Wellington- cafe culture

13th September
A brief history of the coffee scene in Wellington

Article from: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/the-daily-grind-wellington-cafe-culture-1920-2000

"The good bits"


Wellington's café culture is today an integral part of its identity as a city. This culture began in the 1930s with the arrival of the milk bar, followed closely by coffee houses in the 1950s.

The 1950s saw the emergence of the modern café in Wellington, part of a global phenomenon influenced by increased immigration. Coffee houses sprung up all over Wellington city, notably Harry Seresin's Coffee Gallery, Monde Marie, Suzy's Coffee Lounge and the International Coffee Lounge run by local celebrity Carmen. The look was pseudo-European and sophisticated. Exotic new foods and new Italian espresso machines were introduced.

The new coffee houses opened during the day and remained open through to the early hours of the morning - a novel experience for New Zealanders. They were fashionable places, a focal point for writers, poets, artists, musicians and academics.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, 'coffee', to most Wellingtonians, meant 'coffee essence' - liquid coffee and chicory served in hot milk.
Milk bars were places for young people to meet. Young women would also wait there while their partners were at the pub, still a male preserve. And they became, notoriously, an after-school gathering place for secondary school students.

European immigrants were prominent in establishing the new coffee shops of the 1950s, encouraged by a resident population of Jewish refugees - professionals, artists and musicians who had already helped shape Wellington's distinctive cultural scene during the war years. These new coffee bars filled a social gap by remaining open through to the early hours of the morning. They were places to talk or read the newspaper, to pursue romances, or just to watch and listen to others.
The look was pseudo-European, or at least foreign, and therefore sophisticated. The coffee was generally of the Cona type, bubbling away in glass bowls, or perhaps instant coffee, which had recently arrived on the New Zealand market. A few of Wellington's coffee houses gave pride of place to one of the new types of Italian espresso machines.

Wellington promotes itself as a culinary capital, famous for its variety of restaurants and cafés. There are more than 300 cafés throughout the city, reputedly more per capita than New York City. Wellington's renowned café culture combines great coffee, good food and people-watching. It provides an opportunity to study weird and wonderful artwork, free-flowing design ideas and the ingenuity of each individual owner.

The story of Wellington's café society fits into a wider pattern, reflecting both national and international trends. But it has also been shaped by key local features - including climate and geography, the city's status as centre of government and a major port, patronage from the large student and arts communities, and the eccentric personalities of some of the owners and habitués.