Hands down, the best hands-on experiences at Visa WOAP

You have chefs and fabulous ingredients to hand, now all you need to do is create. Craft your own dream burger with the team at Artisan at Bolton Hotel. In this Build-a-Burger workshop, you choose from an array of buns and patties alongside a wide selection of toppings from the buffet. Want something classic, or wildly weird? Sweet, savoury, or both? The most-used ingredients are tallied live with the most popular flavours used to shape Artisan’s Burger Wellington entry, aptly titled the ‘Crowd Sauced Burger’.

Enjoy an afternoon of literary and culinary indulgence. Katherine Mansfield was an internationally renowned modernist writer. You get to tour her childhood house on Tinakori Road. After absorbing the atmosphere, you’ll stroll down to the Canapé Company on Thorndon Quay. Enjoy a cup of tea and an introduction to the French food that appears in her stories. Patisserie chef Max Loh will teach you how to make the perfect choux pastry and its many forms, including chocolate profiteroles, éclairs filled with lavender-infused cream, and cheese gougères.

Dine through the decades of ‘Doctor Who’ at this galactic gourmet event.  The TARDIS has touched down in Wellington for an exclusive exhibition — Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder. 

For Visa Wellington On a Plate, Tākina hosts a Whovian-inspired event. Indulge in tantalising canapés inspired by food featured in the TV series. There are also creatively crafted science-themed cocktails. Dress up in your favourite ‘Doctor Who’ attire for a chance to snag a prize. Also, enjoy access to the exhibition space to explore the wondrous science and a world of iconic characters.

Is eating just a need, or is it an art form we must learn to master? ‘L’arte di mangiare bene’ translates to ‘the art of eating well,’ and that’s what you’ll do in this Newtown restaurant. The team at Cicio Cacio Osteria will guide you through a hands-on multi-course event in their kitchen. When you sit down to eat, the food you’ve helped make will be matched with wonderful Italian wines. You’ll experience the real feeling of eating, drinking, and cooking as the Italians do.

Ask a Wellingtonian where to find the best cheese scones in the city and they are sure to have a strong opinion. Plenty will point to Pravda Café. The Customhouse Quay eatery is famous in the city for its buttery, cheesy creations. Now they’re sharing their secrets with cheese scone-making classes. Learn how to prepare and mix your own Pravda scones. Once the chefs have baked them, you can enjoy the fruits of your labour with tea or coffee. Best of all, you get to take the much sought-after recipe home with you.

It’s bold, it’s brazen, it’s a burger record attempt. Be part of history as Wilson Barbecue attempts to sell more burgers in a day than anyone else has before. There’ll be breakfast burgers, lunch burgers and, yes you guessed it, dinner burgers available. This is your chance to eat burgers for every meal of the day. Best of all — you are helping local charity WELLfed. The education programme will get 10% of each burger sale. It teaches skills based on planting and growing vegetables and cooking. Help bring a world record to Johnsonville and be part of Wellington’s culinary history.

Won’t you take me to, funky town? Funky town in this case is at Kaibosh on Hopper Street. They are putting on a daytime disco where you get to simultaneously groove and cook for the community. Help prepare, season, and simmer big pots of delicious soup and be entertained at the same time. Tom Adam the chef at Margot will lead the cooking while music will be provided by DJ Danger and friends. After your hard work creating 100s of meals for people in need you’ll sit together to enjoy a taste of what you’ve created.