{"id":264960,"date":"2026-02-03T04:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/264960\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:53:08","slug":"restaurants-to-retro-shops-how-petone-became-wellingtons-best-kept-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/264960\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurants to retro shops: How Petone became Wellington\u2019s best-kept secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fringing the southern end of the Hutt Valley, Petone is a 10-minute drive from central Wellington if you avoid rush-hour traffic. One of the city\u2019s best-kept secrets, it\u2019s become a weekend destination to eat, shop, walk dogs along the foreshore<\/a> and soak up the neighbourhood vibe. <\/p>\n

Often, people bring empty containers with them to fill with pure artesian water from the Te Puna Wai Ora (Spring of Life) fountain, on the corner of Buick St. First settled by Europeans in 1840, the heritage suburb is also home to some of New Zealand\u2019s first state houses, now celebrated for their architectural design. <\/p>\n

Petone (more correctly Pito One<\/a>) has shaken off its rough reputation in recent times, undergoing significant gentrification without losing the character that\u2019s a big part of its charm. <\/p>\n

\"TheseThese days, this is where you’ll find the Jackson Street Programme, which has a treasure trove of heritage material and runs local activities.<\/p>\n

In the early 90s, the Jackson Street Programme (JSP) was established to work with local businesses \u201cpromoting, preserving and enhancing\u201d the precinct. During the school holidays, its free activities attract families from as far afield as Palmerston North. <\/p>\n

The programme is housed in the old police station and there\u2019s a small museum in the jailhouse out back, where the drunk and disorderly were locked up till the 1940s. Anyone who\u2019d committed a more serious or violent crime was taken by horse and cart into Wellington\u2019s central station, off Lambton Quay.<\/p>\n

\"KarenKaren Arraj-Fisher, administrator and heritage specialist at the Jackson Street Programme, in the old jailhouse. Photo \/ Joanna Wane<\/p>\n

According to the JSP\u2019s latest directory, there are 71 eateries of one kind or another along the main street, and that\u2019s not including specialty spots, from an Indian spice emporium and an artisan chocolatier to the popular Dutch Shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWellington found us years ago,\u201d says co-ordinator Hellen Swales. \u201cAll of a sudden, Petone became known for its food. We already had a diverse cultural background and history here, but we\u2019ve become so cosmopolitan now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Schrodinger'sSchrodinger’s Books, one of the many speciality stores on Jackson St. Photo \/ Joanna Wane<\/p>\n

Much of the rest of New Zealand is yet to catch on. I\u2019d never set foot in the place until my brother bought a house on Jackson St. Since then, I\u2019ve spent many satisfying days raiding the op shops and secondhand\/retro stores. A \u201cSustainable Shopping\u201d guide lists more than 20 of them.<\/p>\n

Some of my best purchases over the years include a pre-loved Karen Walker shirt, a $7 pair of vegan sneakers made in Denmark, two groovy 1970s Crown Lynn plates, a chest of drawers for my daughter\u2019s uni flat, a raspberry crumble-filled doughnut from Belen (a plant-based bakery), a Yorkie bar from the UK Goodies store for an expat Brit, a bubble cocktail at The Chopstick Table, and a second-hand Calvin Klein silver wristwatch when I decided going analogue was back in vogue.<\/p>\n

\"Belen,Belen, a plant-based bakery, has up to 10 doughnut flavours on the menu every day. Photo \/ Joanna Wane<\/p>\n

What I haven\u2019t bought \u2013 so far \u2013 is an authentic Gandalf cloak for $2370, handcrafted from the fabric designed and woven by Stansborough for The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies (the wizard\u2019s scarf, hat and gloves are also available). One Tolkien fan who already has the whole get-up has just ordered a cloak for his teddy bear.<\/p>\n

The only commercial historic weaving mill still operating in New Zealand, Stansborough sells textile products all over the world (Kate and William\u2019s daughter, Princess Charlotte, was gifted a teddy bear and some booties when she was a baby).<\/p>\n

\"FilmFilm commissions for Stansborough’s heritage woven textiles have included costumes for The Lord of the Rings and Narnia.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s signature wool comes from a closed flock of rare grey sheep farmed on the East Coast that whakapapa back to the Vikings. There\u2019s a gallery shop at the mill, on a side street off Jackson, and behind-the-scenes public tours run on Tuesdays at 2pm.<\/p>\n

Another outfit with its fair share of celebrity clients is Hills Hats, a fourth-generation family business that recently moved its Hatlantis shop to new premises on Jackson St. An outlet store, The Last Hat Stand, is a few blocks off the main drag.<\/p>\n

\"HillsHills Hats’ Simon Smuts-Kennedy: “The conversation goes from \u2018I don\u2019t suit hats\u2019 to \u2018I love this one\u2019 in about a minute.\u201d Photo \/ Joanna Wane<\/p>\n

You can buy a hat off the racks or design your own. Owner Simon Smuts-Kennedy<\/a> cuts his own from tapa cloth. <\/p>\n

His \u201cHatmosphere\u201d factory has created bespoke looks for all sorts of cool cats, including country singers Tami Neilson and Willie Nelson (cowboy style), Grammy-winning blues artist Taj Mahal (a fedora), Troy Kingi (\u201cbaker boy\u201d flat caps) and Lady Gaga, through a collab with US brand Goorin Bros.<\/p>\n

Kiwis tend to be a bit shy, says Smuts-Kennedy, who encourages people visiting Petone for the first time to come and have a play. \u201cThe conversation goes from \u2018I don\u2019t suit hats\u2019 to \u2018I love this one\u2019 in about a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JacksonJackson St, 1924.<\/p>\n

As part of the NZ Fringe Festival<\/a>, Weekend Laughs is bringing some of New Zealand\u2019s best stand-up comedy \u2013 and some fresh talent \u2013 to Abandoned Brewery\u2019s Petone taproom, February 20 to March 7 (fringe.co.nz). The annual Petone Rotary Fair will be held along Jackson St on February 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fringing the southern end of the Hutt Valley, Petone is a 10-minute drive from central Wellington if you…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6743,151276,3043,10039,15901,28277,156,221,302,15896,111,139,69,49948,110075,10270,61758,1041,9095,51212,18932,2563,61,15897,15900],"class_list":["post-264960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-became","tag-bestkept","tag-call","tag-controversial","tag-coolest","tag-cuba","tag-entertainment","tag-how","tag-its","tag-joanna","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-petone","tag-reckons","tag-restaurants","tag-retro","tag-rival","tag-secret","tag-shops","tag-strip","tag-title","tag-to","tag-wane","tag-wellingtons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}