WLG, the fastest selling restaurant ever on Time Out Sydney website

The fastest-selling ‘Australian’ restaurant ever on the Time Out Sydney website opens tomorrow.

Unprecedented demand has seen Positively Wellington Tourism’s WLG pop up restaurant effectively sell out, with two waves of reservation releases seeing over 2000 seats booked for the two-week initiative. A small number of walk in seats have been held back to enable Sydneysiders to try their luck on the night.

Positively Wellington Tourism Chief Executive David Perks says the experiential marketing activity is designed to activate word of mouth buzz, media coverage, and create Wellington ambassadors in a key Australian target market.

“The There’s No Place Like Wellington joint venture brand campaign is seeing some great results through its focus on tactical deals, but there’s still a long way to go in establishing widespread awareness of what our city and region has to offer. What Australians know is that we’re New Zealand’s capital city, what they don’t know is that we’re not your typical capital city.”

Research show Wellington’s position as New Zealand’s cultural and culinary capital, combined with its walkability, urban edge and proximity to two of the country’s finest wine regions make it a desirable short break destination for East Coast Australians.

“We’ve started to build a very positive and influential fan base for Wellington across the ditch, but we’re still some way off that tipping point that will see us reach our full potential.”

Four ‘chefs in residence’ are taking control of the WLG kitchen for 3-4 days each, delivering different menus that will reflect the seasonal nature of New Zealand’s top restaurants. Some of Wellington’s best wait staff and baristas will also be on hand to provide diners with an authentic Wellington experience.

“The people you meet are a vital part of the visitor experience. The friendliness and chilled out nature of Wellingtonians are one of many things people love about our city so we wanted to showcase that personality,” Mr Perks says.

As well as offering the mouth-watering deal of a three-course meal by award-winning chefs for only $29, WLG will also serve wine from New Zealand’s top wine-making regions and 400 litres of Tuatara beer will be on tap. For those that are not hungry enough for a three course feast (or lucky enough to get a seat!), the WLG wine bar will serve a special plate of three mini-burgers and matching wine for $15.




WLG Recipe for a Good Time

We can’t reveal all the secret ingredients involved, but the below gives a taste of what’s involved in WLG being at Sydney’s service.

1. Take 5 x chefs fresh from Wellington and add 4 x Wellington restaurateurs to manage the flavour.

2. Start with 15kg Lot 8 Spiced Olives, 15 litres of Lot 8 Olive Oil, 25kg Regal King Salmon, 28kg West Coast whitebait and other complementary ingredients.

3. Move on to mains. Source what you can, but aim for 108 kg of Cook Strait Blue Cod, 9kg pickled pork belly, 30 litres of fish stock, 188kg venison, 1800 scallops and 44kg of Cloudy Bay clams. Don’t mix all at once. Season with 10kg of Marlborough flaky sea salt.

4. Have 10 litres of cherry relish, about 350kg of fresh produce and a roll of muslin cloth on hand.

5. Add cream, butter and cheese. Don’t tell anyone how much.

6. Pour in 400 litres of Tuatara beer and almost 200 cases of Marlborough and Wairarapa wine from Hunters Wines, Dog Point Vineyard, Nautilus Wines, Lawson’s Dry Hills, Forrest Estate, Wither Hills, Ant Moore Wines, Giesen Wines, Stoneleigh, Spy Valley Wines, Escarpment Vineyard, Palliser Estate and Gladstone Vineyard to taste.

7. Finish off with close to 100kg of Mojo Coffee and 112.5kg of Whittaker’s chocolate.

8. Take 11 x front of house staff and baristas direct from New Zealand’s capital of cool and serve.

WLG will be located at 32 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross (old Bayswater Brasserie) from Tuesday 14 to Sunday 26 September (closed Mondays).

WLG will be open for dinner from 6pm till 10pm. The four ‘chefs in residence’ will be Jacob Brown (The Larder), Shaun Clouston (Logan Brown), Tom Hutchison (Capitol) and Rex Morgan (Boulcott Street Bistro)

Please note the menus on the release are draft and subject to change based on product availability.


WLG menus

Every menu will start with the following ‘TASTES OF WELLINGTON’ SHARED TASTING PLATE, with head chefs putting on their own mains and takes on dessert, before each serving Mojo Coffee with a splash of Shott Caramel Coffee Syrup with Whittaker’s Chocolate Squares. Whitestone cheese platters will also be available at the bar.

‘TASTES OF WELLINGTON’ SHARED TASTING PLATE:

Lot Eight Spiced Olives
Citrus cured Regal King Salmon gravlax with New Zealand wasabi panna cotta
Fried goats cheese balls with Manuka honey and kiwi chutney
Crispy west coast New Zealand white bait and grilled asparagus with chopped egg and caper mayo
Venison rillettes with spiced pear and watercress

Mains and desserts:

Jacob Brown (The Larder) 14-15 September

MAINS:

:: Venison Wellington - venison short loin in puff pastry with portobello mushrooms, smoked bacon, sage and peppercorn sauce.

:: Snapper fillet with Cloudy Bay Diamond Clams, baby peas, fennel, crayfish butter and chervil

:: Portobello mushrooms and swiss chard baked in filo with braised fennel, olives, goats' curd and green lentils

DESSERT: Whittaker’s Chocolate and Mojo Coffee praline bombe Alaska with raspberry consommé




Shaun Clouston (Logan Brown) 16-19 September

MAINS:

:: Cocoa braised venison osso bucco with soft white polenta, lemon spinach and cherry relish
:: Crispy skin Gurnard with celeriac puree, preserved lemon and green apple salad
:: Portobello mushrooms and swiss chard baked in filo with braised fennel, olives, goats' curd and green lentils

DESSERT: Soprano Limoncello panna cotta with raspberry donuts

Tom Hutchison (Capitol) 20-23 September

MAINS:

:: Grilled Cook Strait blue cod on melted leeks with Marlborough scallops, water cress and jersey benne potatoes

:: Seared confit shoulder of Wairarapa Merino lamb on kumara purée with minted pesto peas

:: Portobello mushrooms and swiss chard baked in filo with braised fennel, olives, goats' curd and green lentils

DESSERT: New Zealand Goat’s curd cheese cake, poached rhubarb and Amaretti crumbs

Rex Morgan (Boulcott Street Bistro) 24-26 September

MAINS:

:: Roasted groper with smoked Marlborough mussels and green pea stew

:: Horopito seasoned beef with slow roasted tomato and Lot Eight potato mash

:: Portobello mushrooms and swiss chard baked in filo with braised fennel, olives, goats' curd and green lentils

DESSERT: Mojo Coffee brulee with Whittaker’s chocolate and orange mousse