EDITORIAL: i am so sick of waffles

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Right now, it’s a busy time for food in our city. If you’re like me, you’re currently boycotting McDonald's, Starbucks, and Coca-Cola, just to name a few. And, team, it’s working. As of April 2024, Starbucks shares have dropped to a 21-month low, with a 15% decline in net income.

Closer to home, Wellington on a Plate has started. This event, featuring 195 burgers, is set to attract over 16,000 people to our city and put significant strain on many minimum wage hospo workers. After a quick scroll through the site, I found that the cheapest burgers were $14 from Gorilla Burger and EKIM Burgers. The most expensive was a $70 ‘Snakes and Ladders’ burger set at Jardin Grill. Apparently, Jardin Grill wasn’t the only one playing games, as both Hideout and The Crab Shack are offering Tic-Tac-Toe burgers. Everything about Wellington on a Plate feels like the opposite of ‘not playing with your food.’

We begin this issue with Will Irvine discussing Everybody Eats, a not-for-profit restaurant. Ethan Rogacion reviews both the city’s cheese scones and the burgers of the Cook Strait. Ryan Cleland finds the best sandwich, and Will Tinker tells us why he no longer drinks gin. Salient’s full-timers, Kate and Teddy, rate their favourite episodes of the Off Menu podcast.

It’s an issue worth picking up, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we all did writing it.

Phoebe Robertson

Editor in Chief