STELLA ARTOIS TAPPING THE PULSE MAYDAY EDITION

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STELLA ARTOIS TAPPING THE PULSE

High living and low life in the hospitality capital - brought to you by Stella Artois, "serving rogues and knaves since 1366"

Visit the Stella website at http://www.stella-artois.be/. You'll need Netscape, Shockwave, Flash and a good command of the French or Dutch language.

Alternatively, check out http://www.stella-artois.com - the international site for beer.

1 May 2000

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MAYDAY EDITION

Bowl us over
Ed's gets makeover
Fuel hardy
Mezzini moonlighter
Show us your Ibis

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Over the last few weeks, Mark and Carol Chan at 101 Victoria Street have revamped their business: what was Burke's, a lunch bar with rolls and beautiful little cakes, is now BOWLS & PLATES, a lunch/dinner Singapore style noodle and curry restaurant. In middle Victoria Street style (ie. similar to the excellent Japanese restaurant Matsuri Sushi next door, and The Bengal Tiger across the road), the decor is plain and simple; the food attractively presented and very affordable.

Down the road, Ed's Juice Bar is undergoing a refurbishment under Ed's personal direction: a new kitchen and interior sprucing.

Up on the Terrace, Fuel Espresso have taken the plunge into another permanent outlet (after Willis St), just across the road from where their innovative silver cart used to bring a new lustre to the concept of takeaway. The addition of several new sit-down cafés to the Lambton quarter is another sign that hospitality vitality is on the comeback trail in an area that's been too long neglected.

New to the Lambton roster, on the edge of the Willis Quarter, is among those number: Mezzini. After many delays, the Italian-themed restaurant in the lower levels of the Old Bank has finally opened, with the rather OTT sign on the side to prove it. But who is the Mezzini Moonlighter? He would rather you didn't know. But it's hard to hid while you're working...

If you've been down Featherston Street recently, you may have noticed the latest addition to the city's accommodation providers. The 200-room Hotel Ibis Wellington is the first hotel in New Zealand from one of the world's most renowned "economy class" hotel brands (all rooms $NZ max). From the outside, the ground floor bar looks sleek and well-appointed, though we couldn't discern whether or not it was the "brassiere restaurant and bar" cited in the city's info site at http://www.wellingtonnz.com/whatshot.asp. Is that for the ladies? Wassup?

Speaking of THAT slogan, the latest parody installment of the "Wassup?" series promoting an US beer, has caused some flak in the States for its use of the Elias Gonzalez case. Surf to http://static.userland.com/misc/elian/ to find wassup.

With the http://www.steinlager.com domain name returned to rightful owners Lion Nathan (see last week), the site now mirrors its NZ counterpart, with product and yachting info and links to http://www.beer.co.nz, which accesses all manner of Super 12 associated beer stuff. Just so you know.

And if you didn't know about http://www.bitterwaitress.com/, check it out, especially the glossary. The site still needs work but provides a fascinating insight into life behind the counter in NYC.

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STELLA ARTOIS TAPPING THE PULSE

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