May #12
Welcome to the oh fuck, it’s May already issue of the Draft.
It’s actually our first birthday this month, and dear reader, it is also something of a slow news month. We’ve always said the Draft should be discerning and that means it’s as long as it needs to be; sometimes that also means the Draft is as short as it needs to be.
But whether you’re an old faithful or one of our newer readers, we’re sure are glad to have you, and love all your feedback. And tell your friends - we’d love to have them too.
For another month, we’re working on a working lunch spesh spesh - Where are you going now up the north end of Victoria Street, now Lazat has closed? What do you do when Nancy’s Dumplings closes early? Where’s the best mid-week lunch time curry? Best cheeky pie? All suggestions will be vetted by the team as usual. And while spots in the CBD and Hamilton East are of course valued, extra pixie points for those tucked away in suburbs that don’t usually get a lot of coverage. So send us your favourite weekday lunch spots via hello@thewaikatodraft.com, or in our Insty DMs.
Scuttlebutt
Gluten revival
Our favourite type of scuttlebutt is hospo scuttlebutt (the nice, exciting kind), and we had a tip a few months ago about the Mr Pickles crew applying for a liquor licence for the Made complex. We were delighted further when we heard it was going to be Italian. Or, Italian-ish.
“I guess we're still figuring out what it is,” Mat Pedley wrote to us via email. By “we” he means his teams (across Mr Pickles, Last Place and Everyday Eatery), as well as those behind Wonder Horse and Neat*. But in a nutshell, they are promising, “Gluten heavy dining, grape heavy drinking. So - dope pizza, house made pasta, boozy cocktails, delicious wines.”
And at the risk of sounding like their press release, for all the coeliacs there will be gluten free options, and a substantial focus on takeaways as well as the bar and restaurant side of the business. Opening date: “Soon-ish?” he says.
*Annoyingly for us, but inconsequential to the venture itself, cocktail godfather Alex Hudson announced Neat mere hours after we’d hit send on our March issue. Which then seemed too old for inclusion by the time April rolled around. But examine our July 2023 issue and you’ll see we included the unsubstantiated, unverified early rumours about Alex’s takeaway cocktail venture in Made. As I say, we love our hospo Scuttlebutt.
Don’t get mad, get even
Support queer art with Councillor Louise Hutt’s boosted campaign to buy the Progress Pillar in Garden Place. Originally commissioned as part of the 2024 Boon Sculpture trail, making it a permanent fixture feels like the right thing to do in an Aotearoa where drag queens are getting harassed out of public libraries by Destiny Church weirdos and incel morons.
We’re not the only ones who have noticed the increased presence of anti-abortion protestors (exclusively men, funnily enough!) outside Waikato Hospital recently, especially since the safe area amendment to recent abortion reform. So a big thank you to @prochoice_frontline for organising a weekly Wednesday counter-protest.
We’ve also been hearing whisperings for a while about Auckland-to-Hamilton commuter train Te Huia’s endangered status, with one inside source saying they’d be astounded if it is still in existence by the end of the year. Recall: It’s always exceeded its passenger targets, and has added extra services with demand. The Waka Kotahi NTZA board is reviewing the service this month as part of a planned two-year review, and many are worried it won’t be allowed to finish the five-year trial period as planned. If you’d like to support the service you can email transport minister Hon Simeon Brown, local MPs Tama Potaka and Ryan Hamilton; and there is a public meeting Saturday May 4th at the Ramada at 2.30pm.
The rest…
I’ve always really appreciated the greenhouses at the top of the gardens, but they’re going as they’re expensive, inefficient, and don’t pull.
Sunair have announced the return of their services out of Hamilton - their six-seater twin-engine Piper Aztec can whisk you away to Gisborne, Napier and Whangārei during the week.
In Fast Food Franchise News: The sleuths at the Hamilton subreddit have revealed the future location for Louisiana fried chicken giant Popeyes (It’s going to The Base). A Pita Pit looks set to open sometime soon on Grey Street, for people who turn down Subway on the grounds that they’d like something bland-er.
What’s On
IRL
Scottish-born Kiwi artist Craig McClure is showing his show Thought Crimes at Wintec’s The Ramp gallery 2 May –25 May.
