Holy cow - burger's officially tops

YUM: Nick Arnold with his prize-winning burger and the boutique beer that helped his cafe to win honours in Wellington. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

It was celebration day at Martinborough's Cafe Medici yesterday as owner Nick Arnold and staff toasted the success of their Holy Cow burger.

After three years of pitting their skills against the best in Wellington On A Plate competitions, the cafe clinched a top award, the Best Burger Beer match award in the section of the contest known as the Burger Wellington Cook Off.

Mr Arnold said the win was a great thrill and the result by far the best the cafe had achieved in three years of supporting the competition.

Its Holy Cow burger was matched with a beer known as Texas Tea, which is a boutique beer produced in Wellington by Garage Project.

To win the award, Cafe Medici needed to outdo 59 other burger outlets.

During two weeks, diners ate and voted for their favourites. The five best burgers along with the five best burger beer matches were shortlisted on Monday.

Wednesday night's cook-off to determine a winner was held at Le Cordon Bleu, Wellington.

With only two awards for the event - the Best Burger went to Wellington eatery Charley Noble with its Shooting Charley Burger - it's a coup for the Martinborough cafe to pick up one of them.

Mr Arnold, who has owned Cafe Medici for seven years, said Holy Cow was a combination of the best Wairarapa ingredients.

It is a classic beef burger with smoky bacon and cheese in an award-winning bun.

"We even made our own beer mustard," he said.

Mr Arnold said the burger would be the cafe's special for the next two weeks.

It sells for $20 and, if matched with the award-winning beer, the cost rises to $27.