Cafes embrace daily grind

TOP COFFEE: The Village Grinder's owner Sue Ballantyne, front centre, and staff. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Four Wairarapa Cafes are among the top 10 People's Choice nominations for NZ Cafe of the Year in the Wellington region.

The Wairarapa Cafes in the top 10 are The Village Grinder, Ten O'Clock Cookie Bakery-Cafe, Cafe Strada, and Wild Oats Cafe.

The Village Grinder, which is coming second to an Upper Hutt Cafe as voting currently stands, has been going the extra mile to provide the best service and food to its customers for over five years.

Owner Sue Ballantyne said customers have gone out of their way to vote for them because of they appreciate the "atmosphere" of the cafe.

"The team that works here, it's like a family," she said. "And I think that that's reflected in the way we treat our customers, because instead of them really being customers, they're our friends, you know.

"And we get a lot of regulars come back and we look out for them and that sort of thing.

"We serve great food, aim to have the best coffee all the time and have the best customer interaction in town."

The standings were released by NZ Cafe of the Year on Tuesday but there are still three more weeks until voting closes on October 9.

People's Choice and Regional Finalists will be announced in November with the overall Cafe of the Year winner to be announced in December. Visit www.nzcafeoftheyear.co.nz to vote.