Timeless lady

Jane Phare looks back on an Auckland institution that paved the way for today's food trucks.

There's something comforting about the sight of the White Lady late at night in Auckland's city centre. In a city that is undergoing a bold transformation, with lots of physical changes taking place year to year, the White Lady is a reassuring constant.

The long, white burger cart has been around forever - 68 years in fact, and there are no shortage of White Lady stories.

She's there in my memory from my days as a young reporter at the Herald, working the dreaded 6pm to 1am solo shift. The last duty of the night was to deliver the evening's NZPA copy to the Auckland Star in Shortland St - creepily deserted in those days.

But there, every night, was the White Lady, brightly lit, a cheery face behind the counter, delicious cooking smells emanating from its interior. One or two late-nighters would be gathered round chatting. Sometimes I'd treat myself to a burger. For a cadet used to eating in the Herald caff, it tasted wickedly good.

Third generation White Lady operator Max Washer wasn't around in those days. It would have been his father, Peter, and his grandfather Brian "Pop" Washer running the business back then.

It was Pop Washer who started with a milkshake cart at Ellerslie Racecourse in the 40s and, in 1948, built the first White Lady to cater for the "six o'clock swill". He opened for business on Shortland St on Easter weekend and the burger cart has been there every night since.

Not even the city centre's Great Power Black Out in 1998 knocked it out of business. MOTAT came to the rescue with an old military generator.

Pop's grandson Max, 31, has worked in the White Lady part-time all his life - after school and weekends, helping out when his parents Peter and Anna were short-handed.

Five years ago, with the food truck industry expanding, the Washer family built a couple of smaller "White Ladies" - dubbed Eve and Sandy - to take to events and festivals, and Connie the container café in Queens Wharf village.

While the city centre has changed rapidly since Pop Washer's day, the White Lady menu hasn't. It still serves up freshly-cooked burgers - introduced in the '60s - toasted sandwiches, chips and shakes, all made on site.

"We buy all our vegetables ourselves from the Turners and Growers markets," Washer says. "And we work closely with our butchers to make sure we get good cuts for our scotch fillet steak burgers."

The bacon for the popular King burger - bacon and cheese - comes from Pokeno, and the beef patties are freshly made by Washer and his staff.

Don't expect "sweet, sickly sauces" and beetroot is available on demand.
The menu is kept simple and proudly old-fashioned, says Washer.

"You won't find truffle oil or anything like that on our burgers."

The White Lady, Commerce St. Open 6pm-4am week days. Sat-Sun, 24 hours until 4am Mondays.

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