My Wellington: A city of swims, bikes and big-hearted kai
Saturday, 3 January 2026
Jack Rainey is the operations manager for Everybody Eats Wellington, a pay-as-you-feel restaurant on Dixon St that transforms high-quality surplus food into three-course meals. Rainey has 25 years of working in the hospitality industry under his belt. he sat down with The Post to chat about his favourite place to swim, and what he would do if he were mayor for the day.
My favourite thing about this part of Wellington is …
[Freyberg Beach] is where I swim most days in the summer. I swim all year round. It's like this every day in the summer, and I just find it so beautiful, no matter what time of the day. In the morning, if you're down here, you've got the sun coming up and warming up the ocean.
A hidden gem in my hood is …
In Wadestown there's a great little fish and chip shop … I think it's one of the best in Wellington. But I think all of Wadestown knows that. Friday night, it's an hour-and-a-half wait for fish and chips. Very, very busy. There is a really cool little library in Wadestown - next to a beautiful park. I find that quite a sweet little spot.
To get to work in Wellington I travel by e-bike because …
I find that the city has become so, so accessible and with the new cycleways it's even easier. I had a recent flight to Auckland and I biked across the city to the airport. Then I just picked it up when I landed and just biked back.
If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Wellington you can’t go past …
My little go-to is actually Aunty Mena’s. But if I'm taking someone out for a nice dinner, I would go to Loretta every day. It's one of the best restaurants in the city.
My favourite place to take a visitor to Wellington would be …
That is a tough one, because I think it ultimately depends on the visitor. If you really want to see a unique part of Wellington, I think you should go to Zealandia and wander one of the tracks. It’s so cool that there's this amazing bird sanctuary right in the city.
The most contentious issue on my neighbourhood Facebook page is …
Wadestown has a lot of hidden streets, and there’s been a lot of complaints about hit and runs. ‘You’ve knocked my wing mirror off’. The other one would be missing cats … though they’re often finished with good stories ‒ they were found in someone’s basement.
The perfect Saturday morning in the city is …
I often volunteer on a Saturday morning at the Soup Kitchen. It finishes at 9am, so by the time you’ve wrapped up volunteering, the day hasn't even begun. So I would then come [to Freyberg Beach] for a swim and after that I would probably grab the paper. And, this sounds like I'm 90, but I would do the cryptic crossword.
If I were mayor for a day I would…
I don't want to upset the Boomers, but I'd probably try a car free day for the city. I’d make public transport free, and just get people to use buses and trains and bike and walk for a day. How cool would it be to just see our streets empty, just for a day.
My nominee for Wellingtonian of the Year would be …
There's a lady called Ange Holtslag, she founded Seeds to Feeds. I work with her a lot in the kai security space. She works for Kaibosh Food Rescue in the Pētone branch as their kitchen manager. She basically takes B grade food waste and turns it into pickles and preserves and sauces to go back into the community. She's also a DJ. She's one of the most hardest working people behind the scenes, making sure communities are activated and people have got access to food.
As told to Frances Chin.