Film
By Jason Marshall
May the Fourth be with you! Star Wars Episodes IV, V, VI and I, II, III are playing in marathon fashion at a number of cinemas this Saturday and Sunday respectively. So if you’re a Star Wars fan, a disillusioned Millennial who wants to give the prequel trilogy another shake, or just want to get a loved one out of the house for as many as six (and possibly more) hours, check it out. Hoyts Metro, Hoyts Te Awa, and the fine folk at Draft favourite The Regent are all taking part with varying screening times over the two days.
Theatre
By Louise Drummond
Cosmic F*ckery, Meteor Theatre. 8-11th May, 7.30pm. Tickets.
Another piece from local writer Melaine Allison, this was shortlisted for the B425 playwriting award. The concept revolves around a world just like ours, with one exception: magic is real. So when you mix drugs, witchcraft and the chaotic gods of ancient Greece, you get a lot of havoc.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Riverlea Theatre. 11-25th May, times vary. Tickets.
Hamilton Musical Theatre tackles Sondheim's gory classic. Extremely fun and extremely ridiculous story, and some very catchy songs to boot. Don't follow it up with a pie.
Dirty Work, Clarence St Theatre. 16-18 May, 7.30pm. Tickets.
Acclaimed theatre group Indian Ink is back with their biggest show ever - this one featuring a cast of almost 30. Focused around an office cleaner and the rest of the office employees, the story is a bit of a mystery but apparently features some great songs. Indian Ink has a history of really impressive and beautiful work; this show will continue that tradition.
The Rug, Meteor Theatre. 17 - 25th May, 7.30pm. Tickets.
Basically, imagine Stone Age cavemen getting jealous of another Stone Age caveman's rug and trying to keep up with the Joneses by getting an even better rug. Ridiculous. I love it. I'm in. Plus there's original songs!
We Have Boys At Home, Meteor Theatre. 29 May - 1 June, 7pm. Tickets.
Worth it for the title alone, which really tickles my funny bone, this play is the latest piece from local writer/director Conor Maxwell. The whole concept involves a play-within-a-play and what can go wrong when you're writing autobiographical pieces. Hijinks will ensue.
Music
By Adam Fulton
May 10th Brainwave and Lucre. Last Place. May 10. Tickets.
Wellington hardcore bands Brainwave and Lucre will be making a stop in Hamilton, alongside youth group Cease and Desist, Drop Off Point and Last Place house band for 2024, Martial Law.
Family Band. Last Place. May 11. Tickets. Tickets.
New Tāmaki Makaurau post-punk trio Family Band play Last Place. FFO Shellac, Arcwelder, Rodan
That's it! The arts clearly already suffering cost cutting measures.
The Mother’s Day Plug
This is one of those local businesses we’ve always loved and spent our own money with (a reminder, we don’t do advertorial), and someone asked me recently for an independent spa/massage/beauty place in Hamilton. So Mother’s Day felt as good a reason as any to include Karina’s Firth Street spa, The Villa Room, and this is one of the few occasions we’ll advocate swapping real money for a gift certificate.
What we put in our mouths this month
Crack Chicken, of course, brings the heat with their fried chicken. But they’re no slouch on other offerings. On a whim we ordered their Bulgogi Cheeseburger, which blends a pair of Korean seasoned smashed patties, a sweet and sticky barbecue sauce, on an impossibly pillowy bun. A new favourite for the burger tournament bracket.
La Rosa Latin Pastries has become a bit of a Saturday morning ritual for us, and we literally can’t get enough empanadas. It’s a very difficult Sophie’s Choice decision to pick a favourite, but after much reflection we think we like the chorizo one the most.
We finally made it to Tongkun for a quiet mid-week lunch, after finding the place fully booked every evening we tried to visit (we’re thrilled for them!). We were equally delighted by the honest-to-goodness real bucket of charcoal recessed into the table, the fried chicken buffet, and the beef rib fillet. Manager John told us their meats marinate for 72 hours in a marinade brought in from Korea. Do take note that a Korean barbecue lunch makes for a wholly unproductive afternoon, where you’re happily ensconced in the sort of food coma that only grilled meats, beer, and rice can bring on.
