all those local people who came, tried the burger, and voted for it.
His view is that more cafes and restaurants in Martinborough should become involved in Wellington on a Plate and help to lift the end of winter from the doldrums to a culinary high. Having tried the famous burger, I am now eagerly anticipating next year’s Wellington on a Plate knowing that Nick and his team will be in there with another masterpiece.
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